What's your take on our coaching?

Kyle drives me nuts. To be sure, he is an excellent designer of pass plays and seems to always get someone open. But his playcalling, especially in the red zone, is suspect. And his game planning seems dim. This team needs to run to win, especially against poor run defenses, but Kyle appears to be unaware of this, just as he seemed unaware of the run when he was in Houston.

Mike has brought us a professionalism which was sorely lacking before and I appreciate it. But he lacks the necessary professional relationship with his offensive coordinator. When it is time to tweak things, does he undertake the actions appropriate for a head coach? And if/when it is time to find a new OC, will Mike recognize this and follow through appropriately?I'll say this about Laurainitis' pick of Rex Grossman: it was a poorly designed trap pass. For all the talk about how great of a play designer KS is, he designed a play where its a two receiver route, and the receivers (who cross off the snap) sit down in the linebacker's coverage zone. That Grossman pick was on KS.

He's definitely got a bit of John Shoop in him. I don't think he understands coverages too well, or at least the difference between anticipating man coverage and anticipating zone coverage. And I think that's an important ability of a playcaller which he doesn't have.

He could cover up a lot of these issues by calling more 4 and 5 receiver patterns. But Kyle and Mike both put a huge premium on protecting the QB. Such a huge premium that our offense is limited because of it.

I'll say this about Laurainitis' pick of Rex Grossman: it was a poorly designed trap pass. For all the talk about how great of a play designer KS is, he designed a play where its a two receiver route, and the receivers (who cross off the snap) sit down in the linebacker's coverage zone. That Grossman pick was on KS.

He's definitely got a bit of John Shoop in him. I don't think he understands coverages too well, or at least the difference between anticipating man coverage and anticipating zone coverage. And I think that's an important ability of a playcaller which he doesn't have.

He could cover up a lot of these issues by calling more 4 and 5 receiver patterns. But Kyle and Mike both put a huge premium on protecting the QB. Such a huge premium that our offense is limited because of it.

There is nothing wrong with limiting the offense to protect the QB. Ball security is job one. But when you have Rex just floating it out there like Claussen did last year for the Panthers, then we have a problem. It's not a sin to punt the ball and let Haz win the game. Protect the QB, don't turn it over then you win. Kyle wants his offense to look a certain way, I just want the Redskins to win.

Kyle drives me nuts. To be sure, he is an excellent designer of pass plays and seems to always get someone open. But his playcalling, especially in the red zone, is suspect. And his game planning seems dim. This team needs to run to win, especially against poor run defenses, but Kyle appears to be unaware of this, just as he seemed unaware of the run when he was in Houston.

Mike has brought us a professionalism which was sorely lacking before and I appreciate it. But he lacks the necessary professional relationship with his offensive coordinator. When it is time to tweak things, does he undertake the actions appropriate for a head coach? And if/when it is time to find a new OC, will Mike recognize this and follow through appropriately?

Brilliant post Lotus. This sharpens up the concerns I wanted to express.

Good point as well about the offensive scheme in Houston! I don't think that team developed a dominant ground attack until Kyle left, and now we seem to see him "wasting" our talent in that regard. It's pretty ironic considering Mike's history as one of the sports most successful rushing-scheme coaches.

As others have said w/ injuries to the o-line the best way to get that unit going is to run the rock and grind away at the defense. Committing to the run is also a great idea when half your QB's completions are to the wrong effing team.

...hate you Kyle lol.

PS I think Mike's history as a returning 2X championship HC has to be taken into account when assessing his performance here. I definitely expected him to come in with a solid plan of action and have the offense, especially the QB situation, moving in a better direction by now.

Goat:

When Mike Shanahan showed up in San Fran to be the offensive coordinator, the QB was Steve Young. And there was some guy named Rice on the team too... Let's just say, there wasn't much that needed "fixing".

When Mike Shanahan showed up in Denver to be the head coach, John Elway was the QB. And there were guys named Davis and Sharpe on the team too... Let's just say there wasn't much that needed "fixing".

When Mike Shanahan showed up here in DC, he had Jason Campbell to deal with and no WRs worth the time of day, and he decided that was not going to work for him. Hey, if you are used to having Young and Elway waiting for you, I can see how a welcoming committee of Jason Campbell would surely be "disappointing".

The problem is that Mike Shanahan made a bet and lost that bet. The bet was that Donovan McNabb had two or three good years left in him and that would give Shanahan the time to find a free-agent or a kid in the draft or a guy in the Canadian League or an Arena Leaguer or...

Last year when he benched McNabb in the Detroit game with 2 minutes to play, the most prominent reaction was along the lines of:

OK, he benched McNabb because he wasn't playing well but WTF HE PUT IN REX "BLEEPING" GROSSMAN!!

Shanahan's problem is that he does not have a top-shelf QB on the roster. He is going to say all the right things about Grossman and Beck and Clemens and any other guy who is here on the roster with a QB label on him; that is what coaches do. Those pronouncements do not change the facts however; he does not have a good QB to play yet.

The effect of his "losing the bet" on McNabb will wear off at the end of this year when he can figure out what his next wager will be. Right now, he is hoping to catch lightening in a bottle with one of these guys getting on a streak where one of them plays WAAY over their heads for a 10-game stretch. It can happen; it's not likely to happen, but it can happen.

Don't be too angry. He actually did have a plan when he came here as to how he was going to make the offense better. He implemented that plan and lost his bet on the key guy in the plan. That is a minor hiccup and not a fatal flaw...

Screw protecting QB's... Where is Steve Spurrier when you need him?

IF we start Beck I would hope the scheme won't be so much max protect (because he's far more mobile than Rex) and we can open things up more.

Goat:

When Mike Shanahan showed up in San Fran to be the offensive coordinator, the QB was Steve Young. And there was some guy named Rice on the team too... Let's just say, there wasn't much that needed "fixing".

When Mike Shanahan showed up in Denver to be the head coach, John Elway was the QB. And there were guys named Davis and Sharpe on the team too... Let's just say there wasn't much that needed "fixing".

When Mike Shanahan showed up here in DC, he had Jason Campbell to deal with and no WRs worth the time of day, and he decided that was not going to work for him. Hey, if you are used to having Young and Elway waiting for you, I can see how a welcoming committee of Jason Campbell would surely be "disappointing".

The problem is that Mike Shanahan made a bet and lost that bet. The bet was that Donovan McNabb had two or three good years left in him and that would give Shanahan the time to find a free-agent or a kid in the draft or a guy in the Canadian League or an Arena Leaguer or...

Last year when he benched McNabb in the Detroit game with 2 minutes to play, the most prominent reaction was along the lines of:

OK, he benched McNabb because he wasn't playing well but WTF HE PUT IN REX "BLEEPING" GROSSMAN!!

Shanahan's problem is that he does not have a top-shelf QB on the roster. He is going to say all the right things about Grossman and Beck and Clemens and any other guy who is here on the roster with a QB label on him; that is what coaches do. Those pronouncements do not change the facts however; he does not have a good QB to play yet.

The effect of his "losing the bet" on McNabb will wear off at the end of this year when he can figure out what his next wager will be. Right now, he is hoping to catch lightening in a bottle with one of these guys getting on a streak where one of them plays WAAY over their heads for a 10-game stretch. It can happen; it's not likely to happen, but it can happen.

Don't be too angry. He actually did have a plan when he came here as to how he was going to make the offense better. He implemented that plan and lost his bet on the key guy in the plan. That is a minor hiccup and not a fatal flaw...

Well, let's not gloss over the fact Shanahan drafted guys like Davis and Sharpe. The Broncos were floundering around the .500 mark for the prior 3 seasons before he got there too.


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We need some rain games. That way Mike can pester his son without worry about running the ball.

I'll be able to answer this one a lot better tomorrow after Mike says who he's starting at QB. On paper it's obvious, but apparently Rex has the locker room. I don't know why? Maybe because he predicted us to win the east early but those guys love the confidence. I bet he gets the slow, inaccurate nod tomorrow.

honestly after that last showing, i wouldn't be surprised or upset either way. I just want whoever they roll out there on sunday to not be embarrassing, and, of course, to get a win.