What's the Bigger Problem?

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by cpayne5

It seems like Gibbs' playcalling revolves around the QB not taking too many chances downfield (directly propotional to TOs and QB confidence), handing off to the RB to maximize TOP, and using shorter passes to put the ball in the playmakers' hands (Coles, Gardner, Cooley, Portis, etc) in the open field. Not a bad strategy (very conservative and safe), but we're being killed by penalties, bad calls, poor execution, and up until a few weeks ago, dropped passes. The approach with Ramsey may turn out to be an excellent decision. He may not post huge numbers this year, but this year may be the type of learning experience and confidence builder that he needs at this point in his career so that he may fluorish (and yes, allowed to take longer shots down the field) later on down the road in the current offense.

Gibbs' playcalling IS going to be a little more conservative when a new Quarterback is brought into the system. I believe his thinking was by bringing in a veteran QB, he could pick up the system faster than a QB that hasn't even started a full season yet. Also, with the vet, Gibbs probably figured that his system would develop faster and he would be able to stretch the field more than what we were able to do. Unfortunately, Brunell failed miserably and Patrick Ramsey was probably still rattled by losing his starting job at the beginning of the season. Some will say Ramsey should have started all long, some will say not, but hindsight is 20/20 and nobody will ever really truthfully know whether if starting Ramsey earlier would have brought us more wins...heck we could have had a worse record! In Gibbs first tenure, he wasn't exactly super conservative...because we had the Posse for the QBs to throw to..plus we had a monster of an offensive line which helped in run blocking and pass protection....and giving our running backs huge holes to run through.

I do believe that this system will be one that can really mold Ramsey into a great QB. If this system had already been in place for a few years, Ramsey would probably be further along. Why? Because more than not, a system that has already been put in place has the kinks ironed out and its easier to concentrate on building up a QB than having to build up the system from ground up...which is what Gibbs has had to do. GIBBS HAS MADE SOME MISTAKES during this rebuilding phase...as what MOST new coaches normally have. I DO WANT TO MAKE THAT CLEAR! I won't blame those mistakes on Gibbs' lack of knowledge or lack of preperation......I seriously doubt Gibbs lacks either...and I'm never going to give into the cop out that the game has passed him by; nor will I blame playcalling for everything that was wrong this year....