I did this last year and feel the urge to do it again so read on if you have any interest at all.
At the time of writing this it is 14 hours until kick-ff at FedEx Field where my Washington Redskins will go at it against our rivals the new york giants. (see what I did there)
I've been a Redskins all my life and am most passionate in my fandom for the Redskins. Being such, it's been extremely difficult to weather through crappy season year after year. I've gotten to to the point where I feel I'm fairly rational about the Redskins chances. For the first time in a long time they have continuity on the sidelines (since Joe Gibbs second tenure as coach) and I think it will make a difference. I must admit I'm really excited about what the Shanahan's have done already and what they'll continue to do going forward. Players that have left, those released and some who were traded, have expressed regret because they know that times are a changin' in D.C. and good things are on the way.
The offense didn't make a lot of changes this offseason but enough to still have some hope going forward. We somehow managed to rank18th in the league in total offense even though we were completely enept in most ways in my personal opinion. McNabb had as much trouble running the offense as one can imagine. His reads were decent at best but his throw's were extremely innaccurate with way too many balls being thrown into the dirt. Rex Grossman did a decent job stepping in during the last three games and giving the offense a little spark. He still makes some poor decisions and doesn't take enough care of the ball but I feel like he'll be an upgrade over what McNabb was last year (notice I didn't say McNabb. I still think he's a better quarterback). Moving on, Tim Hightower seems to have fallen deeply in love with his role in Washington. He's taken to what was asked of him like a fat guy approaches a buffet line. I'm not saying he's going to be the league MVP, but he could very well get to 1,100 yards on the ground and another couple hundred receiving, yeah, I'm excited about what he could do.
The defense went all out in the offseason and I absolutely love what the front office did with its signings. Barry Cofield, Stephen Bowen, Ryan Kerrigan, Josh Wilson, and Oshiomogoh Atogwe came in to help bolster what was one of the worst defenses in the league. In my opinion, of course, their defense has improved in every way. Their will be some growing pains as people are adjusting to new roles and positions but they really have no choice but to be better than they were last year. As the season goes along they'll only get better as they gel into a complete unit.
All in all I have the Redskins winning between 7 and 10 games. If I had to put my money on the line I'd say they'll get to 9 wins to finish tied for 2nd in the NFC East behind Philadelphia (13-3) and tied with *sigh* Dallas (9-7). I'm not excited about what the Giants (7-9) didn't do in the off season and their injuries are going to cost them them the season.
As for my other division winners I like the Packers to repeat in the NFC North, Falcons in the NFC South, and think the Rams are finally in position to actually make a playoff push in the NFC West. The Cardinals will be back next season to challenge, but they need a year for Kolb to adjust.
In the AFC I like the Patriots in the AFC East, Steelers in the AFC North, Titans in the AFC South (toughest call to make), and the Chargers in the AFC West. I'm not going to get into superbowl predictions because I have no idea about that, but I'm optimistic my Skins can make the playoffs if not at least have good showing.
Now, onto college football. The Hokies are two games into the 2011 season and are 2-0, a good thing right? Maybe, but I have my concerns. In their most recent game agains't ECU, David Wilson outgained the entire ECU offense by himself and the Hokies only won by one score, 17-10. This gives me major concern going forward. Mainly in two facets, one the penalities and two the special teams. Logan Thomas looked like a quarterback who was starting his second game ever and therefor doesn't give me any worry. I think he'll continue to get better, learn to make better decisions, and become more accurate throwing the football. The penalties, however, I'm hoping were just a fluke. The 8 penalties in the first half were the most ever by a Beamer coached squad. One thought that crossed my mind as I was watching the game was like some had said to the team, "Here's a gun and there's your foot, go Plaxico on it!" So many times they extended drives with stupid and careless penalties. Hopefully though that doesn't continue. The other concern was the return game. In their previous game Virginia Tech averaged 30+ yards per kick return and 20+ yards per punt return (seriously). Contrast that to watching Jayron Hosley turn what was at best going to be a 5 yard return into an 18 yard loss and you can see why I have some concerns. It could have just been a fluke one day thing but it did put me on edge a bit. Also, I am not putting the blame on Hosley either as much as I am the rest of the return unit that was on the field with him. Each of the punts that I saw Hosley would have needed to make 3-4 defenders miss to actually have a chance to break one. Normally, the returner is asked to make one miss, but when it gets above that other people need to start taking responsibility for it.
Now for my way too naive season prediction for the Hokies, I like them to go undefeated for the regular season into the ACC Championship game in Charlotte where I believe they'll lose to a one loss (to Oklahoma) FSU team that will be praying to make it into the National Championship somehow. I think that their undefeated regular season will still be enough for the Hokies to make a BCS bowl bid as an at-large team, but I'm not holding my breath for a national championship this year.
So there you have it, my brief thoughts and predictions for the year.
Hokie Hokie Hokie Hi and Hail to the Redskins!
Gabe
p.s. This entire post was off the top of my head without any outside sources other than how to spell Oshiomogoh
p.p.s Yes, these were my brief thoughts. I could go on for quite a bit more on both teams. All you have to do is ask.
At the time of writing this it is 14 hours until kick-ff at FedEx Field where my Washington Redskins will go at it against our rivals the new york giants. (see what I did there)
I've been a Redskins all my life and am most passionate in my fandom for the Redskins. Being such, it's been extremely difficult to weather through crappy season year after year. I've gotten to to the point where I feel I'm fairly rational about the Redskins chances. For the first time in a long time they have continuity on the sidelines (since Joe Gibbs second tenure as coach) and I think it will make a difference. I must admit I'm really excited about what the Shanahan's have done already and what they'll continue to do going forward. Players that have left, those released and some who were traded, have expressed regret because they know that times are a changin' in D.C. and good things are on the way.
The offense didn't make a lot of changes this offseason but enough to still have some hope going forward. We somehow managed to rank18th in the league in total offense even though we were completely enept in most ways in my personal opinion. McNabb had as much trouble running the offense as one can imagine. His reads were decent at best but his throw's were extremely innaccurate with way too many balls being thrown into the dirt. Rex Grossman did a decent job stepping in during the last three games and giving the offense a little spark. He still makes some poor decisions and doesn't take enough care of the ball but I feel like he'll be an upgrade over what McNabb was last year (notice I didn't say McNabb. I still think he's a better quarterback). Moving on, Tim Hightower seems to have fallen deeply in love with his role in Washington. He's taken to what was asked of him like a fat guy approaches a buffet line. I'm not saying he's going to be the league MVP, but he could very well get to 1,100 yards on the ground and another couple hundred receiving, yeah, I'm excited about what he could do.
The defense went all out in the offseason and I absolutely love what the front office did with its signings. Barry Cofield, Stephen Bowen, Ryan Kerrigan, Josh Wilson, and Oshiomogoh Atogwe came in to help bolster what was one of the worst defenses in the league. In my opinion, of course, their defense has improved in every way. Their will be some growing pains as people are adjusting to new roles and positions but they really have no choice but to be better than they were last year. As the season goes along they'll only get better as they gel into a complete unit.
All in all I have the Redskins winning between 7 and 10 games. If I had to put my money on the line I'd say they'll get to 9 wins to finish tied for 2nd in the NFC East behind Philadelphia (13-3) and tied with *sigh* Dallas (9-7). I'm not excited about what the Giants (7-9) didn't do in the off season and their injuries are going to cost them them the season.
As for my other division winners I like the Packers to repeat in the NFC North, Falcons in the NFC South, and think the Rams are finally in position to actually make a playoff push in the NFC West. The Cardinals will be back next season to challenge, but they need a year for Kolb to adjust.
In the AFC I like the Patriots in the AFC East, Steelers in the AFC North, Titans in the AFC South (toughest call to make), and the Chargers in the AFC West. I'm not going to get into superbowl predictions because I have no idea about that, but I'm optimistic my Skins can make the playoffs if not at least have good showing.
Now, onto college football. The Hokies are two games into the 2011 season and are 2-0, a good thing right? Maybe, but I have my concerns. In their most recent game agains't ECU, David Wilson outgained the entire ECU offense by himself and the Hokies only won by one score, 17-10. This gives me major concern going forward. Mainly in two facets, one the penalities and two the special teams. Logan Thomas looked like a quarterback who was starting his second game ever and therefor doesn't give me any worry. I think he'll continue to get better, learn to make better decisions, and become more accurate throwing the football. The penalties, however, I'm hoping were just a fluke. The 8 penalties in the first half were the most ever by a Beamer coached squad. One thought that crossed my mind as I was watching the game was like some had said to the team, "Here's a gun and there's your foot, go Plaxico on it!" So many times they extended drives with stupid and careless penalties. Hopefully though that doesn't continue. The other concern was the return game. In their previous game Virginia Tech averaged 30+ yards per kick return and 20+ yards per punt return (seriously). Contrast that to watching Jayron Hosley turn what was at best going to be a 5 yard return into an 18 yard loss and you can see why I have some concerns. It could have just been a fluke one day thing but it did put me on edge a bit. Also, I am not putting the blame on Hosley either as much as I am the rest of the return unit that was on the field with him. Each of the punts that I saw Hosley would have needed to make 3-4 defenders miss to actually have a chance to break one. Normally, the returner is asked to make one miss, but when it gets above that other people need to start taking responsibility for it.
Now for my way too naive season prediction for the Hokies, I like them to go undefeated for the regular season into the ACC Championship game in Charlotte where I believe they'll lose to a one loss (to Oklahoma) FSU team that will be praying to make it into the National Championship somehow. I think that their undefeated regular season will still be enough for the Hokies to make a BCS bowl bid as an at-large team, but I'm not holding my breath for a national championship this year.
So there you have it, my brief thoughts and predictions for the year.
Hokie Hokie Hokie Hi and Hail to the Redskins!
Gabe
p.s. This entire post was off the top of my head without any outside sources other than how to spell Oshiomogoh
p.p.s Yes, these were my brief thoughts. I could go on for quite a bit more on both teams. All you have to do is ask.
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