Redskins Mailbag: Is 2-5 Gibbs’ fault?

By Connor Byrne  |   Thursday, November 02, 2006  |  Comments( 3 )

 Washington Redskins
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CommentsComments: 3
 No.1
fr8ttrain		 11:54 AM
11/02/2006
You need players who can play, no coach is great without that element. Gibbs is fine as coach. He just needs a team with heart like the ones he went to the Super Bowl with him in the golden years. The Hogs, the Smurfs, the Posse, serviceable qb's, tenacious D, backs like Riggo and Rogers. And none of them broke the bank either! Buying up free agents isn't the way to do it, that's a short cut, intelligent short cuts are ok sometimes, but for the most part we all know short cuts diminish quality in the long run. I'd rather see the Skins put together a squad that has the elements of yesteryear, blue collar guys that play and get paid, not get paid then play! It just seems the Skins are missing something. Maybe soul?
Speaking of that, may Jack Kent Cooke rest his.
 No.2
tele1		 10:04 PM
11/02/2006
I love Joe Gibbs. I can't imagine my redskins love affair without him in the picture. Let's face it skins fans, life after Joe version 1 was pretty horrible and life with Joe version 2 has gone full circle. From savior to the eventual disappointment of 2004. Then from disappointment to the playoffs in 2005. Now ,in 2006, it is sadly from the playoffs to I can't even tell ya what's going wrong here (well everything actually) and that's scary.

But Joe Gibbs is still the guy.......if only he knew it. If only he truly, deep down, really knew it. C'mon Joe you da Man! Lock and load....lock and load

Like any person, I'm certain that Joe Gibbs had a small doubt (tucked deeply in the back of his mind somewhere) about his ability to succeed in the NFL after a 12 year absence. That doubt finally manifested itself with the hiring of Al Saunders. Why? Joe took all the blame (unfairly) upon himself for that horrible stretch of Offense during the 2005 playoffs. That's why.

"If only I did this and if only I had that and we're in the Superbowl". That conversation was not part of some team talk, but rather, the internal dialog with Joe Gibbs and his doubters. That other Joe Gibbs tucked somewhere in the back of his own mind.

Will the real Joe Gibbs please stand up!....lock and load!...lock and load!

Equally disturbing is the decision to hire Ray Brown recently. What does that say out Bugel and his mindset too? We all know that Bugel is Gibbs staunchest ally and he would do anything to help Gibbs win. We didn't hear a thing from Bugel about Ray Brown. The silence was awful but proof again that the Gibbs and now Bugel are doubting their own special abilities.

I am convinced that Joe Gibbs is making a huge mistake by moving further and further away from calling the plays. Gibbs has always had (and still has) the ability to get men to believe. Believe, no matter who they are, believe that they can win. Gibbs has been able to do this because he has been "in the game" with the players " holding that clipboard and calling those plays". Players responded because the players believed in Joe Gibbs' ability to call the right play at the right time. No matter what the circumstances.

When you go to battle, you want your General with you, not back there somewhere. Now Joe Gibbs might be physically on the sidelines, but without that clipboard, he might as well be in a coaches booth, deep up in the stands somewhere.

Take back that clipboard Joe. Let Saunders teach the players the system. But Joe, you gotta call 'em. Put your uniform back on Joe, lock and load - your team needs you
 No.3
adam		 06:00 PM
11/03/2006
I just don't understand some of the decisions. I love Joe Gibbs and I definitely don't want him to leave but a lot of this does fall at his feet. He's the one calling the shots.

One thing that's particularly baffling to me is the way we treat the players we develop. All the undrafted, low round guys. The overachievers. The guys who know the system in and out, work really hard and earn there keep. The Ryan Clarks and the Antonio Pierces. Why do we view them as expendable? Why must we let OUR guys, the ones who came up with us, go for very little money and then overpay a "star" that no one else wants, for seem reason known to everyone but us? For all of Gibbs' loyalty and talk of character, you would those kinds of guys would be #1 priority. Those are the guys that really make your team right there.

There's other issues of course. One thought I've had is the O-line is not a good mix. You've got some maulers (a la Chicago, Ravens, ect) and you've got some quick guys (a la Denver and Indy). What do they ALL do well? Jansen and Dockery can be slow to get outside or beat d lineman to the spot in the zone scheme and Samuels and Rabach have trouble holding their own in drive blocking. Randy Thomas is the only one who does everything well. It seems as though no matter the run play called, at least one lineman will be playing to a weakness. I'm not even going to get started on the pass blocking.
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