Welcome back to Washington...JOE GIBBS!!!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

This is great news for the Redskins, but the NFL is a much different place now then it was when Gibbs last coached. I’m not saying that he can’t bring the winning times back to DC, but it may be tougher then people think.

A big reason that the Redskins were so successful under Gibbs’s tenure was that there was no salary cap, so Gibbs could go to Jack Kent Cooke and say something like, “We need a good kick-returner. There’s one available, but it’ll cost us $950,000.” Cooke would just write a check, no problem.

Can’t do that now.

22

Depends on what you mean, I suppose, Dave. I think a significant turnaround is quite possible here because the Redskins’ personnel is more like that of an 8-8 club than a 5-11 club. When Parcells signed with the Cowboys, their personnel really was of 5-11 quality, and they made it to the postseason this year. If you’ve got five bucks that says the 'Skins will win 8 or fewer games in 2004, I’ve got five bucks that says they’ll win 9 or more.

The Redskins have pretty good players on ther O-line; the problem this year was with the coaching and the system. Their D-line, OTOH, needs a complete overhaul. There were some fleeting moments when the opposing QBs were pressured, but they were few and far between.

Like I said in the IMHO thread, while I think Gibbs strongly prefers a bruising RB at the heart of his offense, he’s always been able to work with what’s there.

23

Just judging by the bodies present and how they’ve done in the past, not by whether they did the job in 2003. We know the coaching left something to be desired last year.

O-line: strength. Jansen and Samuels at the tackles, Thomas, Fiore, Dockery doing guard duty - this is talent. With coaching, they’ll be fine.

QB: hard to say. Next year, the O-line will let us find out what sort of QB Ramsey really is.

RBs: weakness. Gibbs will make the Betts/Canidate/Cartwright troika add up to more than the sum of its parts, but Stephen Davis they ain’t.

WRs: strength. Coles, Gardner, McCants is really a pretty good WR corps.

TEs: weakness. But that won’t last long. Gibbs isn’t looking for his TEs to be Kellen Winslow, so there’s TEs available who can do what Gibbs asks of them.

D-line: major, glaring weakness.

LBs: Strength. Arrington, Trotter, and Armstead will do fine if coached well. Gibbs will see to it that they are.

DBs: Strength, if Gibbs’ return convinces Champ to stay.

If the Redskins can upgrade their D-line so it’s passable rather than bad, then there’s no personnel reason why they can’t go to the playoffs.

The more difficult challenge is their 2004 schedule: they play Green Bay, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Dallas, Philadelphia and the New York Giants at home, and Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Philadelphia and the New York Giants on the road.

None of the NFC East opponents are patsies, and there’s no gimmes at home: Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl a year ago, Green Bay and Baltimore are/were in the playoffs this year, the Vikes barely missed, and the Bengals are only going to get better under Marvin Lewis.

The 2004 Redskins might do better on the road, where the Browns and Lions sleep tonight.

24

I’m sure he’ll make wise use of Washington’s 5th pick in the draft as well. Still, you gotta feel sorry for the Beegees since now there’s hardly anyone left.

25

RTFirefly, even though it’s not a patsie schedule, IMO the AFC is the stronger conference right now, and they are playing one of the weakest divisions in that conference, so it could be worse. They play the toughest part of their schedule at home, so that will help (this excludes the Cowboys and Eagles, who I see as their main competition in the NFC East, who they have to anyway play both home and away).

26

I for one and thrilled. As a lifelong Skins fan and native Washingtonian (actually born in the city and have lived in the area my whole life… there are about 10 of us in existance) this is as close to heaven as we get, especially after the turn of events of the past 11 years.

In any case, I do have some concerns. Skins fans are a fickle bunch, and after having to put up with 11 years of lousy seasons and lousy coaches, I fear that the fans will give up if we’re not in the Superbowl by next year. I don’t think we’ll be in the bowl next year, I don’t even know if we’ll be in the PLAYOFFS next year or the year after, but I know it will take time to rebuild the kind of team that made Gibbs the success that he was. Gibbs needs time to recreate that bond and spark the Skins from 15 years ago had, take a firm hand over the current undisciplined, high-salaried talent that exists, throw a few chairs around at halftime, discipline players who talk on their cell phones during team meetings, giving punishing practices, and build something that will be successful long-term. Gibbs is not a quick fix, but he is a future for the Skins. Rock on, Joe, I’m behind you for however long it takes.

Now all we need is Sonny as the QB coach and Bobby Bethard back as GM and it’s a dream team :wink:

27

Sorry, no can do, I want to retain my eligibility for the Hall of Fame. :smiley:

(Actually, that’s a bet I would take)

28

Have to say I agree, with ya there, Arky. Comebacks seldom work out ( It’s a baseball example, but remember when Earl Weaver came back to the Orioles? He stank on ice.) It’s been a long time since he coached, and today’s player is different from those of 13 years ago. For one thing, there’s free agency,and the whole salary cap angle which makes keeping a team together difficult.

I for one predict that Joe’s not going to do so well, which I’m sorry to say because although I detest the Redskins, I do like Joe Gibbs. He should stay with his racecars.

29

If Snyder gives Joe Gibbs free rein and a couple of seasons to really develop something, I think the team will really go places. I’m not looking for them to end up in the Super Bowl next year, but I’ll take any and all comers on .500 or better.

30

Dare I raise my hopes out of the mire where they currently lie?

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine Gibbs would return.
Weirddave - I hear the Vegas line on an all Maryland Superbowl has just jumped down to 2500 to 1!

31

Dare I raise my hopes out of the mire where they currently lie?

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine Gibbs would return.
Weirddave - I hear the Vegas line on an all Maryland Superbowl has just jumped down to 12000 to 1!

32

1991 was the first year I remember following football. I haven’t enjoyed much about the Washington team since then (two playoff appearances, many more dismal seasons).

Let’s hope this next year is a break from what is becoming an unhappy tradition.

33

Kornheiser on it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63372-2004Jan7.html