Gibbs will be back next year

Well considering we're without Portis most of this season, Moss for about half, along with Springs and a TON of other key defenders...we can't possibly have THAT bad of injury luck again. Add in that Jason Campbell will have some good experience behind his cannon arm, we should be pretty good next year.

This season has been unreal with the key injuries we've had. The Skins have one of the best RB AND one of the best WRs in the NFL and have lost them both this year. NO team could survive that blow on offense and NO team could survive losing most of their secondary and D-Line at the same time.

Throw in the revolving door for kickers along with a change to a rookie QB and we're lucky to have as many wins as we do.

Next year will be better. It will be a good year. :)

Moss hasn't been out that much. And of the 12 games we've played, Portis has started 7, and played in 8. His presence wasn't that big of a factor when he was playing. Springs being out hurt in the beginning, but at full strength we'd still be having problems on the D.

Also, not many teams can say they've had the kind of stability we've had at the O-line.

Blaming this season on injuries would be an incredible cop-out.

You can't blame only the injuries, but they were a factor. I don't think we ever played one game at full strength or anywhere near it. It seems like we were always missing key guys every week.

If this team stinks up pre-season again and goes 50%or under on wins next year will Gibbs still have a "pass" to coach the 5th season of his contract?

Looking at the Skins coaching moves last year, is the plan of Gibbs leaving this team after year 5 still make sense?

Based on those coaching moves would Gibbs have to be a GM to make this year coaching moves stable for the Skins in the year after Gibbs retires?

Lot of talk about the stability Gibbs brings, but is there stability once he leaves or moves out of the heading coaching job?

Moss hasn't been out that much. And of the 12 games we've played, Portis has started 7, and played in 8. His presence wasn't that big of a factor when he was playing. Springs being out hurt in the beginning, but at full strength we'd still be having problems on the D.

Also, not many teams can say they've had the kind of stability we've had at the O-line.

Blaming this season on injuries would be an incredible cop-out.

I agree that injuries are a reality in the NFL, not an excuse.

Yes, they have played a role, but in the end I think it has had little to do with the overall performance of the team this year.

Just checked NFL.com:

Along the D-line, Cornelius Griffin has played in 10 of 12 games, Salave'a in 9 of 12, and no time has been missed by the two starting D-ends, Daniels and Carter.

Other than Springs, the D has had virtually a clean bill of health.

And that's what's scary.

Except in some cases I think guys were playing when they shouldn't have been. Griffin and Salave'a have definitely played hurt when they probably should have been sitting, which was a detriment

Rogers missed a start and Vincent has been out lately. Prioleau was done from the start. Daniels always seems to be nursing a bad back. Griffin hasn't been as effective this year as in the past. Marshall seems to be hampered by his shoulder. Big Joe has simply lost his job anyway to Golston.

Injuries happen to every team and it certainly doesn't full excuse their piss poor performances this year. But they have been a factor to some degree.

Rogers missed a start and Vincent has been out lately. Prioleau was done from the start. Daniels always seems to be nursing a bad back. Griffin hasn't been as effective this year as in the past. Marshall seems to be hampered by his shoulder. Big Joe has simply lost his job anyway to Golston.

Injuries happen to every team and it certainly doesn't full excuse their piss poor performances this year. But they have been a factor to some degree.

But that's life in the NFL, Matty. All teams have guys nursing injuries along the way. Heck, the Giants are still in the hunt and they've been missing both DEs for a good portion of the season. Same thing with their LBs.

I forget which team I was wathching the other day, but they were down to their second and third string corners, and we're still holding up well in pass coverage.

All I'm saying is the question isn't whether or not your key guys get injured, it's how well you manage through those injuries. Who's stepping up to fill the role. The good teams seem to always find a way and the mediocre ones don't.

Actually, the injury that I think has hurt us the most is one of the least publicized. Prileaou's (not sure on the spelling but I am just gonna put in a bunch of vowels and hope for the best) injury altered the way they had to approach the secondary - he was a starting quality safety who was more cover man than run stopper, you know the anti-Archuleta. With him, instead of Arch on the nickel and dime packages, the corners are free to blitz OR keep Arch in and play 3 deep with one of the three blitzing and the other two providing covage, etc.

Prelouai (I am resolved to spelling his name with a different vowel combination each time I use it) gave Williams the flexibility he craves in a defensive player. Also, he was an excellent special teams guy (again, the Anti-Archuletta).

But that's life in the NFL, Matty. All teams have guys nursing injuries along the way. Heck, the Giants are still in the hunt and they've been missing both DEs for a good portion of the season. Same thing with their LBs.

I forget which team I was wathching the other day, but they were down to their second and third string corners, and we're still holding up well in pass coverage.

All I'm saying is the question isn't whether or not your key guys get injured, it's how well you manage through those injuries. Who's stepping up to fill the role. The good teams seem to always find a way and the mediocre ones don't.

I'm not disputing that injuries are a part of the NFL.

I'm just saying they are a factor, a factor for every team. Some teams can fight through but it all depends on the severity of the injuries and what key guys are hurt.