some perspective on the season so far

There are about 5 games you're going to win regardless and 5 games you're going to lose regardless - its the other 6 games that make or break the season.

This was one of the 5 games the Skins were NOT going to win, and they knew that as they got on the bus. It showed in every aspect of the game - they packed it in.


You are correct in your way of thinking because as much as I was hoping we would win that game yesterday, I knew our chances were slim. The Giants had two weeks to prepare, they were desperate to get a win. and we were coming off an emotional high of the last two weeks. It's difficult enough to win three games in a row in the NFL, and further complicated when you have to play a divisional foe on the road. Plus the Giants have weapons, you can't look at them and say "we should win this game". I was not totally shocked by the outcome of yesterday's game.

The Giants were well prepared...the Redskins were riding emotions off a huge home victory. Sometimes those things are ingredients for a big let down. It's always been tough winning in the Meadowlands. I don't believe this spells doom and gloom for this team, nor do I feel it's time to start pointing at one game and deciding it's the reason why we MAY NOT make it to the playoffs. I believe things will get better.

Matty, I going to start referring to you as The Eye of the Storm. As much chaos and "we suck" posting that blows around the Warpath you manage to bring solace and comfort to those caught amidst the turbulent waters of doubt and confusion.

Darn, you sound like a poet (he, he). In all seriousness I can't say I'm terribly upset--just disappointed. I have complete confidence in Gibbs; just not sure about what's happening to the rest of the group. On a positive note, we seem to have a lot of guys with good character, and that will be the biggest factor in bouncing back from a loss like this.

Matty I agree with the theme of your post, but the problem for me is that I had high hopes for this team at the start of the season.

I thought we could be a serious SB contender, but to do so we'd need home-field or at least a first round bye in the playoffs. But I also knew this would be almost impossible given our tough division. The Bears and Seahawks are both good teams, and their schedules are a joke compared to ours. Still I agree with this:

I disagree that the Giants game should have been counted as a loss in the beginning of the season. The Giants aren't very good. A good team would have put 40 on us yesterday. If we had just played average we would have had a chance. When I look at the schedule, yesterday's game was one they needed to win. This team was supposed to be a threat to win it all this year. There window of opportunity is closing very quickly. They cannot wait until December to get serious this year.

IMO a real SB contender finds a way to win that Vikings game at home (though the Vikes were better than expected). The Bears did just that against the Vikes and they weren't at home.

And I understand our division is tough, but is 4-2 in the division so much to ask for from a supposed SB contender? Like 70Chip said I don't think the Giants are very good and they were teetering on the brink of collapse. We could have ended their season right there. But we don't seem to have the urgency.

And what's worse is...

I don't think we have the talent.

I think there is hope for the offense. We have tons of weapons and I have faith in the scheme. When we've looked good we really do look like Saunders' Chiefs and it's fun to watch. But this offense all depends on the O-line, and like others have mentioned, I think ours is average at best. This is the highest paid unit on our team and they must earn it if we're gonna be a serious contender. I hope in time they can become more consistent (and cut down on the penalties!) as they learn the new scheme. But time is running out.

And the D scares the hell out of me, that's all I can really say about it. Springs and Prioleau out are killing us, but still. We haven't stopped ANYBODY. Leftwich ripped us apart all game and we blew a 10-point 4th quarter lead at home like nothing. If we lose that OT coin-flip, we lose that game.

I guess I can summarize like this:

Let's say theoretically the Skins rally back, get into the playoffs, and even win a 1st round game. Does anybody really think this team can go into Chicago or Seattle (or both) and win? From what I've seen so far, I think the Bears would murder poor Brunell, and I shudder to think what Hasselbeck and the Seahawks would do to our D.

Right now the Super Bowl seems very far away.

wilbon writing an article that makes sense? the one thing i didn't like about the game yesterday was, after halftime, we are playing like crap, no adjustments, and no sense of urgency
I was thinking ..well it's close at halftime .. we are in good shape..They will make the adjustments.... Like against Jacksonville....Just didn't happen...

First off I am not going to go negative, I did too much of that last year, and engaged in way too much Brunell bashing, which does not lead anything constructive. Joe Gibbs believes in Brunell, so that is good enough for me, I am just Joe the Fan, like they say on the John Thompson show on AM 980 here in DC. If we look back at one of the greatest Redskin teams of all time it was quaterbacked by Mark Rypien, who I remembered has a dubious stretch were he set a record for fumbles, obviously not during the 1991 season. Anyhow there are plenty of games left, this team still needs to gel, like it did last year on it's playoff march. Hopefully that will happen soon. If the team can win these next two games, I think they can set up Dallas to walk into a buzz saw at Fed Ex, and then start something special this season. Hail to the Redskins.

I'm with Matty. Actually, when the schedules were posted several months ago, My sons and I put down the "W"s and "L"s to see how well we could call it. So far, I'm only off with the Viking loss; the other 4 I've been right. Not that I don't believe in our team, but I see a win next week, a loss following that (Indy coming off of a bye)... then we start running the table.
"Indy coming off a bye.." Why is it we play 3 teams coming off of byes??? cowboys, giants and colts?.. Any other teams in the league have to play 3 teams coming off of byes in their schedules? Seems like a lot.

"Indy coming off a bye.." Why is it we play 3 teams coming off of byes??? cowboys, giants and colts?.. Any other teams in the league have to play 3 teams coming off of byes in their schedules? Seems like a lot.

The funny thing is, the Giants had only won four out of their last 23 games coming off the bye week. Unfortunately, three of those four wins were against Washington...

Matty, I agree that 2-3 isn't that farfetched, but I don't think anyone would have predicted an 0-3 conference record. If the Skins don't right the ship in a hurry, we're looking at almost no chance of enjoying the upper hand we had in division/conference tie-breakers last season. As for the Wilbon article, he's correct that we shouldn't be surprised by a loss, but it's the way the team offered no resistance that is so disappointing. At least Dallas put up a fight in Philly. Boswell's column captured the essense of the second Gibbs regime - this team only gets up for a game when it's backed in a corner.

9-7 probably won't make the playoffs this year, especially with the nasty tiebreaker situation we currently find ourselves in (0-2 division, 0-3 conference).

We need to get to 10-6.

As you look at the schedule, you gotta figure we're in trouble when we go to Indy and go to Philly. If we lose those two games, we're up to 5 losses.

That means we'd have to go 8-1 against our three division opponents at home, the Titans, Rams, Saints, Falcons, Panthers and Buccaneers.

Do we all realize what an uphill battle that is? We either need to steal a big one from the Colts or when we go to Philly, or need to come up absolutely huge in November and December.

Being at 2-3 is not something the team should have expected, nor should we be saying oh gee that's par for the course given our schedule. We're in a big big hole. We can still climb out of it, but I can't accept 2-3 as some kind of acceptable situation.