I Just Don't Understand Why Gibbs is SOOO Scared!

[kleese]

It's a bit of a cliche' on this board, but I think it has some serious merit:

Joe Gibbs coaches scared, period.

--I think the team plays very hard, which is a credit to Gibbs.

--I think we've done a nice job of replenishing the roster since this crew came along, which is a credit to Gibbs.

--I think, as an organization, we've finally reached some level of organization and stability, which is a credit to Gibbs.

But for the life of me, I can't figure out why he is so afraid on Sundays?

Yesterday, the game was fairly ugly, but when we took the 21-6 lead, I was 100% fine with what was going on.

But from that point, rather than trying to put the game away, Gibbs basically seems to stare at the clock and try and "will it" to run out before Arizona can rally.

I am not in saying that we needed to throw Hail Mary's or abandon the running game, etc....

But our playcalling became so stagnant down the stretch.....I realize that Saunders calls the plays, but ultimately, the head coach is responsible.

Portis was NOT good yesterday at all. As a matter of fact, he's been average at best all year. If he's ONLY as good as the OL, then why are we paying him so much? He has shown ZERO explosion this year.

Yet, we run the same basic plays that were failing all day....over and over again.

And when we did pass, every route was run within a tiny box near the line of scrimmage. No stretching the field. Made it very easy for Arizona to "close in" on us.

One thing I'm not sure about is how much of this is Campbell's fault. Is he checking down too soon? Is he not using his legs enough? Without the benefit of coaches film, I'm just not sure. But even on TV, I could tell that our WR's weren't running very deep routes.

Last week, when we were losing, the playcalling was fine. They gave JC opportunities to make plays.....it's just that the WR's didn't make any plays.

The problem with this "philosophy" is that it ruins great defensive efforts. Through three quarters, the Redskins D was dominant. But with the offense doing NOTHING to help, the D gradually wears down and the Cards wind up putting up nice numbers and almost winning the stupid game.

Overall, I'm pleased to be at 4-2.

And in actuality, this next game really isn't too important. It's a road game against an AFC team. Win ONE of the next two and we're 5-3 at the midway point, which is a nice rebound from last year.

But I'd think Gibbs' approach causes a tension that filters throughout the team and may hold us back from being a little better than we are.

[BigMike619]

I agree with everything you have said, but I just hope that we can get our O line back intact and show once again that we are dominating on O.

I cant fully blame Portis for anything; when he had opportunities he did stuff with it. He did actually score 2 TDs for us and looked good when he could.

I put most of this on Gibbs and the coaches. We arent doing something during halftime to get these guys to stay focused and motivated to come back out and kill. It seems like they just take naps and do aroma therapy while they are back there and come back and sleep walk their way thru the second half.

Our D is just so tired because they are on the field so damn much. This will end up killing them and wearing them out and our place will go down further and further.

HTTR but we need to get a killer instinct shot up.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Your last sentence is nothing but the truth. When your coach plays conservatively, you go in to hiding mode. Portis starts to get eaten up at the line and the WRs go cold. The best thing we could do is throw some nice medium range passes to Cooley or our WRs. Run the play action, get the defense on its heels.

But Gibbs sits on leads and makes the other team earn the win. We have to earn it ourselves, Gibbs didn't relax late in the 2nd quarter against Denver in the SB...

I do have to disagree to extent with Portis. Our Oline was outclassed by the talent on their DL. Especially the interior. I don't think Dickerson would have had 100 yards yesterday, that is, unless the playcalling was a tad more methodical.

[RalphZero]

Originally Posted by kleese

Overall, I'm pleased to be at 4-2.

4-2 means the Redskins have 2 more wins than losses. 4 of their first 6 games have been home games.

4 of their next 5 games are road games.

Look at the Remainder of their schedule.

At Patriots
At Jets
Eagles
At Cowboys
At Bucs
Bills
Bears
At Giants
At Vikings
Cowboys

The Redskins will need to go at least 5-5 in their last 10 games to get a wildcard spot (9-7). I don't see how they will be able to do 5-5.

The only definite win is the Bills. The rest of these games are either a definite loss of could go either way. The 3 definite losses are at Patriots, at Cowboys and at Giants. The Jets, Bucs and Vikings are road games. The Eagles and Bears will be tough.

I just don't see how the Redskins make the playoffs.

At this point, it looks like the Redskins will be 3-7 for their last 10 games, ending the season with a 7-9 record.

[radagast5]

Originally Posted by kleese

It's a bit of a cliche' on this board, but I think it has some serious merit:

Joe Gibbs coaches scared, period.

--I think the team plays very hard, which is a credit to Gibbs.

--I think we've done a nice job of replenishing the roster since this crew came along, which is a credit to Gibbs.

--I think, as an organization, we've finally reached some level of organization and stability, which is a credit to Gibbs.

But for the life of me, I can't figure out why he is so afraid on Sundays?

He's afraid of losing.

4-2 is our record. He keeps coaching "scared" because it works. Again, we're 4-2, and are two plays away from 6-0.

This isn't fun. This isn't pretty. But it works. Remember, Baltimore and Tampa have ridden this exact blueprint to multiple playoff appearances and Super Bowl titles.

And for what it's worth, I'll flat-out guarantee the offense will be wide-open on Sunday. Well, assuming the healthy 2/5ths of our OL doesn't slip and fall in a vat of acid during practice; then all bets are off.

[kleese]

Ralph--- I think that's a tad pessimistic. Put a gun to my head and I pick us 5-5 down the stretch, finishing at 9-7 and the last wildcard.

But even if we went 4-6 and finished at 8-8 out of the playoffs....it's still a three win improvement from last year.

[Horatio]

I'm just amazed that a team can win when they only gain 160 yard of offense.

[Henry]

I've said it in two other threads this morning, but these thread keep popping up so I guess I'll say it again.

We had one healthy starter on our OL this week. We had to start three backups, one of which was so hurt he didn't practice all week. Our offensive line is gone.

With a lead and that defense, get out of there with a win any way you can. Worry about style points when you have the horses.

[Stophovr6]

Originally Posted by Henry

I've said it in two other threads this morning, but these thread keep popping up so I guess I'll say it again.

We had one healthy starter on our OL this week. We had to start three backups, one of which was so hurt he didn't practice all week. Our offensive line is gone.

With a lead and that defense, get out of there with a win any way you can. Worry about style points when you have the horses.

I'd love to buy this but I can't.

Maybe I will when our "horses" are back but we have plenty of studs out on the field sundays not doing a damn thing.

[BigMike619]

Originally Posted by radagast5

He's afraid of losing.

4-2 is our record. He keeps coaching "scared" because it works. Again, we're 4-2, and are two plays away from 6-0.

This isn't fun. This isn't pretty. But it works. Remember, Baltimore and Tampa have ridden this exact blueprint to multiple playoff appearances and Super Bowl titles.

And for what it's worth, I'll flat-out guarantee the offense will be wide-open on Sunday. Well, assuming the healthy 2/5ths of our OL doesn't slip and fall in a vat of acid during practice; then all bets are off.

I think that we are 2 plays away because he played scared. If he came out and put up 14 or 21 in second halfs then we wouldnt have to worry about a damn thing.

But 4-2 is 4-2 no matter how you look at it.

[Henry]

Originally Posted by Stophovr6

I'd love to buy this but I can't.

Maybe I will when our "horses" are back but we have plenty of studs out on the field sundays not doing a damn thing.

Like who? I keep hearing this. Who are our studs?

Moss? Hasn't played well in two years.

ARE? A solid #2 WR. Yipee.

Lloyd? Another solid #2 if he has his head straight.

Campbell? Second year guy with gobs of potential. That doesn't make him a stud yet.

Cooley? There's one. We have a great TE. But he's not Gates. You can't center an offense around him, and with our OL all but gone we don't have the luxury of sending out our TE as much as we'd like.

Sellers? Love the guy. I know he's a fan favorite, but a playmaker he isn't.

I think some of you all are overrating the talent on this team. Our WR corps is average. Our RBs are solid, but have NO line to block for them. Our QB is still learning the game. The strength of this offense is the OL. We lean on it, and punch defenses in the face with it, and when they are wiping their bloody nose we hit the long bomb.

That line is gone. Completely and utterly gone. How can anyone not notice the drop-off in this offense each time a starter has left the field?

Hopefully we'll get Rabach back soon. And Wade will be back to 100% soon. And Kendall will be back to 100% soon. And Heyer will be back to spell Wade soon. And someday, we might get Thomas back too. Then we might be able to start punching people in the face again.

Until then, we'll be eke-ing out wins any way we can get them, and thrilled when we do.

[PeterMP]

Originally Posted by RalphZero

4-2 means the Redskins have 2 more wins than losses. 4 of their first 6 games have been home games.

4 of their next 5 games are road games.

Look at the Remainder of their schedule.

At Patriots
At Jets
Eagles
At Cowboys
At Bucs
Bills
Bears
At Giants
At Vikings
Cowboys

The Redskins will need to go at least 5-5 in their last 10 games to get a wildcard spot (9-7). I don't see how they will be able to do 5-5.

The only definite win is the Bills. The rest of these games are either a definite loss of could go either way. The 3 definite losses are at Patriots, at Cowboys and at Giants. The Jets, Bucs and Vikings are road games. The Eagles and Bears will be tough.

I just don't see how the Redskins make the playoffs.

At this point, it looks like the Redskins will be 3-7 for their last 10 games, ending the season with a 7-9 record.

The Jets should be a win. Pennington might be benched by then. The Eagles are in self-destruct mode. McNabb might be benched by then. The Vikings aren't very good (a 1 dimensional offense), and probably by then Peterson will have hit the rookie wall, and as you stated the Bills (of the group of them it seems like the Bills are the ones tha might actually be building to being pretty good). Now, given we are talking about the NFL, I think they are likely to lose one of those games. Between the rest, they need two wins (the Giants, the Cowboys twice, Tampa Bay, and the Bears). Wether they get in or not might depend on which of those teams they beat and the tie breaker status.

[radagast5]

Originally Posted by BigMike619

I think that we are 2 plays away because he played scared. If he came out and put up 14 or 21 in second halfs then we wouldnt have to worry about a damn thing.

But 4-2 is 4-2 no matter how you look at it.

But if you play the type of offense that can score 14 or 21 in a second half, then you're also *much* more likely to have some very big defensive plays go against you, especially when your OL is nearly vaporized and you have a QB starting his 14th game.

[Bryan81]

Yeah like many coaches in any league any more it seems like the Redskins are trying not to lose rather then going balls out for the win. I hope this philosophy changes. to many close games that are unnecessarily close.

[sonsofwashington]

If Snyder invests in stell cell research maybe we can clone Samuels? Imagine 5 Samuels up front. 8-)