Need Reasons To Get Excited

As always, cautiously optimistic with a sprinkle of pessimism. I'm excited to see how the defense is going to be this year. I think in terms of player personnel, it has been upgraded, but it will remain to be seen in terms of DC.

I still feel we needed to have kept either Jackson or Garcon. That's the pessimism sprinkle. I'm suspect over the health of Doctson, and I'm not quite convenienced Pryor is going to have reliable hands, but we'll see. Also keep thinking Kelly is either going to regress and get pushed out by Perine by mid-season, or he's going to be "beast mode 2.0". I was more impressed by him in game 3 of the preseason.

I kind of feel this is all or nothing for the 'skins. I just don't believe 8-8 or 9-7 should be sought after. I think a playoff berth and a playoff win should be expected. This is Gruden's fourth year, it's time to make it happen if it is.

I am somewhere in between right now. Not excited b/c I have lived with mediocrity and the continual promise that we will break out of it only to have fall back to double digit losses. After 25 years of this cycle, call me jaded. At the same time, I will watch and hope. I think the D has made some good acquisitions. I think the offense will be solid, but am less enthusiastic than I was originally. This is mainly because I am now concerned that the Pryor/Doctson replacement plan will be a much larger step down than I originally thought.

DJax, for all his faults, meant we were a threat to score at any time. When he played, opposing D's backed way the f* off or got burned. I thought Pryor and Doctson could make up for that by being much better red zone targets. Now, I just want to see them catch the ball and get on the field.

Now, before you pull out the "back to back winning seasons" on me, let me just say: 8-7-1, 9-7. Yes. They are winning seasons. In one, we won only one more game than half of the games played. In the other, we won half our games and only achieved a winning season by TYING A GAME (Yay! We are winners b/c we tied a game! lol). As a result of these slightly better than purely mediocre seasons, some are hopeful of bigger and better things. To me, however, this has been the cycle since the early 90's - we suck, we achieve mediocrity, fans get excited, we sink back to sucking. Rinse & Repeat.

If I felt like Gruden had turned the corner, maybe I get excited. I just haven't seen anything to convince me that he has. I think mediocrity may be the best he's got. If so, he's gone after this year or next and back to sucking we go. On the other hand, if we start fast out of the gate and are 5-3 or 6-2 by midseason, I will pull a mea culpa and be hooked all over again. I just don't see that happening. c'est la vie.

For now, I'll watch the games but will not pass up a beautiful fall afternoon with my family outside of the Plato's cave that we Skins fans have constructed for ourselves over the last 25 years.

Dear Jaded,

The worst thing about this season is that it will be so successful (10-6 or better) that you will be brought back into the land of believing. Only to have your team dismantled by the villanous duo of the franchisetag monster and the oneyearcontract walking dead.

The Vegas over/under is 7.5

Mediocre is the unbiased assessment of those who know what they're doing. Expectations for 4 wins are as ludicrous as expectations for 12.

I am somewhere in between right now. Not excited b/c I have lived with mediocrity and the continual promise that we will break out of it only to have fall back to double digit losses. After 25 years of this cycle, call me jaded. At the same time, I will watch and hope. I think the D has made some good acquisitions. I think the offense will be solid, but am less enthusiastic than I was originally. This is mainly because I am now concerned that the Pryor/Doctson replacement plan will be a much larger step down than I originally thought.

DJax, for all his faults, meant we were a threat to score at any time. When he played, opposing D's backed way the f* off or got burned. I thought Pryor and Doctson could make up for that by being much better red zone targets. Now, I just want to see them catch the ball and get on the field.

Now, before you pull out the "back to back winning seasons" on me, let me just say: 8-7-1, 9-7. Yes. They are winning seasons. In one, we won only one more game than half of the games played. In the other, we won half our games and only achieved a winning season by TYING A GAME (Yay! We are winners b/c we tied a game! lol). As a result of these slightly better than purely mediocre seasons, some are hopeful of bigger and better things. To me, however, this has been the cycle since the early 90's - we suck, we achieve mediocrity, fans get excited, we sink back to sucking. Rinse & Repeat.

If I felt like Gruden had turned the corner, maybe I get excited. I just haven't seen anything to convince me that he has. I think mediocrity may be the best he's got. If so, he's gone after this year or next and back to sucking we go. On the other hand, if we start fast out of the gate and are 5-3 or 6-2 by midseason, I will pull a mea culpa and be hooked all over again. I just don't see that happening. c'est la vie.

For now, I'll watch the games but will not pass up a beautiful fall afternoon with my family outside of the Plato's cave that we Skins fans have constructed for ourselves over the last 25 years.

I'm pretty much with you Joe, but I'm still watching regular season games. Nowadays I'll watch the start of some preseason games but definitely not all the way through. Idc who makes the cut, just give me a good football team.

Probably the most unenthusiastic I've been about this team in years. I'm looking for reasons to waste my Sunday's this season but everything seems to point to a long depressing Redskins season. The team has looked terrible in preseason. Factors that kill my optimisim are:

-Oline still not creating holes in running game

-Cousins running for his life making the same stupid mistakes and turnovers to cost us games.

-All of our rbs are either rookies, unreliable, or unproven. And none of them are gamechangers. (By the way Alfred Morris looks great in Dallas)

-We let both Jackson and Garcon go and sign Pryor as our #1 who's been a ghost in 3 preseason games and can't seem to catch the ball. Doctson is a bust until proven otherwise. Jordan Reed is guaranteed to end up on the injury report at least half the season.

-Run defense still suffers with no true impact nose tackle. Phil Taylor out for season. No interior push from the Dline or pressure without blitzing. Expect more rotating barely starter quality guys like Ziggy Hood on the line all season.

-Breeland continues to give up big plays and Josh Norman exposed by elite WRs (AJ Green, Julio Jones etc.)

Jay Gruden/Joe Barry rookie level gameplanning and adjustments.

-Junior Galette........

This script seems all too familiar.

Is it really that bad? Any reason to believe this team is capable of proving me wrong this year?

Joe Barry is gone dude.

http://www.thewarpath.net/parking-lot/63848-boobs.html

Works for me.

Joe Barry is gone dude.

Yes, his replacement is also a coordinator that's been fired multiple times. I'll give Manusky a chance (like I have a choice) but his resume doesn't bode well. Especially for a team with minimal defensive talent and several question marks.

Joe Barry is gone dude.

:laughing2

Oh man. Thank you.

It's Redskins football and a new year...fuck man, how can u not be excited?

I am somewhere in between right now. Not excited b/c I have lived with mediocrity and the continual promise that we will break out of it only to have fall back to double digit losses. After 25 years of this cycle, call me jaded. At the same time, I will watch and hope. I think the D has made some good acquisitions. I think the offense will be solid, but am less enthusiastic than I was originally. This is mainly because I am now concerned that the Pryor/Doctson replacement plan will be a much larger step down than I originally thought.

DJax, for all his faults, meant we were a threat to score at any time. When he played, opposing D's backed way the f* off or got burned. I thought Pryor and Doctson could make up for that by being much better red zone targets. Now, I just want to see them catch the ball and get on the field.

Now, before you pull out the "back to back winning seasons" on me, let me just say: 8-7-1, 9-7. Yes. They are winning seasons. In one, we won only one more game than half of the games played. In the other, we won half our games and only achieved a winning season by TYING A GAME (Yay! We are winners b/c we tied a game! lol). As a result of these slightly better than purely mediocre seasons, some are hopeful of bigger and better things. To me, however, this has been the cycle since the early 90's - we suck, we achieve mediocrity, fans get excited, we sink back to sucking. Rinse & Repeat.

If I felt like Gruden had turned the corner, maybe I get excited. I just haven't seen anything to convince me that he has. I think mediocrity may be the best he's got. If so, he's gone after this year or next and back to sucking we go. On the other hand, if we start fast out of the gate and are 5-3 or 6-2 by midseason, I will pull a mea culpa and be hooked all over again. I just don't see that happening. c'est la vie.

For now, I'll watch the games but will not pass up a beautiful fall afternoon with my family outside of the Plato's cave that we Skins fans have constructed for ourselves over the last 25 years.

Exactly how I have felt for pretty much over a decade. The rinse, spin, and repeat crap is what is killing my enthusiasm. It is getting increasingly harder to really be interested when my alma mater's (Univ of Dayton)football team, which is non scholarship, seems to play with more passion and a true desire to win than the bums the Skins put on the field year in and year out for at least the past decade. It is really a sad state of affairs, and it is true with most of the NFL, with the exception of the really good franchises.

I am somewhere in between right now. Not excited b/c I have lived with mediocrity and the continual promise that we will break out of it only to have fall back to double digit losses. After 25 years of this cycle, call me jaded. At the same time, I will watch and hope. I think the D has made some good acquisitions. I think the offense will be solid, but am less enthusiastic than I was originally. This is mainly because I am now concerned that the Pryor/Doctson replacement plan will be a much larger step down than I originally thought.

DJax, for all his faults, meant we were a threat to score at any time. When he played, opposing D's backed way the f* off or got burned. I thought Pryor and Doctson could make up for that by being much better red zone targets. Now, I just want to see them catch the ball and get on the field.

Now, before you pull out the "back to back winning seasons" on me, let me just say: 8-7-1, 9-7. Yes. They are winning seasons. In one, we won only one more game than half of the games played. In the other, we won half our games and only achieved a winning season by TYING A GAME (Yay! We are winners b/c we tied a game! lol). As a result of these slightly better than purely mediocre seasons, some are hopeful of bigger and better things. To me, however, this has been the cycle since the early 90's - we suck, we achieve mediocrity, fans get excited, we sink back to sucking. Rinse & Repeat.

If I felt like Gruden had turned the corner, maybe I get excited. I just haven't seen anything to convince me that he has. I think mediocrity may be the best he's got. If so, he's gone after this year or next and back to sucking we go. On the other hand, if we start fast out of the gate and are 5-3 or 6-2 by midseason, I will pull a mea culpa and be hooked all over again. I just don't see that happening. c'est la vie.

For now, I'll watch the games but will not pass up a beautiful fall afternoon with my family outside of the Plato's cave that we Skins fans have constructed for ourselves over the last 25 years.

I think Gruden is going to be Snyder's Huckleberry.

I like Gruden. Can't put my finger on why. But I think he's going to be around for a long time. Hopefully I'm right because that means we're winning, a lot.