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JWsleep · 05-17-2005, 07:45 PM

Good post, rickmmrr. I agree with your take on it--I'm just kinda restating it in my terms:

I don't think Gibbs really opened his full playbook last year, and I think there are a few reasons for it (this isn't an excuse for Gibbs, just my thoughts on what happened).

1. He had a new team, and had to teach them the playbook. It's complex, and Gibbs went slow.

2. He was conservative in trying new stuff in training camp and preseason, because he was very worried (paranoid?) about tipping his hand before the season.

3. Becuase he didn't get a chance to teach the whole scheme, when Brunnell sucked, and the offense didn't really work for Portis, or against the new blitz-all-the-time schemes, he had nowhere to turn in mid-season. He couldn't call more complex new plays, becuase he didn't feel the offense (especially with a nervous and less practiced Ramsey taking over) could handle it. Plus, he couldn't just re-write the whole deal mid-season.

4. So he went ultra-conservative, thinking that with our D, we ought to win some games, so long as we keep it close and don't turn it over. It almost worked. We were right on the edge of being 8-8 (G-bay, cowboys), and then we would have made the playoffs without an offense. It didn't work, but at midseason, it wasn't a bad move.

5. My bet is that the D kicked the offense's ass in practice.

6. And my bet is that Gibbs has fully revamped the offense, especially to open things up for Portis, and to get time and open receivers for Ramsey. We'll see a very different offense this year, and it's not just the shot-gun and Musgrave. Gibbs saw what was happening as well (if not better!) than anyone else. He just felt that changing it all midseason, given the D and the weakness of the NFC, would have been a mistake.

(Not that I'm in any way a Nunyo fan, but his online chat on the post website made this point, and it seemed like a good analysis. Oh, and notice that he said he was wrong about the Fred-ex to washington story--that was obvious from here. About time Nunyo fessed up!)

05-17-2005, 07:45 PM	#5
JWsleep Propane and propane accessories Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Houston, TX Age: 56 Posts: 4,719	Re: Training camp and team practices Good post, rickmmrr. I agree with your take on it--I'm just kinda restating it in my terms: I don't think Gibbs really opened his full playbook last year, and I think there are a few reasons for it (this isn't an excuse for Gibbs, just my thoughts on what happened). 1. He had a new team, and had to teach them the playbook. It's complex, and Gibbs went slow. 2. He was conservative in trying new stuff in training camp and preseason, because he was very worried (paranoid?) about tipping his hand before the season. 3. Becuase he didn't get a chance to teach the whole scheme, when Brunnell sucked, and the offense didn't really work for Portis, or against the new blitz-all-the-time schemes, he had nowhere to turn in mid-season. He couldn't call more complex new plays, becuase he didn't feel the offense (especially with a nervous and less practiced Ramsey taking over) could handle it. Plus, he couldn't just re-write the whole deal mid-season. 4. So he went ultra-conservative, thinking that with our D, we ought to win some games, so long as we keep it close and don't turn it over. It almost worked. We were right on the edge of being 8-8 (G-bay, cowboys), and then we would have made the playoffs without an offense. It didn't work, but at midseason, it wasn't a bad move. 5. My bet is that the D kicked the offense's ass in practice. 6. And my bet is that Gibbs has fully revamped the offense, especially to open things up for Portis, and to get time and open receivers for Ramsey. We'll see a very different offense this year, and it's not just the shot-gun and Musgrave. Gibbs saw what was happening as well (if not better!) than anyone else. He just felt that changing it all midseason, given the D and the weakness of the NFC, would have been a mistake. (Not that I'm in any way a Nunyo fan, but his online chat on the post website made this point, and it seemed like a good analysis. Oh, and notice that he said he was wrong about the Fred-ex to washington story--that was obvious from here. About time Nunyo fessed up!) __________________ Hail from Houston!