A Clear Perspective on Today....

Today is Christmas Eve! Let's look at the positives. Campbell continues to impress me! It is becoming obvious that sitting Campbell has helped him to come in and excel more than if he had been thrown to the wolves right off the bat. Secondly, Ladell Betts continues to impress me. I don't care what any idiot might say about his fumble today, Betts is important to us, and a huge reason why our offense is getting better each week. I'm becoming more impressed with Carter. He is coming around and finally starting to give us the pass rush that has been absent from our defense...even when our defense was ranked #1. Next, we have FINALLY found us a good field goal kicker! If we had this guy earlier in the season, we'd probably be playing for a final playoff spot. Lastly, our offensive line continues to improve with pass protection -- that in turn, helps Jason Campbell's development.

All in all, even if we wind up 5-11, I don't believe it reflects how much better this team is now compared to earlier in the season. We have alot to look forward to!

i am the ultimate homer, but... you have alot more faith then me. but i do see reasons for optimism. and merry christmas

Suisham has been decent, but I think we've lowered our expectations at that position lately. I'd be nervous with needing him to kick a 50 yarder for the win.

Suisham has been decent, but I think we've lowered our expectations at that position lately. I'd be nervous with needing him to kick a 50 yarder for the win.


I have the same feeling. As much as I don't like the Skins dooling out big bucks to all the top tier free agents, I wouldn't mind them going after Josh Brown on the Seahawks in the offseason.

I see positives, but more so from the coaching staff.

I see that the staff has defined the offense's identity. Early in the season we didn't know if the Skins were a running team or a throwing/finesse team. It's obvious Gibbs has made his mark, we are all about power running now.

I see Gregg Williams analyzing the Cover 2 defenses and how offenses have exploited it. Just knowing that he has a bead on the problem makes me feel better, I think he'll find the solution.

From a player standpoint, I saw a major difference between our defense when Shawn Springs was healthy the last few weeks compared to when he wasn't (today, and early in the season). That highlights the importance of CB play in this defense, and I think GW recognizes that, and he'll take care of it in the offseason.

I'm also thrilled with the offensive line. Every offense starts there. They're giving Campbell a great chance to develop. If a young QB is getting killed back there, it's the quickest way to derail his devolpment. Campbell has a chance to go through his reads and make throws; he has time in the pocket to learn how to look a safety off and go from 1st option, to 2nd, to 3rd. And he has a running game to take pressure off of him.

I'm also pleased with the special teams units. Punt coverage is spectacular. We're blocking punts and kicks occasionally, Randle-El is effective on punt returns, and so is Rock on kickoffs.

There are plenty of disappointments, but if we sure up the defense with just a couple of players, and continue to recognize that our identity is power running, then I think we'll make the playoffs next season.

Merry Christmas guys.

Merry Christmas Skins Fans!

Its just a shame that the offseason takes so long...

How about super bowl...

Then one week off for the combine...

The next weekend is the draft...

A week to sign them...

Start of Camp...which only needs to be two weeks since there isnt a big break.

Preseason should start around what, April then? lol

I knew Shawn Springs had a rep for being brittle but this is just ridiculous. The man should simply not be playing football for a living.

Seems like so much of a kicker's game is confidence. Most of them have the leg to go 49 or so, 50+ is a gift. Suisham seems confident right now, why go and do what we've always done and screw with chemistry and bring in a mercenary who has a horrible season?

Josh Brown has missed plenty of FG's in his career... ~72-75% career is not really that impressive to me, personally. We simply don't know enough about Suisham to know what he may be capable of. Parcells just hates kickers anyway. He's kicking above 88% for us this season so far...

Carter seems like he finally turned the corner, and that makes me somewhat relieved. Too bad it seems like Sean Taylor and the rest of the defense took 3 steps back. That scares the crap out of me. On the bright side, it really cannot get much worse than this next year.

Campbell gives me much joy. I just hope we do not break this kid by continuing to waste his best years.

Suisham has been decent, but I think we've lowered our expectations at that position lately. I'd be nervous with needing him to kick a 50 yarder for the win.

I dunno...I mean he kicked, what, a 51 yarder yesterday and it looked like it could've went for 58. I have alot more confidence in Suisham than what we have had at that position.

If we look at our negatives from this stand point...at least we know now exactly what problems we HAVE to address in the offseason. Earlier in the season, it seemed like the entire team was off --- from the coaches down to the waterboy. I believe we have a better understanding of what kind of team we are offensively, and what areas on our defense that must be addressed. It's just too bad that our team started coming together a little late in the season, but it's better late than never.

I dunno...I mean he kicked, what, a 51 yarder yesterday and it looked like it could've went for 58. I have alot more confidence in Suisham than what we have had at that position.

That's exactly my point - more confidence than what we have had the last 10 years is not exactly a high bar to meet. At this point, simply hitting 80% from inside 40 yard would be awe inspiring by comparison. However, we need to expect more from our kicking game. We need 40-50 yard consistency, plus the ability to hit the 50+ yarder on occasion. I don't know that we have that in Suisham, and we owe it to ourselves to test the market in the off season to see if anybody is available.

That's exactly my point - more confidence than what we have had the last 10 years is not exactly a high bar to meet. At this point, simply hitting 80% from inside 40 yard would be awe inspiring by comparison. However, we need to expect more from our kicking game. We need 40-50 yard consistency, plus the ability to hit the 50+ yarder on occasion. I don't know that we have that in Suisham, and we owe it to ourselves to test the market in the off season to see if anybody is available.

I don't believe bringing in some other kickers and choosing the best one is a bad idea, but I wouldn't make that an area of concern over some other glaring concerns right now for us..which is the secondary and adding depth to our defensive line. Getting pro bowl kickers are few and far between anyways. I don't believe we have seen enough of Suisham to say he just isn't cutting it, but what little I have seen from him has been pretty good. Heck, Novak or Hall wasn't even hittin' the ones inside 40 yards, let alone outside 40+. Suisham has, at least in the limited amount of times we've seen him. Which in my opinion, I'd rather just see him out there when he comes in to kick the PAT....lol! ;)