Monday, November 7, 2011

Sham-ahan?

There's not much more to say than this in regard to my Redskins. Just look at the photo.

As such, I won't bore anyone with deep analysis of the team, or the game.

We suck.

We suck, we suck, we suck.

And nothing is going to matter until there's an actual NFL quarterback on the roster.

Mind you: I am not saying a QB fixes all of our problems. But nothing else matters, until this crucial position gets addressed.

Period.

Mike Shanahan had a very interesting  interview with our radio station's mid-day hosts Kevin Sheehan and Thom Loverro just prior to the team returning from the bye week. At the time, the team was 3-1, and almost entirely healthy. Never mind that the 3 wins were 1 solid win over the Giants in Week 1, followed by a "down to their last 4th down and 3" against decidedly poor Arizona and a stuttering low-point win against 1-win St. Louis.

Never mind all that. Shanahan, was damn near giddy in that interview. He was loose, relaxed, confident and happy. He talked about things he has never talked about with the media since he came to town. He talked about how he liked to play blackjack, his preference in music, and a bunch of non-football things.

He also said the following, in regard to an oblique question about whether Rex Grossman was essentially good enough to win with:

Shanahan: "We understand the quarterback position."

Oh, you do? Really.

That comment came before the entire season came flying apart at the seams. Before injuries to the o-line, and the loss of a starting WR and TE. It came before Rex vomited all over himself in a 4-picks-in-just-3-quarters game at home that prompted the move to John Beck.

It came before letting the Eagles back off the mat, it came before another loss to a rookie QB in Cam Newton (the Redskins staggering 7th STRAIGHT loss to a rookie starter) it came before a lifeless shutout in Toronto against the Bills.

And it came before Sunday's debacle in which the Redskins were effectively shut out, again.

I go back to that interview, Shanny's tone, and the cocky-ass, condescending comment: "We understand the quarterback position."

I must ask an honest, and sobering question: "Does Shanahan have any idea what is going on right now?"

I mean that. Is it possible that he's completely floored that his magnificent scheme is not working somehow? Could he really be scratching his head in wonder?

The conventional wisdom is essentially: "Of course, Shanahan knows he needs a QB. He's too smart not to know that."

But does he? Really? Is it possible, this Grossman-Beck experiment has blown up in his face, and he is franctically trying to give it life support?

More conventional wisdom says Shanahan knew that he needed a young QB to mold, but he sacrificed that need for one year in order to bolster the defense.

If so, quite a noble gesture, given how he had to know he would take the dump truck of crap from the fanbase if the offense was junk. Plus, had the Skins not thrown away pick #37 this year on McNabb, they could have easily moved up 2 spots for Andy Dalton who went #35 to Cinci. Instead, they took Jarvis Jenkins at #41, but they did so with a cobbled together 2nd round pick assembled from a flurry of trade-downs.

Which again, reinforces the tragic folly of the McNabb deal. You can say to youself: "Ah, it's just a second round pick" but those missing picks have consequences. You go without one, and then you chase to re-claim it, and all of a sudden, you are missing on a perhaps franchise QB.

Shanahan said he'd stake his reputation on the belief that Grossman and Beck can play. That's more than just a standard coaches endorsement to pump up his quarterbacks.

Perhaps his reputation has no clothes. Perhaps Shanahan is one of the most well paid frauds in NFL history. A second coming of George Seifert, emboldened by a $35 million guaranteed 5 year contract, and the knowledge that if Snyder were to fire him prematurely, almost all the blame would bounce back on the owner.

Winning a Super Bowl is insanely hard. But at the same time, it's also no perfect litmus test of coaching excellence. Brian Billick and Jim Fassel squared off in a Super Bowl once, and where are those guys now? Billick butchering names in the broadcast booth, and Fassell slumming it in the UFL.

Shanny had a quick strike pair of Super Bowls, with a Hall of Fame QB, and a RB whose production was absurdly HOF-worthy before he had it cut short by knee injuries. The only other bright spot, and only other AFC West title was a lone 13-3 season in 2005.

Dick Jauron once went 13-3 too, so let's not get carried away.

There's only 3 basic scenarios right now for Shanahan.

1. He knows Beck and Grossman are junk, and just hoped to get through the year. The pumping up was just that. Lip service. He's got a good idea who he likes coming out this spring, and plans to go get him.

2. He's truly flummoxed, and stunned that THIS is not working at all. As such, he has no real "Plan B".

3. He's just cynically banking Snyder's cash. He knows that this is his last big coaching "score". He wanted to give his kid the best shot at a full blown NFL career. If Snyder fires him before all 5 years are over (shudder the thought) Shanny knows he can say "oh, well, it was Mission Impossible."

Right now, I'm leaning - just a lean - that he's on Scenario #2, and will have to be talked into #1. But if that plan gets much harder, he will gladly fall back into #3, and this unfortunate episode in franchise history will become just another case study in fail.

8 comments:

  1. Thank God the Raiders took Palmer. Skins wouldn't have a first, second, and possibly third round draft pick for probably 3-years if Shanny-Snyder went 'bargain' hunting.

    From Football News Now, 3 May, 2011:

    "While Shanahan expressed his complete faith in Beck, who hasn’t taken an NFL snap since 2007, there are rumors flying about a number of free agent targets for Washington.

    According to ESPN‘s Bill Williamson, there are rumors swirling that the Redskins are trying to ship Albert Haynesworth to the Denver Broncos in exchange for Kyle Orton. Broncos coach John Fox has dismissed the move, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

    NFL Network’s Jason LaCanfora said he has also heard “rumblings” that the Shanahans like ex-St. Louis Rams starter Marc Bulger.

    Other free agents, including Vince Young and Carson Palmer, have also had tenuous links to the Redskins."

    ANY of those QB's mean you have NO CLUE about the QB position.

    Queue Moe Szyslak: Good GOD!

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  2. No need for the long post of analysis Czabe - it's common knowledge to everyone outside of Washington that Shamahan is a bad coach. All hype. Dude was FIRED in Denver by 1 of his best friends.

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  3. Czabe you say you are leaning #2. I've listened to you a lot over the years, and I like your commentary, except when it comes to Shanny. You are not objective on him, you ignore facts and it makes it boring to listen to you on the subject. I think a more apt statement is you prefer to think its #2 because it fits your preconception.

    Shanny could have sat on his butt at home and collected the $7 million that the Redskins are paying him, from what I recall Denver owed him 3 more years of $7 after they fired him. if its all about money, why not collect the same pay check WITHOUT going to work.

    I recall the hooray from you on draft day when they traded down, didn't take a quarterback and took a d lineman. Now, you don't like the move? As for the McNabb trade, it was bad, but he added picks to make up for it, and they have extra picks for next year and the year beyond that too. If you want to attack a guy for trading picks, Shanny shouldn't be the target. It's his predecessors.

    As for Beck and Rex, he gave up nothing for either of them. Both are signed for a hair above the veteran minimum. Does that sound like going full out for guys that are the future of the team?

    For a team that's depleted of talent, playing the last draft in a way where you take the best players available, and do not give up picks to reach for a player but add picks to add depth and future possibilities -- makes sense to most.

    Getting back to the quarterbacks, it doesn't seem a stretch to think, well MAYBE we got something here and MAYBE we don't. But we are a couple of years a way at least from being a serious contender, so lets see what we got and if it doesn't work, we got extra picks coming into a draft that is supposed to be one of the richest in QB talent in a long time, and then we'd get our guy.

    I am sure Shanny is disappointed these these Qb's aren't working out, but shocked?, I doubt it. And if he really was sooo convinced for example Rex was the answer, why did he let him float out in free agency right through the middle of camp, and offer him essentially the veteran minimum. That's him practically daring Rex, saying no one else wants you, and I am not going to give you a serious commitment, you got to prove yourself here.

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  4. -- "We understand the quarterback position."--

    Really? Here are the quarterbacks Shanahan has actively went out and acquired during his time as a head coach

    Greise
    Plummer
    Cutler
    McNabb
    Grossman
    Beck

    Guess how many have been to the Pro Bowl under Shanahan's allegedly quaterback friendly system... one Greise back in 1999 or 2000.

    I know someone will bring up Elway but he was acquired by the Broncos years before Shanahan showed up.

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  5. Czabe - I've heard you say on more than one occasion that we could have parlayed the second round pick traded for McNabb into Andy Dalton. That pick was from the 2010 draft, not the 2011 draft when Dalton was available. Philly used the pick to select starting safety Nate Allen, who would be a much cheaper option for us now than Atogwe.

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  6. The frown by 'Coach' says it all. But also, the hundreds of empty seats behind him say a lot also.

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  7. I love the Silvio Dante frown on Shanny's spray-on tanned face. Czabe, I've been calling this guy a fraud since his days with the Raiders. If Skins fans want to drink the Shanahan kool aid, I guess its a free country. Go 9ers. Keep up the good work, Czabe!

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  8. I guess people forget things pretty fast. Let me remind who we wanted for that 2nd round pick we traded for McNabb. We were going to somehow get Jimmy Claussen. Think what kind of a disaster that would have been. It took us 4 long years to get rid of Campbell and would have taken another 4 years of wasted excercise on Clausen.

    Shanahan made an old slow team into a young one. Some of these young guys will pan out, some won't. I have no problem with either Beck or Grossman because they are only part of a rebuilding year regardless of whether shanny admints or not. We will get a QB next year and we will be fine. If we are really serious about having a succesful future, we have to stick with Shanahan. I have no problems with his son either. We need a young coordinator who can take some risks and he proved himself with Texans.

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