FAO Kick it off

[smooth 114]

So last night I celebrated a fantastic 49ers seasons, wrapping up the NFC West divisional title in great fashion against a vastly improving rams defence, ok with Sam Bradford not as potent in attack. What a season for us niner fans, beating 3 out of 4 teams from the NFC East and clinching the division so early. Certainly did not expect this season to go this well and so well with weeks to go.

 

So today looked at the divisional title gear thought about buying a t shirt, to add to my superbowl t shirts. Maybe I can wait till the end of the season, know home field is key and to keep our noses ahead of New Orleans.

 

Thought the Redskins up to the third quarter were going to take it over the Jets, in fact very much rooting for ya. Never a fan of the Jets and would like to see Coach Ryan eat humble pie. The Skins have unfortunately struggled, Helu looks a find at running back, moss outside and a defence with still some serious play makers. Shanahan, then, is he on thin ice? Yes quarterback position is always up for debate, certainly wonder how Beck will feel after being dropped for Grossman and what the future is in that position. A number of weeks left and what do you think of your prospects?

[kick it off 2,062]

Hi Smooth,

Congrats on the NFC West title! Niners have been superb this season and well deserve their glory, I''ll be fully on the 49er bandwagon for the post-season and hoping you can clinch a SB victory!

I''m certainly eating humble pie after thinking we actually had a shot this season at making the playoffs, but it was apparent pretty soon after our loss to Dallas (first one - two in a year, OUCH!) that we weren''t going to achieve, however I don''t think many of us thought it would be quite this bad!!

I never usually want to see the Skins lose but for the past 3 or 4 games I have been hoping we will. Never actively supporting the opposition, I could never do that but I haven''t been bothered when we lose. Our season was over weeks ago, and for me I would rather lose out the season and get a higher draft spot to get ourselves a franchise QB. This was helped by the league suspending Fred Davis and Trent Williams for the rest of the season for positive drugs test.

Helu was an incredible find although Shanny does seem to have a knack of getting late round RBs and making them into decent players.

Our season has been ups and downs - mainly injuries. Every decent player we have has been injured this year apart from Kerrigan and Orakpo. Our D is actually pretty good, and next year I think we will be very strong on D - especially against the pass with both Kerrigan and Orakpo being good in this area, and we have a few decent players emerging from last years draft like Perry Riley and Maurice Hurt who both look capable. Cofield was a great FA signing and slotted in well to the 3-4. We also have Jarvis Jenkins our second round DE who lit it up in pre-season but then got a ACL injury to return for next year. Our Defense will be top 5 in the league next year in my opinion, Shanny did a great job rebuilding it last year and now only has a few pieces left to really make it an elite Defence.

The cost of a really good D (which when injuries return it will be) was pretty much our entire draft spent on that side of the ball, hence the shoddy offense this year.

Hankerson was looking every bit the future #1 WR until he got injured, just after his first 100yd+ game. Moss is Moss, you gotta love the guy, but I think he will move into the slot sooner rather than later.

All Redskins have accepted we are going QB with our #1 pick, and it looks like we''ll be picking top 5, maybe even top 3 if results keep going our way which means we take Luck (not gonna happen, Colts will never pass on him) so we''re left with Barkley out of USC, Robert Griffin the third from Baylor, or Landry Jones from Oklahoma. I want RG3, desperately. The guy is electric, like Cam Newton but with better accuracy and a sensational throw on the run and deep ball and the intangibles to match....he has some issues with mechanics but he is my top QB in the draft, I''d take him over Luck personally.

For me Shanahan probably has another 2 seasons regardless of the results. This draft is all about upgrading the offense with QB being the obvious priority. the following draft is to plug the holes left, but I think we will have a winning year next season and then we could be real contenders the following one. The rebuilding job Shanny was left with should not be underestimated, he was left with one of the weakest rosters in terms of talent in the NFL, the Defense is awesome - the stats don''t quite show how good they are, because they tend to be on the field alot more than other Ds as Grossman is illiterate when it comes to making a read and keeps throwing INTs (26 consecutive games we''ve turned it over, longest streak in the NFL!!) and this draft is really going to improve the Offense.

Beck will be gone by next season and Rex will either accept being a back up or we''ll cut him. Whatever happens, we will have a new #1 QB next year.Having a high pick this year is incredibly fortunate too as the draft is so loaded with top-end talent, especially at QB.

Overall, I hope we can keep playing well, and keep seeing the bright spots like Helu and some of the other younger guys continuing to shine, but ultimately lose out the season. Rebuilding this squad was always a long term project and Shanny still has the backing of the Skins nation. He will be judged in 2 years for my money, can''t see him being gone before that even if we lose alot next season with the new rookie QB.

Once injuries have resolved themselves we have a bright future imo, as long as we get our guys in the draft and I trust our front office to make the right picks, they did a great job last year!

[kick it off 2,062]

PS. we also desperately need a new kicker. Gano is awful. Worst in the league atm with something like 70% made - many of the ones he misses come in tight games where we lose by 3 points or less and he has missed 2 in OT this season. Its not all his fault, he doesnt get much protection and we''ve had a few blocked, but his inconsitency keeps costing us.