Smoot lays the smack down (Skins/Bills) - mattyk edition

[Gary84Clark]

Originally Posted by #56fanatic

Injuries in our case is HUGE. We haven't put an emphasis on building depth for 10 years, so when starters go down it is a very big problem. As far as playcalling ability, Kyle was trying to roll out but Beck was missing some receivers that were open, tried some quick 3 step drops to get the ball out of his hands, but he was holding the ball or the receivers were not getting open. Having a whole new left side of the line causes issues all over the offense. We couldn't run, we couldn't pass protect so what else is there? Chan Gailey, SF, and Carolina have bonified playmakers on their team. Whether is Fitzpatrick, Fred Jackson, Steve Johnson on the bills, Frank Gore, Edwards, Vernon Davis, Crabtree on SF or Cam newton, DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart and STEVE " FREAKING" SMITH, along with greg olson and Shocky. so before you start calling out WHY other teams are better, they have better players. Those teams have used their draft picks over the last 5-7 years to gain those playmakers, we have not!! Lets not call out the coaching staff, they are dealing with what they have on the roster and are making it better. Kyle ran a very impressive offense in Houston for a few years, so I doubt he forgot how to coach.

Ta da!!! Kyle was running Kubiak's offense in Houston. Truth be told that was Kubiak not Kyle. He was an offensive head coach's offensive coordinator. We always crying about players, but then they go to other teams and start. The Shanny's have had 2 off seasons and made no progress. They too busy bullying players instead of developing them.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by SirClintonPortis

Artis Hicks and Donte Stallworth are essentially the same, except one guy plays a different position from the other. They will provide $0 worth of goods for us or anyone else one year from now. We need guys who have at least have a chance to be a million dollar player for us for multiple years, so we should be allocating our limited roster spots to prospects who have a chance to give us that, not old coots who do very little.

While I agree that developing a multitude of young players is important, what we've done with our O-line depth is laughable. We have pretty much zero depth to speak of, and instead opt to carry 8 or 9 receivers. I have no love for Artis Hicks, I was simply using him as an example of some veteran depth along an O-line that can't afford to have Maurice Hurt in the starting lineup.

[Meks]

Kyle blows. and yes Houston was kubiak. not Kyle

[sportscurmudgeon]

Unaccustomed as I am to being part of the optimism faction here, let me give this a try...

A large part of the distress that folks here are expressing in completely unambiguous terms comes from the fact that those same folks allowed themselves to harbor unrealistic expectations in the past. Let me give a few examples:

Jamaal Brown: When he signed on here, there was euphoria because the Skins got a Pro Bowl caliber tackle to play opposite the #4 pick in the draft at the other tackle and as soon as Brown worked out the kinks from an injury he would resume that level of play and even surpass it. Those two were going to make Redskin fans forget about Lachey and Jacoby as offensive tackles. Excuse me, Jamaal Brown had a good year on a very good team and received more accolades than his play on the field merited; then he got hurt; then the Redskins signed a hurt player with exaggerated press clippings. Today we have folks saying he sucks. Actually, he never returned to the level he had achieved prior to his injury; he does not suck; he is merely average to slightly below average for an OT.

LaRon Landry: People love his big highlight reel head shots. Trouble is, that is all he has in his game bag. He has NEVER been able to cover a turtle with a mattress blanket; he spends waaay too much time chasing someone who has the ball into the end zone. (Remember DeSean Jackson on Play One of the 59-28 debacle last year...?) He has never been held accountable for giving up big plays as a safety so all he does is continue to do the only thing he knows how to do - - make the highlight reel with a headshot. That is your "safety"; he is the guy who gives up TDs when he makes a mistake; he makes lots of mistakes. But it is the fanbase who has adored him for his big hits who feels the pain because they expect him to actually be an effective safety and he is not. [By the way, isn't this Landry's contract year? I think it is. Right now, would you give him a "payday" and a 5-year deal? I would not.]


THE QUARTERBACKS: When Mike Shanahan was hired fans went overboard on his "offensive genius" credentials. Make no mistake, Mike Shanahan has a good offensive mind, but a large component of his "genius reputation" comes from having Steve Young as his QB in SF and John Elway as his QB in Denver. He did not pick either one; he did not groom either one; he designed plays those guys could execute to beat the other team. He had no QB when he got here; he tried to get one and it did not work; he now has two guys who would need to improve to become journeymen. It isn't their fault they aren't stars; it isn't Mike Shanahan's either. Fans expected waaay too much from day one. By the way, the last true "Franchise QB" the Redskins had was Sonny Jurgensen. Sonny is in his 70s now; nevertheless, if he had six weeks to prepare and get his arm loose, he might be able to match either of the current dudes in one of those QB Skills Contests...


Kyle Shanahan: He got the OC job in Houston because Gary Kubiak had been Mike Shanahan's OC in Denver since forever and there Kyle had a better-than-average QB and a STUD WR to play with. Fans bought into the Kyle-hype; he had accomplished good things in Houston; he had the "Shanahan genes"; he would work magic. Right now, he is underachieving even considering the limited talent he has to work with here to the point that I am not sure he would be able to get another OC position in the NFL if Dad were to can his butt at the end of this season. BTW, that is one of the best arguments to demonstrate why nepotism is always a bad idea...

Ryan Torrain: He never was much of an all-around back. He had two good games and fans gave him a nickname and started predicting 1500-yard seasons for him in the Mike Shanahan running game. Just as offenses work better with Steve Young and John Elway at QB, running games do better with a competent OL. And that leads me to...


The OL: And this OL is not competent and don't blame the injuries. The OL has stunk here for about 5-7 years and it now has a bunch of young guys playing there who aren't very good instead of a bunch of old guys who aren't very good.


WRs: When was the last time the Skins had a WR that made other defensive coordinators think about building their game plan to contain him? Gary Clark? Charlie Taylor? Bobby Mitchell? But let one of these current guys go and make two tough catches in a single game and the fans are ready to nominate him for the Pro Bowl. Expectations are waaay out of line.


Yesterday the Redskins wet the bed. The best thing to say about that game was that it was not one of the nationally televised games so it was not seen in sixty or seventy NFL markets. The team performed badly on the field; the game plan was certainly not effective - - that could be due to bad play on the field or bad game planning. The team has lost 3 in a row and has been less than exciting in any of those 3 games.

If this team does not come out with plenty of emotion to start this week's game, then I will hang a lot of responsibility on the coaches for not finding the right buttons to push. Even playing with emotion, this team can lose next weekend; but there MUST be some fire and brimstone on the field for the first couple of series next week. THERE MUST BE!!!

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

LaRon Landry: People love his big highlight reel head shots. Trouble is, that is all he has in his game bag. He has NEVER been able to cover a turtle with a mattress blanket; he spends waaay too much time chasing someone who has the ball into the end zone. (Remember DeSean Jackson on Play One of the 59-28 debacle last year...?) He has never been held accountable for giving up big plays as a safety so all he does is continue to do the only thing he knows how to do - - make the highlight reel with a headshot. That is your "safety"; he is the guy who gives up TDs when he makes a mistake; he makes lots of mistakes. But it is the fanbase who has adored him for his big hits who feels the pain because they expect him to actually be an effective safety and he is not. [By the way, isn't this Landry's contract year? I think it is. Right now, would you give him a "payday" and a 5-year deal? I would not.]

I think Laron Landry can thank D. Hall for getting him off the hook on this one, because very few people criticize Landry for giving up big plays. On a serious note, I think our defensive backs continue to have communication issues, hence the example from yesterday when Fletcher went off on Landry for a blown coverage. I know at the beginning of the season, communication was an issue due to the lack of practice/playing time. But now Haslett needs to figure out how to make that unit work.

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by #56fanatic

Injuries in our case is HUGE. We haven't put an emphasis on building depth for 10 years, so when starters go down it is a very big problem. As far as playcalling ability, Kyle was trying to roll out but Beck was missing some receivers that were open, tried some quick 3 step drops to get the ball out of his hands, but he was holding the ball or the receivers were not getting open. Having a whole new left side of the line causes issues all over the offense. We couldn't run, we couldn't pass protect so what else is there? Chan Gailey, SF, and Carolina have bonified playmakers on their team. Whether is Fitzpatrick, Fred Jackson, Steve Johnson on the bills, Frank Gore, Edwards, Vernon Davis, Crabtree on SF or Cam newton, DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart and STEVE " FREAKING" SMITH, along with greg olson and Shocky. so before you start calling out WHY other teams are better, they have better players. Those teams have used their draft picks over the last 5-7 years to gain those playmakers, we have not!! Lets not call out the coaching staff, they are dealing with what they have on the roster and are making it better. Kyle ran a very impressive offense in Houston for a few years, so I doubt he forgot how to coach.

Are you serious? SF's offense was pathetic last year. Harbaugh has come in there and given that offense an identity. He's instilled confidence in that offense! What's our identity?? One freakin run play and run some stupid ass reverses and then throw the ball and not protect your passer??? And I'm 100% calling out the coaching staff cause they got shut out by a 31st ranked defense!!!!! As I said, if your offense sucks then fine, but AT LEAST show me that you're trying! Show me some diversity! Buffalo ran the wildcat so why aren't we? Why didn't we keep feeding Hankerson after he made a nice play? Why do we have one run play? Why do they rotate 50 wr's every week? Why don't we keep in extra blockers? I could go on and on. Kyle sucked shit yesterday and he's sucked for pretty much the entire year. No way to sugar coat it. FIRE YOUR KID MIKE. ENOUGH!!!!

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

Are you serious? SF's offense was pathetic last year. Harbaugh has come in there and given that offense an identity. He's instilled confidence in that offense! What's our identity?? One freakin run play and run some stupid ass reverses and then throw the ball and not protect your passer??? And I'm 100% calling out the coaching staff cause they got shut out by a 31st ranked defense!!!!! As I said, if your offense sucks then fine, but AT LEAST show me that you're trying! Show me some diversity! Buffalo ran the wildcat so why aren't we? Why didn't we keep feeding Hankerson after he made a nice play? Why do we have one run play? Why do they rotate 50 wr's every week? Why don't we keep in extra blockers? I could go on and on. Kyle sucked shit yesterday and he's sucked for pretty much the entire year. No way to sugar coat it. FIRE YOUR KID MIKE. ENOUGH!!!!

Harbaugh kept his QB instead of wasting a 2nd rounder on a washed up QB from a divisional opponent.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

Are you serious? SF's offense was pathetic last year. Harbaugh has come in there and given that offense an identity. He's instilled confidence in that offense! What's our identity?? One freakin run play and run some stupid ass reverses and then throw the ball and not protect your passer??? And I'm 100% calling out the coaching staff cause they got shut out by a 31st ranked defense!!!!! As I said, if your offense sucks then fine, but AT LEAST show me that you're trying! Show me some diversity! Buffalo ran the wildcat so why aren't we? Why didn't we keep feeding Hankerson after he made a nice play? Why do we have one run play? Why do they rotate 50 wr's every week? Why don't we keep in extra blockers? I could go on and on. Kyle sucked shit yesterday and he's sucked for pretty much the entire year. No way to sugar coat it. FIRE YOUR KID MIKE. ENOUGH!!!!

Yeah pretty much. I don't think you fire Kyle right now, but I think Mike needs to reel him in big time. His playcalling is mind boggling.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

Are you serious? SF's offense was pathetic last year. Harbaugh has come in there and given that offense an identity. He's instilled confidence in that offense! What's our identity?? One freakin run play and run some stupid ass reverses and then throw the ball and not protect your passer??? And I'm 100% calling out the coaching staff cause they got shut out by a 31st ranked defense!!!!! As I said, if your offense sucks then fine, but AT LEAST show me that you're trying! Show me some diversity! Buffalo ran the wildcat so why aren't we? Why didn't we keep feeding Hankerson after he made a nice play? Why do we have one run play? Why do they rotate 50 wr's every week? Why don't we keep in extra blockers? I could go on and on. Kyle sucked shit yesterday and he's sucked for pretty much the entire year. No way to sugar coat it. FIRE YOUR KID MIKE. ENOUGH!!!!

Who did Buffalo run the wildcat with? Brad Smith and Tyler Thigpen? Two converted QBs that can run? Who do you suppose we run the wildcat with? Grossman, a QB who can't run? Or Banks, a non QB who can run? Heck the Panthers ran the option with Cam Newton? How come we never try that?

[Chief X_Phackter]

Smackdown - unrealistic expectations and the lockout.

I think as fans we all probably wanted to believe that this team would take a big step forward this year. Maybe not big enough to get in the playoffs, surely not big enough to do anything if we made it; but at least a big enough step to look competitive and feel good about what we could accomplish in 2012 after acquiring a few more pieces.

Then came the 3-1 start, and again as fans, naturally a lot of people started "drinking the koolaid" and having visions of taking the division and having a big playoff run...I think I even saw the word Superbowl and Redskins in the same sentence a few times about three weeks ago.

The big issue to me, is I don't think there is any question that the lockout hurt this team in a bad way. If you look around the league, the teams that are doing well are the teams that did well last year or were starting to put it together towards the end. They had less to work on - more cohesion...Most of the teams that had major personnel moves, scheme changes, and new pieces to plug in are the ones that are struggling. There are a few exceptions, but overall it is what it is. This team needed a full offseason to put it all together and since they didn't get it, they were forced to make the best decisions they could with the players they had, and hope the guys learn on the fly and stay healthy while doing it. Well, good fortune and health lasted about four weeks and that was it. Now you see this team decimated with injuries and the rest of the division getting healthy. This will be a long season if you are expecting to see this team win a lot of games. However, if you are satisfied with seeing progress despite the youth, inexperience and devestating injuries I think you can still look forward to that...

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

Harbaugh kept his QB instead of wasting a 2nd rounder on a washed up QB from a divisional opponent.

You know what I saw on TV?? Harbaugh went back and looked at every single play that Smith has had over the years and BUILT the offense around his sucessful plays ONLY! He didn't install any of his negative plays. That's coaching! That's being prepared. I don't think SF is going to win a SB with Alex Smith but they've obviously coached him up. Not seeing any of that going on around here.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

Harbaugh kept his QB instead of wasting a 2nd rounder on a washed up QB from a divisional opponent.

Remarkable how everyone is lauding Harbaugh for sticking with Smith when last year when someone here mentioned that maybe Smith was getting a bad rap, the general response was "He's garbage. He totally sucks!"

That said, credit Harbaugh for above all else not asking Smith to do too much

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Who did Buffalo run the wildcat with? Brad Smith and Tyler Thigpen? Two converted QBs that can run? Who do you suppose we run the wildcat with? Grossman, a QB who can't run? Or Banks, a non QB who can run? Heck the Panthers ran the option with Cam Newton? How come we never try that?

Yes, Banks. Or let Helu do it. Just try something in order to keep some drives alive, get some 1st downs. We can't score points so time to empty out your sorry ass playbook Kyle.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

You know what I saw on TV?? Harbaugh went back and looked at every single play that Smith has had over the years and BUILT the offense around his sucessful plays ONLY! He didn't install any of his negative plays. That's coaching! That's being prepared. I don't think SF is going to win a SB with Alex Smith but they've obviously coached him up. Not seeing any of that going on around here.

We seem to have a culture of coaches wanting to fit players into schemes and not trying to develop schemes that will make better use of a player's ability.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Remarkable how everyone is lauding Harbaugh for sticking with Smith when last year when someone here mentioned that maybe Smith was getting a bad rap, the general response was "He's garbage. He totally sucks!"

That said, credit Harbaugh for above all else not asking Smith to do too much

I don't remember me saying anything negative about Alex Smith, and I think I have been the only one pointing out that Harbaugh stuck with him (b/c you know how much everyone hates Jason Campbell). I am sure a lot could still go wrong with the 49ers, but I think Harbaugh could have easily done what Shanahan did and try to find his own QB. I don't think we could have been better off with one more year of Jason Campbell, but given how well the team drafted in the second round this year, I am sure they could have done something better with that 2nd rounder than wasting it on McNabb.