OT: 2015 Redskins Part VII: Driving the NFC LEast Clowncar Into the Playoffs

[Cush]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000619470/article/notebook-top-qb-draft-prospects-kirk-cousins-value-and-more
via Albert Breer

Not sure if its worth paying Kirk big bucks just yet. Yeah, he'll have big a pay day, just don't go overboard.

as far as the rest of the article, the of the article, he has GMSM as executive of the year

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR:

1) Scot McCloughan, general manager, Washington Redskins: In 12 short months, McCloughan changed the face of a laughingstock by adding a draft class with a handful of tough, smart contributors, rewarding decorated vets like Ryan Kerrigan and Trent Williams, and bringing in bargain free agents (Terrance Knighton). "Scot has done a nice job of bringing football back into focus in Washington," said the NFL pro director. "His evaluation prowess has been evidence with the value they've found in draft picks and their free-agent signings. But as much as anything else, this is about being willing to go to the owner and tell him the truth about his quarterbacks."

Gruden in 4th for Coach of the Year:

4) Jay Gruden, Washington Redskins: The quarterback decision is the big one here. Gruden has been determined to have the program in Washington that's a meritocracy, and he's felt all along that Cousins is his best signal caller. But he also incorporated new coaches like Joe Barry and Bill Callahan to his staff, and helped a new GM carry out a vision for a tougher, more physical team. "The guy has gone from the Arena League to OC to head coach in the NFL of a team that was going in multiple directions," our NFC personnel exec said. "And he found a way to make guys wanna play for him."

 

[Beef Invictus]

GMSM deserves it. Already.


Edit: And, Gruden has constructed a better team culture than Shanahan ever managed to.



This feels so different from 2012. In 2012, we were in the playoffs pretty much just because of Griffin and Morris. The receiving group was poor, with Garckon and Sleepy missing a ton of games, and the dropoff from them was steep. It was a poor team carried by two players. They were hot, yes, but going against a much more complete hot team. It was exciting to see Griffin justifying the investment in him, but there was still the spectre of Snider hanging over anything...the feeling he'd find a way to ruin it all.

This team is far more complete. It isn't any one player doing it, it's been a true team effort. On offense and defense. Players stepping up and getting the job done. Cousins summed the offense up well; he doesn't consider himself a game manager, he considers himself a distributor; he distributes the ball to players and trust them to make plays happen. Additionally, Snider looks to have finally decided to let a real football person do real football things, and GMSM/Gruden have combined to really begin building a great culture around some promising guys.

Even with Griffin in 2012, 2015 just feels more optimistic and hopeful. And, we are facing a cold team that has been struggling.

 

[g00n]

I guess we don't need a separate playoffs thread this year.

fwiw, looking at the matchups, Bungles postseason drought is the worst in the league. 25 years without a playoff win. Yow. (Skins last won in 2006 vs the Bucs).

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

GMSM deserves it. Already.


Edit: And, Gruden has constructed a better team culture than Shanahan ever managed to.

This feels so different from 2012. In 2012, we were in the playoffs pretty much just because of Griffin and Morris. The receiving group was poor, with Garckon and Sleepy missing a ton of games, and the dropoff from them was steep. It was a poor team carried by two players. They were hot, yes, but going against a much more complete hot team. It was exciting to see Griffin justifying the investment in him, but there was still the spectre of Snider hanging over anything...the feeling he'd find a way to ruin it all.

This team is far more complete. It isn't any one player doing it, it's been a true team effort. On offense and defense. Players stepping up and getting the job done. Cousins summed the offense up well; he doesn't consider himself a game manager, he considers himself a distributor; he distributes the ball to players and trust them to make plays happen. Additionally, Snider looks to have finally decided to let a real football person do real football things, and GMSM/Gruden have combined to really begin building a great culture around some promising guys.

Even with Griffin in 2012, 2015 just feels more optimistic and hopeful. And, we are facing a cold team that has been struggling.

2012 was far more exciting and it's not close. We beat the Cowboys twice on primetime: once on Thanksgiving and once to clinch the division. We beat the Giants on prime time. We beat the Ravens in a crazy comeback to save the season. The 70 yard to seal the deal vs Minnesota. RGIII was the most electrifying and exciting player not only in football but in all of sports. The 7 game win streak to end the season. Shanahan and RGIII were changing the way offense was played in the NFL.

2015 feels more businesslike and much more sustainable. I'm in no way complaining and am enjoying the hell out of football and the Redskins again, but in terms of entertainment/excitement value... not even close to 2012. I think some people forget how electric this city was during that run. It's what made Griffin's downfall all the more painful.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

That's GBs #1 CB. That means 2 rookies starting at CB for GB. Cousins and friends need to exploit the **** out of that.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I guess we don't need a separate playoffs thread this year.

fwiw, looking at the matchups, Bungles postseason drought is the worst in the league. 25 years without a playoff win. Yow. (Skins last won in 2006 vs the Bucs).

Come on....at least a GDT! This might be it for 10 years....

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

2012 was more than Griffin and Morris. The team went on their run when Garçon came back from his foot injury.

As far as excitement, there is a lot now but I remember more excitement back on '12 during the winning streak and Griffin in general. The future was bright led by what appeared to be a generational talent in Griffin.

This year the excitement was more reserved. Primarily because most fans were very skeptical that Cousins could lead this team. That has changed, but it took the last 4 weeks of the season to turn perception where back in '12 we were all bat **** crazy excited from the Saints game in week one on.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

It was all Rme3 back then. So giddy with the possibilities. Made the crash all the tougher to swallow.

 

[Caps89]

this game has me scared cause they have the former MVP in Rodgers and i dunno if our secondary is good enough yet to beat them.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

Interesting article about the transition of Gruden from rookie HC to 2nd year HC.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...id=hp_local-news2_brewer-210pm:homepage/story

Despite a laundry list of things to fix, Gruden streamlined his approach. He became a more presidential public figure, and he revamped the coaching staff to take pressure off himself. He learned to be a supervisor, overseeing progress from a 4-12 disaster to a 9-7 NFC East division winner that will host Green Bay in the playoffs Sunday afternoon. In the process, he found himself — the relaxed, fun-loving coach he always had been before arriving here — evolving from a project who required significant on-the-job training to a leader growing just as impressively as his emerging team.

“I just felt like there was way too much outside noise last year,†Gruden said. “I think I could’ve handled a lot of the situations a lot better. I’m honest to a fault, probably. Sometimes, I talk too much, and I elaborate too much, to where just part of what I say becomes a headline, and it’s unfortunate. So I’ve just got to give the facts in an honest fashion, but try to eliminate the possible, dreaded headliners. And I needed to delegate responsibilities and let people do their jobs.â€

When Gruden was hired, he seemingly had one mission: Fix Griffin. His job security would depend on it. After a rough first year together, this season felt like a make-or-break year for both. Certainly, it was hard to envision Gruden staying if Griffin failed.

But with Cavanaugh now in charge of the quarterbacks and offensive coordinator Sean McVay being given more responsibility, this wasn’t all about Gruden vs. Griffin anymore. Gruden was no longer physically or emotionally tied to restoring Griffin’s star power. There were others heavily involved, including new General Manager Scot McCloughan. And when it became clear to them that Griffin wasn’t the best quarterback on the roster anymore, there was more heft behind the decision to elevate Kirk Cousins to starter, more certainty that the controversial decision was the right one. It is now the move that changed the franchise’s fortunes and the moment that Gruden took control of his team.

“I just get a feel for the rest of the players and interact with everybody else instead of just totally being one-sided, quarterback-driven only,†Gruden said. “There are a lot of things you have to fix. Not just one guy. That’s something that you have to understand. There are a lot of issues, and we feel like we’ve addressed them. But you can’t just hone in on one spot. This is a total team sport.â€

More in there than what I quoted. A good read, good insight.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

This Texans/Chiefs game is awful.

 

[hockeykicker]

This Texans/Chiefs game is awful.

brian hoyer is worse then awful my goodness

 

[Ridley Simon]

I think the D-line comes to play this Sunday. I got laughed at for calling 10-6 this season. I'm not posting to brag but I thought they could achieve that record because the team fortified the trenches.

Pot roast,Baker,Kerrigan and Smith with Hatcher and Murphy subbing in is a good front. The linebackers seem to be diagnosing plays well too. Robinson got hurt but he's not on the field now because Compton is playing better. Lacy is hard to tackle but speed guys usually burn the skins for big chunks of yards. Just need to wrap up guys no flying shoulders.

Good points. You were one of the few that saw this. I liked McGlou's moves, but I didn't see more than 5 wins.

Tip of the cap to you, and GO Skins!!!

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

This Texans/Chiefs game is awful.

PIT vs Cincy game not much better. What a dud of a playoff Saturday.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Need the over for my parlay

 

[ADifferentTim]

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2016/01/08/blame-packers-fans-for-most-expensive-playoff-tickets/

Packers @ Redskins for US$320 vs $164 for Seahawks @ Vikings for cheapest remaining tix? Geez.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2016/01/08/blame-packers-fans-for-most-expensive-playoff-tickets/

Packers @ Redskins for US$320 vs $164 for Seahawks @ Vikings for cheapest remaining tix? Geez.

Prolly has something to do with the 0 degree weather in minn

Couldn't Payme to go to that

 

[John Price]

Everything there is what I've been noticing all offseason. He had too much on his plate first year and he said that he took less off and delegated more to his coaches.

I noticed that Bruce Arians said something similiar in his "Football Life" documentary on NFL Network. The good coaches know how to delegate so they don't have too much on their plate. Bruce Arians was doing way too much at Temple and he could have burned out. Good to see Gruden noticed that going on and took less off his plate. His job is to coach and motivate. Let other people handle playcalling.

The beauty of everything this season is that it's an organization with order and structure. The owner isn't being the GM, the owner just sits back and opens up his pocketbook when the football people tell him to. And the football people do their job, the coaches have a specific mindset and know their roles. All these functions were not delegated correctly in previous years. Now they're all doing their job and no one is doing too much.

 

[John Price]

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2016/01/08/blame-packers-fans-for-most-expensive-playoff-tickets/

Packers @ Redskins for US$320 vs $164 for Seahawks @ Vikings for cheapest remaining tix? Geez.

The prices are rising later on. Those Vikings tickets were 41 dollars earlier in the week.

The Redskins tickets dipped a bit (to 105 around Thursday) but have started to rise up again. With this market, **** it, if I wake up tomorrow and it's still 135 (plus fees too! That's about 160!) I don't give a damn I'm making the purchase.

 

[Capathetic]

Bengals vs Steelers is highly entertaining. Lots of taunting after each team thinks it has it won.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

These games have sucked so bad. Finally a game in Cincinnati. Great drama to see Ben return late.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

PacMan Jones should be cut immediately. GJ Thuglife.

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

Marvin Lewis deserves to be fired after this game.

 

[Capathetic]

The way those two Bengals couldn't control their emotions they deserve to lose the game. Reminded me of how the Redskins would lose a game on stuff like that.