Analyzing Mike Shanahan at the Midway Point

People wanted Fassel, Gruden Cowher, Billick, etc. all those coaches listed probably would have accomplished the same as Shanahan or less. I wanted Harbaugh or Holmgren, look what Holmgren has accomplished in Cleveland and Harbaugh in my opinion will be the next great coach in the NFL. I'll give Shanahan another year to see what he can do before I give up on him.

Then consider yourself Dan Snyder, thats been his MO since he has been here to quick to pull the plug.

What exactly has Holmgren accomplished in Cleveland?

As a GM he has made this team very competitive, they've beaten NO, Miami and NE, have been in just about every game. He didn't give up the farm for Delhomme, drafted McCoy, traded for Hillis, etc. I say the Browns are a much better team than the Redskins right now.

Sun 9/12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Tampa Bay (0-0) L 14 - 17
Sun 9/19 Kansas City Chiefs Kansas City (1-0) L 14 - 16
Sun 9/26 Baltimore Ravens at Baltimore (1-1) L 17 - 24
Sun 10/3 Cincinnati Bengals Cincinnati (2-1) W 23 - 20
Sun 10/10 Atlanta Falcons Atlanta (3-1) L 10 - 20
Sun 10/17 Pittsburgh Steelers at Pittsburgh (3-1) L 10 - 28
Sun 10/24 New Orleans Saints at New Orleans (4-2) W 30 - 17
Sun 11/7 New England Patriots New England (6-1) W 34 - 14
Sun 11/14 New York Jets NY Jets (6-2) L 20 - 26
Sun 11/21 Jacksonville Jaguars at Jacksonville (5-4) L 20 - 24
Sun 11/28 Carolina Panthers Carolina (1-9) W 24 - 23
Sun 12/5 Miami Dolphins at Miami (6-5) W 13 - 10

The D's are slowly creeping up

Which is what you'd expect after two losses in a row.

So far, my grade would be 'incomplete'. I find calls for his departure or firing absurd at this point though. He doesn't have all his pieces in place yet. You have to give him more than 12 games for gods sake.

If there's no improvement in, say, 2 years or so; if we're hopelessly last in the division, if there's still a higher ratio of overpaid, overhyped players with no apparent incentive other than to collect a paycheck, then yes, the Shanahan experiment will have been a failure.

I don't see how anybody can say that now though.

Then consider yourself Dan Snyder, thats been his MO since he has been here to quick to pull the plug.

Seriously, coaches need a minimum of three years, in my opinion. Unless things are such a trainwreck; like in Zorn's case....

Like today was pathetic, and thats just as much on Shannahan as it is the players... and I absolutley hate the way that Shanahan has handled the Haynesworth situation...but until he really gets a chance to get some guys in here then I still want to give it time....

I am very dissapointed to see how this team seems to have regressed instead of progressed over the course of the year though...

A 5-7 Record, just like us....

Although I realistically could see the Browns being a playoff contender in a year. They're actually a really fun team to watch.

I agree. McCoy has looked good, they have some nice young pieces on the defense, Hillis is an absolute beast of a player, they have a young franchise LT, Josh Cribbs, etc... They're a young, up and coming team for sure.

The Redskins on the other hand are old, injured, and largely talentless. Not really a good combo.

I gave him a F. Great coaches devise schemes to his players strengths. Shanny has not done that and I don't see him ever doing that. I'm not just talking about the defense but the offense as well. In my humble opinion the Redskins should not be running a west coast offense. Its like water and oil, it just don't mix. Redskins should go back to the air coryell offense. I'm willing to give the 3-4 defense a couple of years but the offense has got to change....

I'm definitely not thrilled with a lot of what Shanny has done, but a big chunk of our problems speak to just how inept Cerrato was as a personnel man. He set us back years.

Jim Haslett needs to be fired immediately, however. And the decision to bring him in falls squarely on Shanny.

I'm definitely not thrilled with a lot of what Shanny has done, but a big chunk of our problems speak to just how inept Cerrato was as a personnel man. He set us back years.

Jim Haslett needs to be fired immediately, however. And the decision to bring him in falls squarely on Shanny.

The 3-4 falls on Shanny

I agree. McCoy has looked good, they have some nice young pieces on the defense, Hillis is an absolute beast of a player, they have a young franchise LT, Josh Cribbs, etc... They're a young, up and coming team for sure.

The Redskins on the other hand are old, injured, and largely talentless. Not really a good combo.

you just said the browns are better than the redskins :doh:, and the said thing is you are right :doh: :doh:

We've beaten the Packers, Bears, and Eagles. And the Browns are paying Delhomme over $7 million. I like the direction the Browns are headed, but let's not act like Holmgren is working major miracles