If Shanahan's given up, what hope do we really have with him? A pretty darn disappointed and disillusioned long time backer of the HC.

[Painkiller]

I love the way in the ESPN piece you linked he's turning it back onto the press with the 'insinuation' claim on what he said.

They were your own words Coach. Nobody has to spin anything in any other direction than how you said it.

Hail.

Agreed it would have been best if he just gave one of his stock answers, but the alternative is to keep beating the drum...and make this be a distraction for the next two weeks. I understand you are pissed. For me, the best he could do at this point, was make the statement he made to ESPN, spin it or whatever you want to call it, and then not discuss it again. As a fan of the team, I would like it to go away quickly.

I want the team to succeed, and the fan base and media beating him up over it for the next two weeks isn't going to help us get better.

[thesubmittedone]

I have been tweeting with Tandler, who was at the presser about the comment being taken out of context. His thoughts (below)
Again, just an opinion, but interesting from someone who was there. I hope he is wrong

Hail

Rich Tandler ‏@Rich_TandlerCSN
Yes, he said that and the clear message was that evaluation was all there was to play for in 2012

Rich Tandler ‏@Rich_TandlerCSN
Nope, I was sitting there for the whole thing. It was not taken out of context.

@Rich_TandlerCSN Is it possible at all that he stated that to see who truly deserves to be on the team in the future?

@Rich_TandlerCSN Rich, you being there, interpret it as a white flag for the year?

Really, Rich? How rich, Rich.

Of course, reporter who reports on one thing will defend his reporting in the face of it being criticized. Shocker.

Here, Rich, why don't I have some out of context fun!?

Mike Shanahan, after the second consecutive abysmal performance in as many weeks by his team, claims to not be giving up and is admirably looking to see what character his team has moving forward.

"Now we get a chance to evaluate players and see where we’re at", Shanahan stated with disappointment. "Obviously, we’re not out of it statistically, but now we find out what type of character we got and how guys keep on fighting through the rest of the season.”

"We put ourselves in a tough position being 3-6," Redskins linebacker London Fletcher said, via WJFK-FM. "You see who really wants to play football."

"I've got to do a better job," said Shanahan, who's 14-27 in his Redskins tenure. "I take full responsibility."

The Redskins will have a chance to turn their season around against Philadelphia in a couple weeks.

See how easy that is?

[skins4eva]

This is a great thread, so thank you GHH for starting it. This is going to be a bit of a rant, so bear with me. We've suffered through many lean years in the last two decades, but for some reason, this year seems particularly cruel. We seem to have finally found an answer at QB, but the rest of the team, and I mean almost every other position except LT, RB and QB has fallen apart. It's also incredibly disappointing to witness this type of season in year 3 of Mike's tenure here. A coach of his caliber (or what I thought was his caliber) should have had us in the running this year in an incredibly weak NFC East. I'm pretty knee jerk in my reactions, as many of you know, but here's the deal: Shanahan shouldn't return next year.

When I look at the man on the sidelines and during press conferences, I see someone who doesn't have the fire to coach. And once that fire is gone, I think it's gone for good. He seems increasingly frustrated and negative. Moreover, he seems unwilling to make any of the necessary changes that this team must make. For instance, why is Brandon Banks still taking up a roster spot? Why is Danny Smith still coaching special teams? Why is our red zone play-calling still horrific? There never seems to be any adjustment from Mike or the coaching staff generally. We seem to be the only team in the NFL incapable of running a hurry up, no-huddle offense.

We are much further behind than I ever thought we would be at this point. We basically need a brand new secondary, brand new LBs with the exception of Kerrigan, and an actual NT if we are going to insist on the 3-4 defense. We are going to need to hit home runs with every free agent signing and every draft pick just to be competitive. These past two games against the Steelers and Carolina have been real eye openers for me, as they should be for the rest of you. I've seen our players come out completely lifeless--no fight, no energy, nothing. It seems obvious that the players have zero faith in the coaching staff on both sides of the ball.

Haslett has to go. At this point, it's probably only Shanny's ego that's keeping him here. The defense is historically bad and gets worse every game. No adjustments are made, no wrinkles are added. Again, the players have no confidence in the scheme, and they know they are being put in a position to fail. Offensively, Kyle's gimmicky offense has been figured out. Now, I'll go a little easier on him given all of the play makers we've lost on the offensive side of the ball. However, with our running game, and our QB, there is no excuse--absolutely none for us to be held to under 21 points at home by a 1-6 team. His lack of consistency or flow on the offensive side of the ball has been his calling card since day one.

Finally, even in the worst days of Zorn and Spurrier, we never looked as bad as I've seen us look these past two weeks. We need a younger, NFL caliber hungry coach. And we need one quickly. The Shanny experiment was good for one thing: RGIII. If for no other reason, I will be thankful to him for that. But, we've got to make changes. This isn't getting any better.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

I don't know if it qualifies as a 'rant' skins when it's choc full of relevant points your not alone in both witnessing and questioning.

Nice, pertinent post man.

Hail.

[KingGibbs]

Bravo skins4eva. Bravo.

[DieselPwr44]

Finally, even in the worst days of Zorn and Spurrier, we never looked as bad as I've seen us look these past two weeks.

Really??

[skins4eva]

We've got 5 division games to go, Diesel...just wait.

[SkinsCrushCowboys]

Really, Rich? How rich, Rich.

Of course, reporter who reports on one thing will defend his reporting in the face of it being criticized. Shocker.

Here, Rich, why don't I have some out of context fun!?



See how easy that is?

Just to be accurate, a small portion of how the comment started was not included...prior to the "now we get a chance" It is listed below.

"You lose a game like that, now you're playing to see who obviously is going to be on your football team for years to come. I'll get a chance to evaluate players and see where we're at," Shanahan said.

I merely thought that it was interesting from someone who was at the presser. I was not there.

Hail

[thesubmittedone]

Just to be accurate, a small portion of how the comment started was not included...prior to the "now we get a chance" It is listed below.

"You lose a game like that, now you're playing to see who obviously is going to be on your football team for years to come. I'll get a chance to evaluate players and see where we're at," Shanahan said.

I merely thought that it was interesting from someone who was at the presser. I was not there.

Hail

I know, that was my point, lol.

Out of context, get it?

[SkinsCrushCowboys]

I know, that was my point, lol.

Out of context, get it?

Absolutely! Irony.....

I do respect Tandler more than most though

[skinsfan1993]

I think that the book on Shanahan is that he never should have been the GM, he should have let a quality GM do player acquisitions (though he'd have significant input).

I agree with many here who have said that the "coach buying the groceries" doesn't work, and this is just another example. Parcells bought the groceries in New York (Jets) and Dallas, he never was better than 10-6. Holmgren bought the groceries in Seattle and Cleveland, and those were failures. Shanahan already failed in Denver buying the groceries, and he's failing exactly - literally exactly - the same way here. It's just not a viable model.

I think Shanahan should be stripped of GM duties, given that we simply have not drafted very well, but he absolutely should be retained as coach. Holmgren went to the Super Bowl after he was stripped of GM duties. He's done well in prioritizing the key spots on the team (QB, LT, pass rushers) but Shanahan the GM has probably done enough for him to be fired. The problem is how to do that without firing Shanahan the coach.

this is exactly why he was fired from denver. denver tried to strip GM duties from him, but his ego didn't wanna let that go, so denver fired him.

[jnhay]

It is year three and we have not seen improvement minus Morris/RGIII. It's not that we're losing it's how. Undisciplined play and mental mistakes repeatedly. Repeatedly. Repeatedly.

After seeing the way the defense looked stunned at Cam Newton faking a handoff and taking the ball himself, I completely agree with you on Haslett. As far as special teams goes, I withhold my opinion because I have to admit I have no clue exactly what's going on there.

Make no mistake though, I'm not saying Shanahan is doing a spectacular job. We'd have a winning record now if I were to say that. I'd just like to see Mike's plan allowed to come to fruition because it's been obvious to me that he actually does have a plan, unlike coaches/GMs in the past that seemed to just focus on filling gaps year to year.

[sharkproof]

ever think he's trying to light a fire under some of the sloppy azz mental lapsing play?

[Boss_Hogg]

ever think he's trying to light a fire under some of the sloppy azz mental lapsing play?

That idea has already been shot down, burned, decimated, etc.

[jnhay]

Really, Rich? How rich, Rich.

Of course, reporter who reports on one thing will defend his reporting in the face of it being criticized. Shocker.

Here, Rich, why don't I have some out of context fun!?

See how easy that is?

What's out of context there? Tandler's one of the writers I read a lot, and I wouldn't like him if he was prone to taking quotes out of context,