Ease up off the panic buttons!!!

I'm just as pissed and disappointed as anyone else and at 1-2 we're not where I expected us to be. That being said, I said before the season started we need to get to the bye week at 4-2 if we wanted a successful season. Cleveland and Chicago should be wins, no doubt. The Ravens game October 10th will be a good test of what kind of team we are. After that we play a challenging, but by no means a killer schedule. Let's all relax, take it week by week and get to the bye with some momentum and go from there.

My thoughts on the Cowfags game:

1. The refs screwed us to the tune of a potential 14 point swing. We outplayed the Cowfags, but it's hard playing 11 on 17..

2. Time management has to improve as does the playcalling on the goal-line. If Portis can't bury his head and get into the end zone then we need to put Betts or Rock in there. The wasted timeouts hurt us as did having to kick a FG after 1st and goal at the 1.

3. Williams needs to stop getting conservative with the blitz late in the 4th quarter. If they haven't beat it, keep using it, we cannot generate a pass rush with our defensive line alone. Also, the defense needs to create more turnovers.

4. Gardner needs to play like this EVERY WEEK!!!!!!! Once Coles shakes out the cobwebs from the Roy Williams hit, he needs to step it up as well. All the early drops are unacceptable.

5. The O-line needs to tighten up. Too many hits on the QB. The Dixon hit was wicked, Brunell can't take too many of those. If he didn't try to do a Drew Bledsoe impression by standing in the pocket patting the ball like he was trying to burp it he would help himself some, but he needs time to get rid of it.

The key is patience. The offense showed definite signs of life tonight. We're getting there.

Yeah, I HATED the "loss" to the cowcraps, but it was not really a loss, it was another of many "STEALS". We had America's REfs tonight.

BUT, in spite of the loss, I am REALLY encouraged, and feel more than ever, that we will be in the playoffs. Our offense finally showed up in the second half of the third game, and I think we will be seeing a lot more downfield plays. What I really want to see that I have not seen all year, are pitchouts to Portis. That will eventually happen, and will really open him up. Gibbs is finding out who he can depend on, and it is VERY early in the season. They opened it up on a very good defense tonight.

Like Gibbs said, they still have alot of work to do, but there are alot of good teams that are 1-2 right now.

thing is THATS HOW WE'VE LOST ALMOST ALL OUR GAMES SINCE GIBBS LEFT. CLOSE HEARTBREAKERS. (until Spurrier and the players quit towards the end of last season).

i suppose we need to cling on to the fact that the team still has a fire those teams didnt have. since the early days of last season when we wore the white on whites.

thing is THATS HOW WE'VE LOST ALMOST ALL OUR GAMES SINCE GIBBS LEFT. CLOSE HEARTBREAKERS. (until Spurrier and the players quit towards the end of last season).

But on the other hand, it is early in the season, and we are not being blown out. We are losing close games, or beating ourselves, but it is different with Gibbs in charge. The offense may finally be starting to come together, and the mistakes will be alleviated. By until the second half of the season, this will be a team on a mission....to the play-offs! The schedule is very favorable considering the rest of our division games aren't until then...

We've lost two games we should have won which may come back and hurt us late in the season, I think we'll probably just miss out on a playoff spot because of these early mistakes. BUT, the offense is starting to come together and all things considered the defense played good enough to win. That was definitely not the case in years past, and our defense is winning playing sound fundamental football.

We were a third down pass to a blocking tight end away from getting the ball back before the 2 minute warning. That said, our defense has to force turnovers. And we really missed Arrington, he sets the tone for our defense. We were physical last night, but no big shots like Roy Williams had on Coles. Taylor had a couple of chances last night, but couldn't really gather himself and seemed afraid to really lay the wood down like he did on Chris Chambers. We need turnovers, Smoot had a pick stolen by an incredible effort from Antonio Bryant. And our special teams have to begin to be special, we need a big return to change field position instead of costly penalties forcing us into 1st and 25s.

But the signs of life are there. We'll see how we bounce back this week against Cleveland.