Expectations/Being Realistic

[the burgundy and gold]

Can we all just take one moment and review some fact here.

2011: The Redskins finish with a terrible record

April 2012: Redskins get Robert Griffin and a few decent free agent pick ups.

September 2012: According to NFL schedule, Redskins start the season against two playoff teams within their first three games.

September 2012: Redskins lose absolutely critical/(one could argue "star") players to injury in Orakpo, Carriker, and Garcon.

September 2012: Redskins continue to start rookie QB and play with critical injuries.

September 2012: Redskins go 1-2, against aforementioned 3 teams in which 2 teams were playoff teams in 2011. All of which were extremely close games going down to the wire.

Given those facts should you have realistically expected much else? I won't even go into the fact we had Jordan Black playing LT, getting beat every single play.

[Rdskn4Lyf21]

We are going 14-2.

**** this ****.

[nuposse87]

One of the those aforementioned teams may be picking in the bottom 3rd of the draft this year. The same might be true of the rams. Our offense is the only reason we've been competitive this year...It isn't like we lost a huge amount of personnel from last year's team in terms of defense...My expectations this year were to have a defense that would build off its 13 ranking this year and hope our offense wouldn't cost us the game...Life always finds a way to slap you in the face though. :/

[zskins]

We are going 14-2.

**** this ****.

Or 2-14.. but regardless (my predication is 7-9). This year is not about getting into the playoffs and the SB. IF you are expecting that than that is pretty dumb. This year is all about RG3 getting use to the speed of the NFL and taking his skills to the next level. Next year is when I will be more critical to wins and loses and what coach should be let go.

HAIL!

[mmzznnxx]

We're playing with the same secondary as last year which we knew was weak, but has somehow regressed, along with a defense that has somehow regressed to maybe the worst in the league in one season. After all the draft/FA pickups, in the third year of building the 3-4. Look at Houston's defense and how quickly it turned into a top defense.

I think it was pretty realistic of me to expect the defense to improve. I don't think it was unrealistic for me to expect the defense not to flounder.

All we heard in the offseason was all this supposed depth being built, the best in Shanahan's tenure. So far it seems to be bunk, or inadequately defined "depth".

All teams have holes, yet in spite of ours we aren't winning. And if the holes were glaring enough that we could be looking at a top overall pick, I wouldn't have expected Shanahan to sell so much for RGIII, and it's starting to look like we can't overcome the holes on our team.

And don't give me the cap penalties, we were playing with the same rules as everyone else, and yeah, I disagree with the penalties. We still had more cap space than a lot of teams.

[Rey]

There were expectations to go to the SB? Wow... Skins are still a below .500 team, IMO.

Look at the bright side: RG3 looks pretty damn good.

[ClassAdaGlance]

RG3 is phenomenal..!!! He's sooo good, when he can't find a receiver, he simply runs the 1st down. Remember all the many years we've been razzed for not being able to get in the REDZONE??? We're now the leader of total points in the same area!!! Yeah, we have some (DEFENSE) issues - lolll... However, it feels "terrific" to be able to score, and SCORE BIG!!!! Proud Redskin fan here - Hail, & Hail AGAIN...!!!

[Rpredskins]

imo RG3 is the best player in the NFL right now. That's not a homer statement- I think based on numbers and production alone he is in the top 10 or 5. If you include the fact that his offensive line is absolutely horrendous and his WRs are average at best, and that he is basically having to win games by himself, I don't think it's an unreasonable statement. If Drew Brees was our QB we would be scoring less than half our current points per game. RG3's speed and quickness are incredible, and he is making an AWFUL team look competitive, at least in the box score.
Our defense must be the worst in football. 10 passing TDs given up in 3 games. Our 3rd-and-long defense is surely setting some kind of record for staying on the field.
I think it is a disgrace that the defense is failing to even resemble the DECENT one from last year. If it did, we would be 3-0. The offensive line is understandable. The guys can only do what they're capable of, and Jordan Black is not capable of a lot. The defense is inexplicable. I blame Haslett for awful coverage schemes. How else do you explain it? Josh Wilson is a good corner. Deangelo is mediocre but he doesn't suck THAT bad. I think there are between 9 and 11 decent football players on the starting defense, but somehow the unit collectively makes each guy look like he belongs in the CFL.
Finally, back to RG3, this guy is the league MVP. I can't see him actually winning the award because eventually his lack of protection is going to put a dent in his production (or his health, knock on wood), but it is already abundantly clear which player is adding the most to his team. Congratulations Skins fans, we got EXACTLY what we wanted. Game-changing QB. Unfortunately the rest of the team is so underprepared and uncoordinated that even our revolutionary new QB can't save us. Since this is a positive thread (and i just chose this one out of the many to write my rant), I will follow up that last thought: he is revolutionary. I have never seen one player take over a game like that. The Banks triple option formation was hilarious. There's just too much speed, the Bengals basically had a 1 in 3 chance (at most) of stopping any of those plays by guessing which guy was getting the ball. If we can somehow improve the pass protection and get Garcon back, and play some conventional offense with the option stuff thrown in, we actually have a GOOD offense. Good enough that I can even live with the 40 point shootout losses. But I do not like the pure gimmick offense where RG3 is rolling the dice on every down with his knee and head health. It's hard to watch

[aussieskin]

The Washington Redskins are one year and one more draft away from the playoffs, we need to bolster some positions on both sides of the ball, we have a very good QB but we need to bolster the Oline a bit we are set at RB and TE but we need a good full back at this stage, however, one of the FBs we have could stand up and provide some relief here. On Defence we need more quality depth this year will allow the players we have to come up to speed, we have an excellent punter in Savario Rocca, and a good kicker in Billy Cundliff, however we need some muscle on the lines for the special teams to stop the punting charge downs. Next year we will see a much better team.

[Murphs56]

Can we get a lineman?

[thesubmittedone]

RG3 is phenomenal..!!! He's sooo good, when he can't find a receiver, he simply runs the 1st down. Remember all the many years we've been razzed for not being able to get in the REDZONE??? We're now the leader of total points in the same area!!! Yeah, we have some (DEFENSE) issues - lolll... However, it feels "terrific" to be able to score, and SCORE BIG!!!! Proud Redskin fan here - Hail, & Hail AGAIN...!!!

Quick, save yourself from ES while you can! You will be murdered with this kind of hope and faith in your team here.

[John224]

We will regret having RG3 in the future. Please throw this post in my face if I am proven wrong. I hope I am wrong. He will end up an injury prone bust.

[wilco_holland]

Can we all just take one moment and review some fact here.

We should have beaten does teams or at least have a shot (Two penalties killed a potential game tying score chance). Imagen if we didn't let Amandola and Green run wild on us... We could have been in a very good position (with current NFL standings we are still not in a bad position).

I'm supriced by the depth and off. Thought we would be way worse when 4! cornerstones of you team drop out. I'm curious to see what RGIII can do after two years. Every game we now have seen something new, something that suprices the D. Imagen if you expand that for two years. One big playbook but more important...a lot of stuff to prepare for the opponent D.

The Washington Redskins are one year and one more draft away from the playoffs, we need to bolster some positions on both sides of the ball, we have a very good QB but we need to bolster the Oline a bit we are set at RB and TE but we need a good full back at this stage, however, one of the FBs we have could stand up and provide some relief here. On Defence we need more quality depth this year will allow the players we have to come up to speed, we have an excellent punter in Savario Rocca, and a good kicker in Billy Cundliff, however we need some muscle on the lines for the special teams to stop the punting charge downs. Next year we will see a much better team.

Sad thing is, I hear that every year....

[Laxpunk2006]

One of the those aforementioned teams may be picking in the bottom 3rd of the draft this year. The same might be true of the rams. Our offense is the only reason we've been competitive this year...It isn't like we lost a huge amount of personnel from last year's team in terms of defense...My expectations this year were to have a defense that would build off its 13 ranking this year and hope our offense wouldn't cost us the game...Life always finds a way to slap you in the face though. :/

We're missing 4 of 11 starters on defense due to injury or suspension. I'd say that is significant.

[Zazzaro703]

We are all used to the losing and getting screwed by the refs. At least now the losing comes with 30+ points and exciting instant points plays we hadn't seen in a decade. Long gone are the days of losing with 17 or less points in pitiful efforts and drives that had to earn every single yard to even have a prayer of reaching the endzone. This offense is only going into regular season week 4 too. The losing is still frustrating, but we all knew our secondary was suspect at best so to be upset about it is self defeating. We got screwed out of 16 million on the eve of free agency. We all knew we had holes on the roster.