Sunday, December 31, 2006

Last Redskins Comments for 2006
I watched as much of the Redskins game last night as I could stomach. But I saw more than enough to offer some comments.

First, Chris Collingsworth, who I don't really like very much as an announcer but who I admire somewhat because he actually played in the NFL despite the handicap of not having any shoulders, clearly didn't watch the Redskins very much early in the season, as he suggested, when Campbell went down, that the Giants would probably prefer to play against Campbell than Brunell. That's just moronic, and it strikes me as the kind of comment that someone would make because he thinks an old white guy is going to be better than a young black guy. Anyone that's watched both of them play this year realizes that Campbell is much better, and that the Redskins would have been better off if Campbell had played all the games this season.

Second, at one point in the first half, Collingsworth said that the Redskins' only hope was if their offense got really hot. I think Chris has inhaled too many fumes from his hair care products. If there was one consistent theme this year with the Redskins, it's that their defense, well...IT. CAN'T. STOP. ANYBODY. So even if the Redskins' offense scored every time they had the ball, they'd lose, because opponents' offenses just march down the field. Going into the game, they know who they need to stop (Tiki, Mark Bulger, Steven Jackson), and these guys end up having the best games of their careers. Pathetic.

Third, for next year, don't screw around with the offense in the off-season. Maybe get a little deeper on the offensive line, and see if you can ditch Jacobs and James Thrash (seriously, what's with him?), but don't mess with anything else.

Fourth, on defense, you have to look at it like this. Gregg Williams surely deserves to be fired. Seldom has a defense deteriorated so quickly from one season to the next, and I hold him responsible. So you can fire him and hire someone else, who will bring a whole new scheme, new opinions, new thoughts on players. The decision that has to be made, though, is who is more likely to succeed next year -- a (hopefully) more humble Gregg Williams that realizes that his career is truly on the line, or a new guy, who, knowing the Redskins' luck, isn't likely to be much better than Williams. That's a hard decision to make, and as much as I don't like Williams, I think, for next year, the Skins may be better off with him.

Fifth, Jason Campbell is good. I didn't hear the announcers say this, with the belching and all, but Campbell looked much more like Peyton Manning than Eli did. Just think how good he'd be if he'd been playing instead of watching Brunell throw balls sideways for a season and a half. I hope nobody screws him up.

Finally, is there a way to trim some of the jerks from this team? I don't know what the "braintrust" was thinking last year when they signed Brandon Jacobs, but a good rule is not to sign a guy who's involved in a rap career. Joe Gibbs, as we all know, is a religious man. I've always understood humility to be a big part of religion, which is why I'm puzzled as to why all these Redskins, who Gibbs repeatedly says he personally likes, exhibit no humility whatsoever. The Redskins' first offensive series last night, we were treated to Mike Sellers making a big show with his first-down sign, and then Santana Moss spinning the ball after his first catch. Hey, you guys have won five games, and you're not going to win this game. Put the ball down and go back to the huddle. Geez, and Sellers and Moss are two of the more mature guys on the team. And stop with the personal fouls. That's just poor discipline, and thugishness. Nobody on this team is good enough for that kind of crap to be tolerated.

It's been a long, disappointing year. I can't even really say that I look forward to next year, because, realistically, there's no reason to think that it will be much better than this one. Which is sad...

2 comments:

Ed. said...

That's a good wrap up. I agree with you about Campbell. But I'm starting to get very worried about Gibbs. He seems to be far too sensitive to do and say the things that need to be done and said. The bye week, the perfect time to switch to Campbell, comes and goes with no change, then two games later Gibbs snivels about how hard it is to do this sort of thing as he benches Brunell.

I don't know what the answers are, I really can't even imagine.

tadcranky said...

Yeah, I could live with Snyder just completely cleaning house, except for there's a tiny part of me that wants to give this team and Gibbs one more chance next year, so he can go out on a better note.

I edited that post, what I meant to say was CC suggested the Giants would rather see Campbell than Brunell. Which was bullheck.