enough already

[skinsdad62]

Breaking news, everyone! The Redskins looked awful and lost. Again.

I love writing. I love the Washington Redskins. Yet, somehow, writing about the Redskins each week has become a painful exercise.

Somehow? Oh, I know how.

They're terrible. Did I mention that already?

Why bother with some kind of in-depth analysis? I don't need to break down the 27-6, kick-in-the-balls debacle (I've used that word a lot this year) against the 49ers. Everything we needed to know about this team we probably knew by halftime of the Green Bay game. They struggle with coverage and tackling, their special teams are routinely bad, and the offense is inconsistent at best.

Last night, the offense would have been happy with "inconsistent." At least that implies intermittent success.

Oh, and can we all stop pretending that Robert Griffin III didn't come back too soon? Or do we have to wait until the off-season to admit that he's been playing hurt all year?

Suggesting that Kirk Cousins take over for a healthy RGIII is absurd. A healthy RGIII is a better quarterback than Cousins (and I say that as a fan of Cousins' who thinks he's good enough to be an NFL starter).

But this isn't a healthy RGIII.

Washington had RGIII skip preseason in the hopes that the extra month would be just enough time for him to be ready to play at the level he did in 2012. But a blown-out knee is a blown-out knee. Hoping four weeks would make a difference is like thinking you can ace a test by getting up thirty minutes early on the day of the exam and cramming.

It was never meant to be. If he remains the starter for the rest of 2013, Griffin will finish with more passing yards and more touchdowns than he had a year ago. The only problem will be that the team will have lost somewhere in the vicinity of 12 games.

Here's another newsflash: Whether Griffin and Shanahan are best friends, or whether his linemen help Griffin up off the ground at the same rate that other quarterbacks' linemen do, or whether Griffin uses the wrong turn-of-phrase when describing why that week's opponent has beaten Washington - doesn't matter. All of these are collateral issues. They're issues designed to give writers - some of whom are very well-paid - something to discuss in their weekly columns.

Because, you know - you have to write about something.

But those issues matter very little. What does matter? Having talented football players on your roster. Having a full salary cap figure with which to build that roster. Not mismanaging the clock with alarming frequency. Blocking, tackling, and avoiding turnovers. That stuff matters.

A coach and a quarterback having a great rapport is a plus, but it isn't necessary. Ask Phil Simms. A quarterback being a humble, good guy can help, but it isn't necessary. Ask Tom Brady. Or, hell, on the flipside, ask Tim Tebow. A quarterback saying all the right things is fine (Hi, Peyton), but it isn't necessary. Ask Joe Namath or this guy.

Not only are these aspects of RGIII blown out of proportion, but they ultimately have very little relevance. What does? That knee. The lack of reps and rhythm in the preseason.

Oh, and a bad defense and special teams. That, too.

I'm not one of those who is clamoring for Cousins, but, either way, we probably won't see him start a game this year unless Griffin gets (more) injured again. Why? Because starting Cousins over an ostensibly healthy Griffin will make the Redskins look really stupid. That move would be tantamount to an admission that Griffin was hurt all along and shouldn't have been playing. If that's the case, then Washington flushed a season down the toilet for the sake of selling a narrative manufactured out of something between fiction and unbridled optimism.

Mike Shanahan will be Shanacanned if Washington doesn't at least beat Dallas and the Giants the rest of the way. It's very tough to see him sticking around if the Redskins finish 5-11 or worse.

Jeepers, and now I've fallen into the trap. Do we really need another hot take on how Griffin is semi-secretly injured, the Redskins are a bad football team, and Shanahan's days may be numbered? No. We don't.

So, if the Redskins beat New York on Sunday Night Football, I'm sure I'll write about the thrill of victory, unicorns, rainbows, and so on. If they lose to the Giants on in typical fashion, however - something like 24-14 with one of the touchdowns coming with under three minutes to go - I'm going to write about something else.

No, short of a win, I'll find a non-topical subject to fill a column next week. It may be some memorable game in a playoff season. It may be a favorite Redskins player of the past. It may be the nickname thing yet again. It may be the unexpected debauchery[1] at Joe Gibbs' 73rd birthday party.

But it won't be about this hopeless, hapless, anything-but-fun bunch.

Enough is enough.

Could have said it better myself .

 

[SteelersPride]

+1 for length

 

[geneh_33]

You're not as bad as the Falcons. Yet.

 

[Sharkinva]

You're not as bad as the Falcons. Yet.

When the falcons drop four draft picks on a player. Start him when he isnt ready, then refuse to bench him when he is ineffective in order to save face... talk to me.

 

[SteelersPride]

u sang his praises last year

 

[Sharkinva]

u sang his praises last year

So tell me where anything I said in that post was wrong though??

 

[Krusheasy]

then refuse to bench him when he is ineffective in order to save face... .

Have you never struggled to learn something before Shark ?

Griffin is struggling.

It is a learning process.


He is doing it behind an OL who we threw together with the cap we had available. They have served admirably ... but were exposed on Monday by a top tier defense and some of the best LB in the league. These are not excuses ... these are facts. Thankfully we will not be facing a top 10 defense every week. The fact that his starting FB, TE, & #2 WR were injured probably didnt help much either.

You DO NOT bench a player every time they struggle. He has to be in there to learn from those INT. Learn to throw it away, to slide, to check down. He gains nothing from being benched.

 

[Sharkinva]

Have you never struggled to learn something before Shark ?

Griffin is struggling.

It is a learning process.


He is doing it behind an OL who we threw together with the cap we had available. They have served admirably ... but were exposed on Monday by a top tier defense and some of the best LB in the league. These are not excuses ... these are facts. The fact that his starting FB, TE, & #2 WR were injured probably didnt help much either.

You DO NOT bench a player every time they struggle. He has to be in there to learn from those INT. Learn to throw it away, to slide, to check down. He gains nothing from being benched.

I call BS. ANY other player who struggled this much would have been sat, or at least pulled at some point. And clearly he isnt learning from his mistakes, since his level of play is getting WORSE not better as the season progresses. I totally understand why he hasnt been benched to this point. But playing him now just to "get him reps" while at the same time throwing the line to the wolves makes no sense. What are we afraid of, he will refuse to play next year if he is sat?? Or is it the fear of the shit storm it would create if Cousins came in and won a few games while looking decent behind the same crappy line??

 

[Shenanihanigans]

Shark, you are without a doubt, a moron.

 

[Sharkinva]

Shark, you are without a doubt, a moron.

Why... because I expect a player to actually be WORTH what we gave up for him. IM not a fanboy willing to make excuses for subpar play and poor decisions.

 

[Krusheasy]

Why... because I expect a player to actually be WORTH what we gave up for him. IM not a fanboy willing to make excuses for subpar play and poor decisions.

He won the division in his rookie year. First time in over a decade. Of course our expectations were going to be unrealistic.

Griffin is coming back from major surgery, combined with the cap restrictions & a sophomore slump that all QB go through with an NFL learning curve. Its a perfect storm for anyone to regress and struggle. Those are not excuses ... it's called reality of the situation.


Link for Dads story below

 

[Sharkinva]

OK Krush.. So I will ask you this... whats the real harm in playing Cousins this week?? You could even make up some Bullshit excuse that Griffin actually got a groin injury when he got nutted. If the problem really is the O-line, cousins will suck even worse and end all the debate.

 

[skinsdad62]

Five Questions Facing the Redskins - NFC East Blog - ESPN

kiem even says give RG3 the reps


shark your expectations arent even rational at this point

how many HOF qbs struggled early in their careers ?

it doesnt matter how much we gave up for him . how does that make a guy more then human ?

if your expectation is that drafting a guy after giving up 4 draft picks means he has to be the best athlete ever , the best qb ever , the best at reading defenses ever , the best pocket passer ever and that he must recover from catastrophic season ending knee surgery and ride in on his white stallion to save the day then you are a fool .

what , you think you can vulcan mind meld the information and the playing experiences in him in a nanosecond

if you have a beef with the trade take it up with management . but i find it very hypocritical that during the last days of the JC era you wanted to gut 2 drafts for the likes of sanchez and bradford and now you are bashing the qb and the regime for doing what the heck you stinking advocated

do you ever stick to a core conviction or do you only have convictions when its convenient ?

i am sorry but i wont give up on a guy after less then 2 years because he has had stretch of bad games . he is a pro bowler , a ROY , he has sent numerous records , and now he is a bum

the worst you can say about the kid is he rushed himself back

he isnt responsible for your foolish and unfair expectations . he is a young kid learning his way and i know there are many many GMS who would love to have him as thier qb

 

[Sharkinva]

Five Questions Facing the Redskins - NFC East Blog - ESPN

kiem even says give RG3 the reps


shark your expectations arent even rational at this point

how many HOF qbs struggled early in their careers ?

it doesnt matter how much we gave up for him . how does that make a guy more then human ?

if your expectation is that drafting a guy after giving up 4 draft picks means he has to be the best athlete ever , the best qb ever , the best at reading defenses ever , the best pocket passer ever and that he must recover from catastrophic season ending knee surgery and ride in on his white stallion to save the day then you are a fool .

what , you think you can vulcan mind meld the information and the playing experiences in him in a nanosecond

if you have a beef with the trade take it up with management . but i find it very hypocritical that during the last days of the JC era you wanted to gut 2 drafts for the likes of sanchez and bradford and now you are bashing the qb and the regime for doing what the heck you stinking advocated

do you ever stick to a core conviction or do you only have convictions when its convenient ?

i am sorry but i wont give up on a guy after less then 2 years because he has had stretch of bad games . he is a pro bowler , a ROY , he has sent numerous records , and now he is a bum

the worst you can say about the kid is he rushed himself back

he isnt responsible for your foolish and unfair expectations . he is a young kid learning his way and i know there are many many GMS who would love to have him as thier qb

Skinsdad.. since you want to call it out. Lets go. I was against trading for Griffin from the get go. You know this. I thought both Bradford and Sanchez were better suited to be pocket passers. I thought Campbell was average at best and we needed to improve at the position. I though Griffin was an option QB and firmly believed the trade was a mistake. Despite the records and ROY I still think for what we gave up, he should be as good as advertised. Which right now he isnt. Take away the option and he isnt as good as advertised. I havent called him a bum, thats you and a few others over dramatizing because I havent fallen in with the its everything else and not Griffins fault mentality. Let him get the reps fine. But right now he isnt worth the price we paid. Might he be some day?? Sure. But I honestly dont think so. thats not calling him a bum, its just saying I dont think he was, is or will be worth what we gave to get him. I actually do hope Im wrong on this one... but im not seeing it.

 

[skinsdad62]

Skinsdad.. since you want to call it out. Lets go. I was against trading for Griffin from the get go. You know this. I thought both Bradford and Sanchez were better suited to be pocket passers. I thought Campbell was average at best and we needed to improve at the position. I though Griffin was an option QB and firmly believed the trade was a mistake. Despite the records and ROY I still think for what we gave up, he should be as good as advertised. Which right now he isnt. Take away the option and he isnt as good as advertised. I havent called him a bum, thats you and a few others over dramatizing because I havent fallen in with the its everything else and not Griffins fault mentality. Let him get the reps fine. But right now he isnt worth the price we paid. Might he be some day?? Sure. But I honestly dont think so. thats not calling him a bum, its just saying I dont think he was, is or will be worth what we gave to get him. I actually do hope Im wrong on this one... but im not seeing it.

what is starting threads about who is he going to throw under the bus mean ? that you think he is a great qb ?

how about calling him RGME ? i am supposed to think , you think he has potential ?

what you are saying is he is a bust whether you tap dance around it or not so if we say you say he is a bum then i say whats the difference ?

and why werent you singing this tune last year ? or this off season ?

i have been on record that if we were to trade up for anyone it would gut 2 drafts . there was very little protest over that

over half his career he has been a stellar qb , that cant be denied .

RG3 has more talent then KC or tannehill or any other future bus driver (your words for avg qb ) we can find

Right NOW , RG3 isnt as advertised . no question about that but you have quit on him off way too early

you cant tell this guy works hard , is a leader and cares about what he is doing ?

you hate Rg3 and want him to fail because you didnt like the trade ? thats what all of this about ?

i mean come on shark , i was wrong about JC , but you were wrong about 2 qbs you wanted to gut drafts for and Rg3 is waaaaay better the either of those 2 guys hands down

what we need from Rg3 is to be a better pocket passer . we dont need him not to be the dynamic runner he is just a little more experience and study and he should be there

what we have is a guy who can run like the wind and throw with accuracy few have . i think i can give the guy a chance to be that even if i didnt think gutting drafts is the way to go

hell shark i have been saying our o/line isnt as bad as we think (and still think that way ) and that RG3 was making mistakes and needed work .

but that is a huge difference in giving up on him and sighting ridiculous expectations because i didnt like a trade

 

[Shenanihanigans]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with sitting rg3 for the rest of the year and letting cousins get reps. None, whatsoever.

If his psyche is that fragile, he ought to sack up anyway. If cousins plays well, then that's a bonus for him and the redskins. If cousins sucks, that's a bonus for rg3.

Sally Jenkins also thinks he should sit. Get fully healthy. Watch from the sidelines for a while. Listen to Kyle Shanahan call a game. Something.

Sit the fuck down, study, learn to hit your second and third options, correct your mechanics, and come back fully healthy and ready to crush.

Also, stop doing weekly press conferences.

 

[Sleepy T]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with sitting rg3 for the rest of the year and letting cousins get reps. None, whatsoever.

If his psyche is that fragile, he ought to sack up anyway. If cousins plays well, then that's a bonus for him and the redskins. If cousins sucks, that's a bonus for rg3.
.

Why would you sit RG3 at this point? That is, obviously not the case. How is that helping him better prepare for next year? Real time, real speed reps. That is what he needs.

 

[RoboticDreams]

Skinsdad didn't lie, he likes to write.

 

[j_y19]

Why would you sit RG3 at this point? That is, obviously not the case. How is that helping him better prepare for next year? Real time, real speed reps. That is what he needs.

In theory, I agree. However, behind this line, he is not getting quality reps, he is a deer in the headlights. We've seen other 1st round QBs get ruined here behind OLs that couldn't give them a chance to grow (Ramsey, Campbell). All that is happening to RG3 at this point is he is ingraining bad habits. His mechanics are shot and can't improve until he gets to work on them in the offseason. His ability to work on read progressions is a joke with this line. Some of this can be affected via play calling. Some via scheme protections. Some with WRs that can get separation off the line (which is a problem with all of our WRs not named Garcon). So if we are going to keep him in, we need to adjust the play calling and the scheme, at a minimum.

For those of you that are worried about affecting RG3's psyche by sitting him (understandably), which could he recover from quicker, a hit to his ego or another destroyed knee? Because if he continues to take the hits he has been taking, he will be injured again.

 

[Caliskinsfan]

In theory, I agree. However, behind this line, he is not getting quality reps, he is a deer in the headlights. We've seen other 1st round QBs get ruined here behind OLs that couldn't give them a chance to grow (Ramsey, Campbell). All that is happening to RG3 at this point is he is ingraining bad habits. His mechanics are shot and can't improve until he gets to work on them in the offseason. His ability to work on read progressions is a joke with this line. Some of this can be affected via play calling. Some via scheme protections. Some with WRs that can get separation off the line (which is a problem with all of our WRs not named Garcon). So if we are going to keep him in, we need to adjust the play calling and the scheme, at a minimum.

For those of you that are worried about affecting RG3's psyche by sitting him (understandably), which could he recover from quicker, a hit to his ego or another destroyed knee? Because if he continues to take the hits he has been taking, he will be injured again.

Agree!