Shanny Has Two Weeks To Avoid Armageddon

[skinsforlife101]

For the sake of argument, where does the towel sit if the Eagles game (against a shockingly bad Philly team in absolute self destruct implosion mode) is just as bad as that 'showing' yesterday?

Hail.

I agree with you it could get "Tampa Bay 2011" bad if the Eagles lose there next two games (Saints and Dallas) and come into Fedex with a 3-6 record and we get blown out of the water coming off a buy week.

[Sticksboi05]

No spinning, just an emotionally-controlled observation my man. Something you seem to lack any capability of doing at this moment, as usual for you after a loss.

And I don't think he's lost anyone. I think it's just a typical over-reaction by the fans who are fed a steady stream of sensationalized media from every angle during every part of their daily lives.

So, sorry, I just can't answer your question because it's based on a falsehood in my mind.



I've stated a million times already that this team had different, negative, pre-conditions prior to this attempted rebuild and have had, perhaps, the worst fortune in terms of external conditions occurring DURING the rebuild. Can you tell me which team had as poor management as ours for as many years prior to rebuilding right now? Care to debate me on those points or would we just like to keep saying arbitrary things like "a competent GM can turn this team around quickly" cuz it makes us feel better? I think Mike IS a competent GM and that he CAN turn this team around quickly. We need a friggin normal offseason with no surprises for once, that would be nice.

14-27 since arriving in D.C. It's that simple. He gets some breaks because turning around Vinny's mess as you said is no easy task but after three years to still be going into Week 9's at 3-6 is ridiculous and it's really, how we are losing. Mental mistakes, lack of preparation, being out-tactitioned after halftime. It's not just Mike it's the entire staff. Injuries be damned, there is no reason to still be the most penalized team in the NFL or to crumble at every key point of almost every game the same way you did three years ago. Still no urgency in the 4th down by more than 8. Still wasting timeouts early.

Blown coverages, critical holds, false starts etc, missed blocking assignments you name it. Not calling plays past the first down marker, running short of the chains..I mean Christ this is stuff that plagued us years ago. And I should be optimistic because the age of the team is a younger? Losing because you are out-talented is one thing. Losing because of constant mental gaffes is another. As is calling 2 yard dumps when you need to score two TDs to win the game.

I think people are afraid of change because we've seen so damn much over the last decade but not changing because of stuff 10 years ago or 7 years ago is not the reason you don't. You don't because you legitimately see progress. I don't. The half of the team that should be giving up less points and yards is a sieve and was even without the injures. Let's be real having Merriweather makes little difference. We get no pressure, our blitzes are ineffective. It's infuriating to see Carolina get to RGIII with 4 lineman and we bring 7 and Cam has an hour to throw. The schemes are inept. Banks still screws us in field possession, and I've never seen one team take so many illegal blocks in the back.

[70th Week]

I agree with you it could get "Tampa Bay 2011" bad if the Eagles lose there next two games (Saints and Dallas) and come into Fedex with a 3-6 record and we get blown out of the water coming off a buy week.

Bwahaha, that would be hilarious...why? because I could see it happening.

[gortiz]

How many other teams have we seen do it while we continue to falter with multiple regimes? A competent GM can turn around a team rather quickly.

Alot ...

Ravens, Falcons, 49'ers, 2004 Giants to a lesser degree (after they got Eli it took Couglin one year to get to playoffs), Cardinals (it took Wisenhunt 1 year to get to playoffs)


You can sit here and come with a bevy of reasons why these teams are different than the skins (Ravens had Ray, 49'ers had a bunch of 1st round picks) but the proof is in the pudding. These teams had rookie head coaches (except for Coughlin) and they all got to the playoffs within in one year of taking over ... and all these teams had losing records the year before their new coaches came on.

[skinsforlife101]

Alot ...

Ravens, Falcons, 49'ers, 2004 Giants to a lesser degree (after they got Eli it took Couglin one year to get to playoffs), Cardinals (it took Wisenhunt 1 year to get to playoffs)


You can sit here and come with a bevy of reasons why these teams are different than the skins (Ravens had Ray, 49'ers had a bunch of 1st round picks) but the proof is in the pudding. These teams had rookie head coaches (except for Coughlin) and they all got to the playoffs within in one year of taking over ... and all these teams had losing records the year before their new coaches came on.

Even though they may not make the playoffs You could add this years Colts to that list to what they are doing without there head coach is impressive

[konga2145]

First of all, I think the "evaluating players" comment is being a tad overblown. He probably shouldn't have said it, but honestly, when I saw it, I thought he was alluding to evaluating players over the bye week. His timing there wasn't very good, but I'm not taking that as a sign of him quitting on the season. A bit of over-sensitivity from the fans if you ask me.

But the fans are sensitive for good reason. It isn't fair to pin 20 years of frustration on a guy that's only been here for 2.5 years of it, but that's reality--- just like politics or anything else in life. When you take the job, you accept the heat. The minute our season looks like it's going to be lost to another November/December of meaningless games, the fans revolt and express their anger. It has happened every year now for at least a decade and it makes life very uneasy and uncomfortable for whoever is calling the shots.

That "bottoming out" moment happened yesterday with the loss to the Panthers. It was a dreadful performance. One we've seen over and over again around this time of the year.

I get frustrated easily...I'll even give up on competitive parts of the season easily, but I don't lose HOPE that easily. I'll hold out hope for a coach/season/player probably too long before I throw in the towel. I haven't thrown the towel yet, but for the first time in the Shanny era, I picked it up yesterday. I have it in hand.

With Zorn, I knew it was bad after 2008, but I gave him about 5/6 games into 2009 before I gave up on him (2009 is still the season where I lost interest the earliest ever). It was about the 10th game in 2003 when I threw in the towel on Spurrier. I was as patient with Norv as one could possibly be....I threw in the towel week 4 of 1998....then again in November of 2000 (that dude continues to have nine lives).

I still hold out hope for Shanny....he's done some nice things. But the results aren't adding up. No matter what the personell situation, the team shouldn't get WORSE as the season progresses. Madieu Williams is no worse today than he was five weeks ago. No reason we can put out a really good effort week 5 vs Atlanta and then lay eggs in weeks 8 and 9.

You want a reason to care about the rest of this season?

How about watching to see if our head coach is any good anymore?

Because a good coaching staff would find a way to make this team better over the final seven weeks.

We've had some tough breaks this year...some really damaging injuries and a few bad luck instances on the field. The team was highly competitive through 7 weeks and then has died the past two weeks. Now, they have a bye week to look at things, regroup, and maybe get some guys a bit healthy. Maybe RG3 has hit a wall as well and needs a week to clear his head.

I should probably just give up right now. Give up on the season and on this staff. I don't blame anyone who has already. I have a close friend who did not watch the game yesterday and said after 20 years he's officially done. We're talking about a die-hard here...but he says he is distancing himself and will only watch if they are on national TV and he has nothing else to do. He says he believes the organization to be hopeless beyond repair and he will no longer subject hinmself to it; not even RG3 has renwed his hope.

I'm not there and likely never will be. It is too much a part of who I am and too much a part of my social calander in the fall. I look forward to football all year and then anticipate each game. In the old days we got AT LEAST 16 weekends per year of anticipation and excitment. Now, we might only get 6 or 7...maybe 10 on a good year, but it's still better than nothing. At least that's how I look at it.

I'll give them one more game, or two more weeks, however you want to look at it. I'll give them a chance to regroup. But the team that takes the field against the Eagles needs to be markedly better than the one that left it vs Carolina.

The season can still be saved. Not in terms of playoffs or making a January run or anything like that, but in terms of feeling good about 2012. It is hanging by a thread, but it's still there. FIVE division games over the last seven provides an opportunity for the Redskins to make an impact and change the culture/expectations a bit.

Here's what will probably happen. I be downtrodden and blah about the Redskins until around this time next week. Then, I'll focus a bit on the Eagles game and convince myself that one win could really turn things for the team. Beat the Eagles and carry that momentum into Thanksgiving....then if you beat Dallas, all of a sudden the season looks pretty darn good. So, I'll think about that and come the morning of the Eagles game I'll be excited enough. Then, they will probably disappoint me...they will probably be a bit better than last week, but not good enough. They will lose and then all hope for the year will be officially lost...at 3-7 not even the world's biggest homer/optimist could get jazzed for Dallas (and I'll be there).

But until it happens I'll hold out hope that this staff can figure out a way to reverse our 20 year trends.

But the towel is in my hands...once I throw it, it's over. I've never been wrong on that before. I've never given up on a player or coach and then had them come back and prove me wrong. Never once. I'm pretty patient and I want to believe so bad that I likely give them too many chances. Once I toss that towel, even if he were to come back next year, I'd expect it to end in disappointment.

C'mon Mike....you have two weeks...show me something.

Gonna throw something out there. Dallas and Giants lost yesterday, and I feel the Eagles are going to lose tonight. Everyone in NFC East lost so we are in same position as we were in last week. T here is a good chanch that Carolina just took it to us cause they wanted it more. I'm guessing we come out of bye beating Eagles and going to Dallas on Thanksgiving with a chanch of being 5-6. Giants play some tough teams 2nd half. I also read that the Panthers were pretty ticked off when they got here and gave us their best game. Bad day thats all, We will bounce back.

[pjfootballer]

We need a friggin normal offseason with no surprises for once, that would be nice.

This is the only thing that I give them the benefit of the doubt on. We haven't had a normal offseason in the 3 years that Shanahan has been in charge. With a great draft and a good free agent haul at the begining, I was thinking that we are finally flying under the radar. No more Haynesworth conditioning tests, no more McNabb whining and no more strike/lockout. That we were finally just able to focus on football. Then Capgate blew that quiet offseason out of the water.

---------- Post added November-5th-2012 at 04:11 PM ----------

I didn't watch the second half of the game yesterday. For the first time that I can remember in over 25 yrs, I said screw it. I'm doing something else. I didn't watch the 4pm games. I didn't watch Dallas lose to Atlanta. I watched the Walking Dead and Homeland. I was much happier because of it.

I did the same thing. I read the paper during the 2nd half while the Broncos game was on and then started watching a James Bond marathon on BBC America. Had all the old Bond movies. It just wasn't worth my bloodpressure.

[thesubmittedone]

This is the only thing that I give them the benefit of the doubt on. We haven't had a normal offseason in the 3 years that Shanahan has been in charge. With a great draft and a good free agent haul at the begining, I was thinking that we are finally flying under the radar. No more Haynesworth conditioning tests, no more McNabb whining and no more strike/lockout. That we were finally just able to focus on football. Then Capgate blew that quiet offseason out of the water.

Yup, and I'm going to keep reiterating this overlooked fact until I'm blue in the face here. It needs to be said and acknowledged. Some things aren't fair and do have an affect, as much as we'd like to be all tough and say it doesn't matter. It does matter. So, no, it doesn't have to take 3 years for a staff to field a competitive team but it does when you've got all these external conditions negatively affecting this rebuild to little to no fault of said staff.

[TheLongshot]

I didn't watch the second half of the game yesterday. For the first time that I can remember in over 25 yrs, I said screw it. I'm doing something else. I didn't watch the 4pm games. I didn't watch Dallas lose to Atlanta. I watched the Walking Dead and Homeland. I was much happier because of it.

To be honest, that's a healthy way to deal with crappy seasons. It is good to do other things to keep your mental sanity. It wouldn't be the first time that after a bad loss that I took football out of the equation.

I don't expect much from the Skins these days. But, I do expect the basics to be covered (that's too much to ask, I know). Things like coaching, effort, pride, etc. Ya know, things that professionals do. Sadly, I see a bunch of amateurs out there--guys cashing pay checks and not playing together. Guys pointing fingers and not leading. I see a locker room in disarray and coaching staff that has abandoned ship with half a season to go.

Show me something, Mike, you say? What could he possibly show you that you haven't already seen? Lackluster effort? No game plan? No second half adjustments? Dumb penalties? Loss of composure by players and coaches? Blocked punts and extra points? What could he possibly show you, realistically, that would make you think he deserves to coach this team? I'm afraid the answer is nothing.

We have a long, long road back to mediocrity. Thank goodness we've been given a talent like RGIII. Now, let's get some coaches in here that know what to do with him and the defense.

I don't think things are quite as bad as the end of the Zorn era, which was pretty much a circus and no one had any reason to care about anything but an exit plan. Should Shanahan be fired? No. New QB is working well in the current offensive system and that probably shouldn't change. But, many other things should change. While many liked our drafts, it hasn't lead to very many impact players. FA has also mostly been a bust with this FO as well. I remember there was a tidbit before this season talking about the large amount of players who have played under Shanahan since he got here. I didn't see that number being a positive. I see it as a coach who has a hard time finding good players to fit his system. Maybe he needs to let go of that control to a stronger personnel guy. I think Haslett should go. A good coach should be able to figure out how to get solid performances out of mediocre players, but he's not even doing that much.

Here's the thing: Joe Gibbs took over a team that was arguably worse off than the one Shanahan took over, and he was able to make it competitive in two years. Other coaches have been able to make similar turnarounds relatively quickly. The fact we are staring at the third straight bad season under Shanahan isn't good no matter how you slice it.

[kleese]

Is this the worst I've felt?

Uh, no. It's just "normal" at this point. I felt hopeless after we started 0-7 in 1998 in Norv's FIFTH year. I felt hopeless two years later when we lost to the Giants 9-7 and finally fired Norv. I felt hopeless midway through 2003. I felt awful after ST's death and the disgusting loss to the Bills. I felt hopeless from almost the start of 2009.

Now, I am feeling that way again.

Is it rock bottom?

Maybe we just never got up?

[Bishop Hammer]

agreed...how many Coaches have demanded the GM role and got it and have been successful? As far as I can remember, only Holmgren did it in his first 2-3 years in Seattle (losing the SuperBowl with Hasselbeck) and then that team disintegrated quickly.
My prediction for next year: Shanny gets fired (the whole staff goes, except for maybe Raheem Morris), Bruce Allen becomes true GM and reunites with Gruden.

Holmgren's Seahawks didn't reach the Superbowl until well after he lost his general manager powers. As soon as a real GM took over the team had a great turnaround. Which would be the best scenario to happen here.

[Xero21]

We were 90 seconds from the division lead. 2 games and 90 seconds later, the season is over.

Seeing that written in those words is mind-blowing. Wow.

[DM72]

That Eagles game could be ugly. Remember 2010. We come off the bye 4-4 and play the Eagles. 59-28 losing 6 of final 8 games.

That Eagles team isn't nearly as explosive as that team was. Has DJax been the same since he took the vicious hit?

[akorn22]

Shanahan needs to protect RG3 as much as possible. He needs to start incorporating a normal offense and some point, and at the end of the season, he MUST FIRE Jim Haslett. If these changes are not made, Snyder should very seriously consider firing shanahan.

[Destino]

Question for all of you on this subject. When you watch the Redskins, do they look like a well coached team?