Keys to success in '05 (long)

Thanks Gmanc... Not too shabby. I think if he got involved even more in that, I could see his receiving yards grow exponentially.

Yeah I think Portis is very well rounded. Gotta give the nod of most complete back to LaDainian Tomlinson though. 100 catches in a season. Tough inside runner. Speed to outrun people. And a very sound blitz-picker-upper. If that's even a word.

You just made it one... :)

well Williams likes to rotate safeties which is good get them all playing time it worked well last year.

I like how we have so much depth, our defense must NEVER get that tired.

Good list.

Yeah I think Ramsey is the biggest key of all, going hand-in-hand with team continuity. Last year, the offensive line played like hell in the beginning of the season, and then got a bit better as time went on. Ramsey played so much better than Brunell. We all saw what happened when Ramsey was playing and the o-line started to come together a bit, they went 3-2 in the last 5 games, and before that they had a very competitive game against the Steelers. If Ramsey just plays like he did last year, and the offensive line pretty much picks up where it left off, as long as the D doesn't lose too much ground, that could be 8-8 or 9-7 right there. Now, if Ramsey takes that key step forward, he could take us to 10-6 or maybe even better.

I really like the fact that we're beefing up our goalline offense too. Do you guys remember how many 3rd and 1's and goalline runs we got stoned on? Imagine if we were able to keep those chains moving a bit more, and actually punch a few of those goalline tries into the end zone. Could have made the difference between 6-10 and 8-8. A Gibbs offense has to be able to use power when running the ball, I don't care how fast our receivers are.

I like the direction we're headed. Everybody just pull for Patrick!

For that matter how many first and 1's and 2nd and ones we got stonewalled on. Though I feel your outlook is a bit too optimistic, I agree.

I really like the fact that we drafted a battering ram as a fullback. :)

For that matter how many first and 1's and 2nd and ones we got stonewalled on. Though I feel your outlook is a bit too optimistic, I agree.

I'm sure we'll have our fair share of challenges. We like to think the line will be so much better with a healthy Jansen, and it will be. But we often don't stop to think what will happen if Samuels goes down, God forbid. Or any other key offensive player, for that matter.

I also think our receiver/QB connections will be fuzzy in the beginning of the season. I wonder if they will be on the same page?

I also wonder if we'll be able to replace Pierce's brain as the signal caller in the middle of the D. Somebody needs to be calling the shots out there.

I don't worry about Walt Harris, Sean Taylor, Lavar Arrington, or Carlos Rogers. Gregg Williams can make do without any one of them. But we'll face challenges for sure. But even if we show weakness in dealing with some of those challenges, I think Ramsey can carry the day if he steps forward, and we get better at goal-line running.