
When Joe Gibbs came on board for his second tenure as Washington Redskins head coach fans believed they were only a year, or two, away from winning another Super Bowl. In his first year back the three-time Super Bowl Champion Gibbs brought his team to a 6-10 record. No need to worry fans thought, it’s his first year back, next year we’ll get there. The next year Gibbs sent the Redskins to the playoffs, where they narrowly missed defeating eventual Super Bowl runner-up the Seattle Seahawks. Fans surely believed that they third year back would be a charm, and in just a matter of months they’d be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy and singing “Hail to the Redskins,” at the top of their longs. Well, they finished 5-11, the worst finish of any Gibbs team ever.
Now, entering his fourth year back, Gibbs is probably nearing the end of the line at far as fans are concerned. Gibbs has received a backlash of bad media because of his apparent inability to recognize that the game has changed since he won his three championships in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Gibbs is stubborn when he comes to the way he wants he offense ran. That’s a “run-style” offense that specializes in pounding the ball up the middle, something Redskin’s star running back Clinton Portis was never expected to do in Denver because Denver runs more of an off tackle offense. When Portis went down for the year with a shoulder injury LaDell Betts came on strong as his replacement, and earned a permanent spot on the team. Also, despite the injuries, when Portis is healthy he is still a top-5 running back in the NFL. Unfortunately for the Redskins, they still have a long way to go before they look like they will be able to compete with the other stars of their NFC East division, the Cowboys and the Eagles.
Key Additions
Cornerback Fred Smoot returns to the Redskins line-up after a couple of off years with the Minnesota Vikings. Coach Gibbs will gladly welcome him back because he understands the defensive schemes, and the Redskins defense as a whole dropped off considerably last year. Safety Adam Archuleta failed to show anything in the form of an upside and was let go in the off-season. When you pair Smoot with fellow Redskin cornerbacks
Also hoping to make a difference is the free-agent singing of linebacker London Fletcher. The linebacker position has been one of the strong parts of the Redskins game for the last five years, but that too dropped off last year. Fletcher, who is entering his ninth season, is probably good for 100 tackles and a few sacks.
The only player of note that the Redskins picked up in the NFL draft was safety LaRon Landry out of LSU. Landry stand 6’2 and can match-up well, at least on paper, with all of the big wide receivers in the league. Being that the Redskins had only one pick in the first five rounds of the draft, things probably turned out as well as they could have.
Key Losses
The Redskins didn’t really lose anyone of note. Fans expected them to go after a few more players in the off-season, but when they went after disgruntled Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, that trade was turned down.
The NFC is general looks far too tough for them to sneak out of with a playoff birth. Both the Cowboys and Eagles look prime to make a solid run towards a Super Bowl, and they both share the NFC east division with the Redskins. It might be another long season for the Redskins, and my guess is it could be the last season of Joe Gibbs’ as head coach.
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