Why Doesn't "Gibbs' Football" Work for the Redskins?

Joe Gibbs is not God or Chuck Norris ...but he is still Redskins Football.

winning SB with different QB's signifies that Joe Gibbs football will work

hail to the skins

winning SB with different QB's signifies that Joe Gibbs football will work

hail to the skins

I don't think Gibbs football will work too much better than it has in the last couple of seasons. The game has changed, this isn't the 80s. Defenses usually consist of much better atheletes than the offenses do. Therefore they are quicker to the gap and harder hitting. We really do need to adjust our gameplan a little bit, we still haven't put up over 20 points this year, and if we can't we do it on the Giants, then that's an issue.

I don't think Gibbs football will work too much better than it has in the last couple of seasons. The game has changed, this isn't the 80s. Defenses usually consist of much better atheletes than the offenses do. Therefore they are quicker to the gap and harder hitting. We really do need to adjust our gameplan a little bit, we still haven't put up over 20 points this year, and if we can't we do it on the Giants, then that's an issue.

Exactly how has the game changed? I keep hearing this, but I haven't seen any evidence of it on the field. The teams are still running and passing the ball and having to kick field goals and score touchdowns to score points.

Are you trying to tell me that the defensive players of today hit harder than someone like Lawrence Taylor or Ronnie Lott did in the 80's? Believe me, if the game has changed that much, it isn't because of the defense, but because of the ticky tack rules that the NFL has placed on defenders nowadays. Go back and watch the last Super Bowl the Redskins were in. They threw Jim Kelly and his receivers around all day. Over half of that stuff would be called for personal fouls penalties in today's game.

It all comes back to execution. Joe Gibbs football works and will always work. You just need the right players and the right team chemistry to make it work.

JG's football is scoring points, being physical, and winning. So far in JG's 2 it hasn't been so much of that. So far...

Today's football you are only go to go as far as your QB takes you. Let's face it we haven't had a talented Qb here for a long time. Don't get me wrong i like JC but i can't be sure he is long time starter material. I thought Ramsey was starter material for a long time. He could make some great throws that would make you think this guy is talented. But he's didn't have the intangibles. QB's makes coaches geniuses, generally. Right now we need JC to keep improving and show us he has intangibles.

Now we could get into personel and who started a below average QB for 2 years...

I don't think that Gibbs has changed that much, or that the game of football has changed much since 1992. But the Redskins as an organization have changed a lot.

Now, I love Gibbs and think he belongs in the HoF. But he's inherited a very different team now than he did in 1981. Although the 81 Skins had gone through three so-so seasons under Jack Pardee, they were still not far removed from the George Allen era, and many of the players had carried over from the 70s. There was still that sense of team and organizational pride, the rivalries still meant something (remember Theismann hot-dogging in the end zone against the Cowboys at the end of that MNF game that ended 9-5 in 1978? That was under Pardee!)

The Skins that Gibbs got in 2004 were a very different team. A culture of losing has become entrenched with this club. While the players we have today definitely have a strong sense of individual pride, I don't get any feeling of pride in the team or the Redskins organization. Some of that has to do with free agency, a lot with the difference between Jack Kent Cooke and Snyder, but most most with the culture of losing that's been around since Petibon's terrible '93 season.

I'm not sure how much Gibbs will be able to change that. His players now definitely don't respect him ten percent of what they did in 1983 or 1991. I think Snyder's finally getting the clue, though, that one thing this team desperately needs is continuity. Sadly, though, I think the Skins are a lot like the Cardinals now. Pretty much whoever you put in there is gonna lose.

Exactly how has the game changed? I keep hearing this, but I haven't seen any evidence of it on the field. The teams are still running and passing the ball and having to kick field goals and score touchdowns to score points.

Are you trying to tell me that the defensive players of today hit harder than someone like Lawrence Taylor or Ronnie Lott did in the 80's? Believe me, if the game has changed that much, it isn't because of the defense, but because of the ticky tack rules that the NFL has placed on defenders nowadays. Go back and watch the last Super Bowl the Redskins were in. They threw Jim Kelly and his receivers around all day. Over half of that stuff would be called for personal fouls penalties in today's game.

It all comes back to execution. Joe Gibbs football works and will always work. You just need the right players and the right team chemistry to make it work.

The game has changed dramatically over the past 10-15 yrs.. For example:
-Rule changes have made the game siginificantly tilted to the passing game.. The illegal contact rule, the emphasis on roughing the passer tends to protect QBs more, defensive holding is called much more than ever before..
-Exotic defenses change the way offense is called.. You'd hardly ever see 8 in the box before the past 15 years.. The 3-4 wasn't around, you would NEVER see some of the defensive formations the Pats do (1 down linemen, 4 LB and 6 DB) and as a result offenses have gotten more aggressive to exploit those defenses. Gibbs has not shown any innovation in his game plan or philosophy since his return..
-Players today are bigger, stronger, faster, more athletic than ever before.. While not diminishing any players of before (I am a child of the 70's and 80's so I saw all of the same ones you mentioned play) for every Lawrence Taylor, I give you Shawn Merriman or Brian Urlacher. For every Ronnie Lott, I give you Brian Dawkins or Ed Reed.. Today's players are more athletic, run faster and hit just as hard..

Yesterday's players were probably smarter, but overall today's game is different. By that I mean the game is tilted to what coaches can maximize their teams talents by suiting their gameplan to his team's strengths rather than teach a team to fit into their system.

A perfect example is Tony Dungy. His background is old school Chuck Noll, run the ball, take some shots downfield and play great defense. He turned TB from the NFL dregs to a powerhouse with that formula because he had those type of players.. When he got to Indy, he had a great QB, great WR and a bad defense.. Rather than force his philosophy, he let the offense continue to air it out (against his background) while trying to improve the defense. He's going to the Hall of Fame because he knew how to and was willing to adapt to the strengths of his team rather than stubbornly stick to 'his system'.

Gibbs seems like he's trying to fit square pegs into his round hole and that's why it's not working..

He's going to the Hall of Fame because he knew how to and was willing to adapt to the strengths of his team rather than stubbornly stick to 'his system'.

Great line. That sums it up perfectly.

Great line. That sums it up perfectly.

You can make the case that that's why Gibbs is in the Hall of Fame. He came to the Redskins ready to unleash Air Coryell, then he saw what he had in Riggins and went with the "Heavy Jumbo", then he got the big play ability of Clark and Sanders and unleashed an aerial attack. And so on.

You can make the case that that's why Gibbs is in the Hall of Fame. He came to the Redskins ready to unleash Air Coryell, then he saw what he had in Riggins and went with the "Heavy Jumbo", then he got the big play ability of Clark and Sanders and unleashed an aerial attack. And so on.

So what's the reason now to stubbornly stick to his brand of 'run the ball down your throat' football? I mentioned in another thread everyone got all lathered up about a 'return to Redskins football' down the stretch last year when we racked up like 140 rushing yards per game and went 2-5..

The stubborness of sticking to his system signals to me that either we have subpar talent and he's doing what he can to mask it and still win or he's determined to make his way work despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.