Where are the Warpathers Who Predicted a 10-6 Record?

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Each offseason, we Warpathers rave about our offseason additions (See Coles, Thomas, Griffin, Washington, Taylor, Springs, Portis, Brunell, etc). Our blood collectively boils when:

experts like Len Pastabelly say that we overpaid for this guy or that guy,
that our acquisitions are busts in the making,
that we don't have enough talent to be considered contenders,
that we are ranked around 24th in the preseason power rankings, etc.

We all predicted that the Redskins would make the playoffs and would end up with a 10-6 or even a 12-4 record. Fess up, last August how many of you knew what players we were going to field, said we we're going to make the playoffs, and predicted we'd end up with a record of at least 9-7? I seem to recall that the overwhelming majority of us Warpathers thought we'd be playing in January.

Yet by December, many of those very same Warpathers have abandoned ship and begun to say how many holes we have and how this player or that player needs to be replaced. So what happened? Did we not realize who was on our roster? Were those "experts" who we all criticized right all along?

While calling for basically an entirely new roster, people criticize Daniel Snyder for the constant turnover. I've heard calls for Coles to be replaced as our #1 wideout, Gardner to be cut, a new tight-end, a new center, a new left tackle, Brunell to be cut, PORTIS to be benched, Ramsey to be benched, a new quarterback, a new defensive tackle, a new defensive end, a new strong safety, etc. Thank God we Warpathers aren't running the Redskins - we'd make Daniel Snyder's management style look like the epitomy of continuity and patience.

I personally think we are 1-2 players away from having an excellent roster. Get a solid, new run-blocking center and tight end on offense and we could put up monster numbers with the right play-calling. I have no doubt that a guy like former-USC wideout Mike Williams could bring a lot to our offense, but we have Gibbs, not Spurrier at the helm. We need help with our run-blocking. Getting Williams when we have such poor run-blocking in a Gibbs-run offense is like buying $5,000 rims and sweet hydraulics for a car with no engine - it looks cool, but it doesn't make the car run.

As for our defense, we don't really need much help and with maybe one addition, it could be devastating and consistently put points on the board. Give our defense a pass-rush specialist at defensive end and they could look like the Ravens of 2000. Bringing a pass-rush with the front four allows guys like Arrington, Washington, Pierce, Springs, and Taylor to create turnovers by ballhawking instead of pass-rushing.

Ultimately, when you think about it, we're not far from playoff contention. So let's not dismantle the team, go on another free agency spending spree, and irrationally talk-down our current roster after talking them up so much this past offseason.