Snap Judgements - Skins @ Giants

[Caliskinsfan]

Snap Judgments: Redskins @ Giants

Excerpt

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Thursday's road test against Eli Manning and the Giants served as a brutal reminder of just how bad the Redskins have been and just how awful they are capable of looking on a given day - or night, in many cases. Let the following facts be a bucket of cold water that you can throw on yourselves every time that you get too carried away about this team's chances of becoming an instant contender.

• The Redskins have committed 145 penalties for 1,329 yards since the start of the 2014 season. Only the Bills have committed more penalties and nobody has accrued more penalty yards.
• Washington has lost 12 of their last 15 games against the Giants, including losses in each of the last five matchups between the two teams. The Redskins also have only won three road games against the Giants in the last 12 years. No NFL team has more wins over another team than the 97 that the Giants do over the Redskins.
• The Redskins have a 4-18 record (.182 winning percentage) in primetime games since 2008. Half of those wins came in December of 2012. The winning percentage of .182 is the second worst percentage in that span behind only the .125 percentage (1-7) of the St. Louis Rams. Washington has been outscored by an NFL-worst 228 points in those games (10.4 points per game).
• The Giants aren't the only NFC East team that the Redskins have struggled against in recent years. Since the start of 2013, Washington is tied with Tampa Bay for the worst record against division opponents in the NFL (2-11 record, .154 winning percentage and -128 point differential).
  
• The 8-27 record (.229) held by the Washington Redskins since 2013 is the second worst record in the NFL in that time frame, just a half-game better than the 7-27 record of the Buccaneers (.206).

Despite all of that, I still believe that Scot McCloughan has this franchise headed in the right direction. The team is slowly but surely improving before our eyes as they begin to establish an identity for the first time in several years and in one of the only times in the Dan Snyder era. However, we have to remember that this is a process; and just because the division is there for the taking, does not necessarily mean that this team is going to take it.

We are in the same place we were almost three weeks ago when the season began. If you got carried away because of the first two weeks, then you would be wise to re-calibrate your expectations back to preseason levels. Little has changed since then. The sky is still not falling, but this is also not a very good team. It is just a rebuilding one. Sadly, it is a rebuilding team without a competent quarterback on the roster.

 

[kbso83432]

I just wish we had lost in a different way. No Cousins interceptions, no special teams gaffes, and no soiling your pants on prime time television. If we had lost a nail biter and Cousins didn't look the way he looked, I think the mood around here would be a little different. I agree the sky is not falling though. Falcons and Jets wins could really set us up to stay in this thing long term. Having a chance to send the Eagles to 0-4 would be huge.

 

[Stymietee]

I had this season ending with 5 wins......still do!

2013........3 wins

2014.......4 wins

2015.......?

The pattern is clear to me! ........

 

[martinez]

Well , it can't get much worse

 

[j_y19]

I just wish we had lost in a different way. No Cousins interceptions, no special teams gaffes, and no soiling your pants on prime time television. If we had lost a nail biter and Cousins didn't look the way he looked, I think the mood around here would be a little different. I agree the sky is not falling though. Falcons and Jets wins could really set us up to stay in this thing long term. Having a chance to send the Eagles to 0-4 would be huge.

KBSO, the problem is with us, the fans. We go from being on a huge high with any win and talk foolishly about the future to the absolute doldrums with every lose. Our expectations are out of whack and are fueled by media coverage looking for the next shock story. The vast majority of the writers/bloggers that cover the Redskins are nothing more than rumor mongers.

We, the fans need to reset our expectations. Chant the following with me:

We are a 6-10 team this year.
As every 6-10 team will do, we will have some terrible games
Our QB is young and probably not an NFL starter
The best we can hope for is growth in his performance by the end of the year
As with every young QB, he will have games where he bombs.
I will resist the urge to pass any final judgements, good or bad, after each game.
We finally have a football mind running the franchise. He needs a couple of years to implement his strategy.
I trust Scot to make the right calls on players and coaches.
Please, just beat the Cowboys once this year.

Serenity now...........

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I just wish we had lost in a different way. No Cousins interceptions, no special teams gaffes, and no soiling your pants on prime time television. If we had lost a nail biter and Cousins didn't look the way he looked, I think the mood around here would be a little different. I agree the sky is not falling though. Falcons and Jets wins could really set us up to stay in this thing long term. Having a chance to send the Eagles to 0-4 would be huge.

Again I agree with you. While I have always maintained you don't win consistantly with mid-level QBs very often I was hoping Kirk would be at that level. This would allow us to be somewhat competitive as we improved the team and found our QB. But his performance, again, left us very disappointed and with the feeling that we can never be even semi-competitive with any of our QBs.

 

[Sportster 72]

KBSO, the problem is with us, the fans. We go from being on a huge high with any win and talk foolishly about the future to the absolute doldrums with every lose. Our expectations are out of whack and are fueled by media coverage looking for the next shock story. The vast majority of the writers/bloggers that cover the Redskins are nothing more than rumor mongers.

We, the fans need to reset our expectations. Chant the following with me:

We are a 6-10 team this year.
As every 6-10 team will do, we will have some terrible games
Our QB is young and probably not an NFL starter
The best we can hope for is growth in his performance by the end of the year
As with every young QB, he will have games where he bombs.
I will resist the urge to pass any final judgements, good or bad, after each game.
We finally have a football mind running the franchise. He needs a couple of years to implement his strategy.
I trust Scot to make the right calls on players and coaches.
Please, just beat the Cowboys once this year.

Serenity now...........

I couldn't agree more but we all know sports talk radio and forums wouldn't survive if we dealt in the realities of the game. It is all about the drama.

 

[kbso83432]

I did it to myself j_y. I allowed myself to get excited. I even made a thread about it the day of the game. I just think with Romo and Dez going down and the Eagles looking like a train wreck, some including myself saw a sliver of hope for a division race. Kirk is just so up and down. He can be so good at times.

 

[j_y19]

I did it to myself j_y. I allowed myself to get excited. I even made a thread about it the day of the game. I just think with Romo and Dez going down and the Eagles looking like a train wreck, some including myself saw a sliver of hope for a division race. Kirk is just so up and down. He can be so good at times.

We all fall into this trap. We should expect the KC roller coaster to continue. The best we can hope for is that he trends toward more ups than downs by the end of the year. That is still possible, I believe. But I also believe he will always have down games. And when he is down, he is really down.

 

[Stymietee]

Ups and downs? When? Where? He's neither of those things, just consistently mediocre. Some will point to the Rams game as an "up" game, but think about that, isn't it true that, that particular game was all about the running game? His stats against the Giants were heavily padded in garbage time. I honestly don't know what version of Kirk Cousins some of you are looking at!

 

[j_y19]

Ups and downs? When? Where? He's neither of those things, just consistently mediocre. Some will point to the Rams game as an "up" game, but think about that, isn't it true that, that particular game was all about the running game? His stats against the Giants were heavily padded in garbage time. I honestly don't know what version of Kirk Cousins some of you are looking at!

Whatever, sty..

 

[Stymietee]

Whatever, sty..

OK, I'll take your whatever, and counter with this, where's the evidence that I'm wrong about him being on the aggregate mediocre? " Whatever," doesn't support the facts.

 

[j_y19]

OK, I'll take your whatever, and counter with this, where's the evidence that I'm wrong about him being on the aggregate mediocre? " Whatever," doesn't support the facts.

As I stated in another thread, I don't believe he has been even mediocre. But my whatever wasn't directed at your evaluation of his play as mediocre, but your outrage that I have termed his play as up and down. But you are entitled to your opinion.

 

[Breed]

I honestly don't know what version of Kirk Cousins some of you are looking at!

Me either, but the statement I take umbrage with is kbso's, "He (Kirk) can be so good at times."

 

[Stymietee]

As I stated in another thread, I don't believe he has been even mediocre. But my whatever wasn't directed at your evaluation of his play as mediocre, but your outrage that I have termed his play as up and down. But you are entitled to your opinion.

That's on me....no outrage intended, besides I'm married, lost the outrage gear years ago!!! Sorry it came across that way.

 

[kbso83432]

@Cleveland 26/37 329 2/1

@Atlanta 29/45 381 3/2

Jacksonville 22/33 250 2/0

@Philadelphia 30/48 427 3/1

Seattle 21/36 283 2/0

St. Louis 23/27 203 1/0

Please don't turn me into the Cousins apologist on this board, most of you know I am kinda partial to Robert. However, I do recognize that Cousins, at times, can be very good/good.

 

[Breed]

I'm not trying to make you a Cousins apologist and while stat-wise those games look good. Stats alone don't tell the whole story or paint a complete picture as to whether a QB had a good/very good/great game.

Take that Philly game for instance. Lotta completions, lotta yards, lotta TDs, and a very high QB rating. What those stats don't say though is that the lone INT Cousins had that game. Came in the 4th quarter and set the Eagles up in Redskins territory and even though they went 3 and out on that drive. They were still able to kick a FG which would end up as the game deciding points on that drive.

Those stats also won't tell you that the Redskins had 2 minutes left in the game and a 1st and ten at the Philly 41 yard line after a Philly punt. Which was a great opportunity for Cousins to lead the Skins to a go-ahead TD or at the least a game tying FG. What actually happened though is that the Skins didn't gain a single yard on that drive as Cousins threw 4 straight incomplete passes. The last of which was an out and out shitty pass totally missing a wide open Pierre Garcon who would've easily had the first down and probably a lot more yards.

So stat-wise it was a great game for Cousins no doubt. Far as taking a step forward and showing everyone he was an NFL caliber QB. By leading the Skins to a crunch-time win or at the very least making Nick Foles do the same thing. It was a total fail by Cousins.

 

[kbso83432]

I know. Cousins choked in the clutch like he usually does, but those stats also don't show the bone head kick return we gave up right after a score. There I go, apologizing for Kirk. Uggh!

 

[skinsdad62]

the guy has had 12 nfl starts and most of those have been herky jerky as far as getting any kind of flow . give the kid some time and see how it goes . he could be nothing , he could be something but he has to learn