We post good takes
I got a note from Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery on the Jason Campbell swap. As some readers may know, Wilbert Montgomery is a lifelong Eagles fan, and he and I have attended 14 of the last 15 Redskins-Eagles games together, regardless of venue, going back to 1999 and I value his opinion as a football fan. We have similar opinions on this major shakeup of the Redskins.
==========
Setting-Up for Success?
Okay, so the move has been made. Jason Campbell is the new starting quarterback for the Washington Redskins. I for one am very curious to see how he can do but still for the life of me can’t figure out why we haven’t seen him in a real live NFL game to this point in his career. What will be the conclusion if he can’t pull this team out of the funk that they are in? I fear that The Danny and The Vinny may read that as an indication that he isn’t NFL caliber.
The problem with this whole situation is that Jason Campbell hasn’t really been put in a situation in which he has the best chance of succeeding. Isn’t that really the head coach’s primary job – setting the team and its players up for success? The axiom is pretty simple, if you put yourself in a position to have success and then take advantage of the opportunities that are presented, you have a pretty good chance at being successful. Unfortunately (for the Redskins), this is not really how they have handled the QB situation in DC (among other things). If Campbell had played even mop-up duty in a few games this season and last, I think his mentality going into this game would be dramatically different. His mindset would be “okay, I’ve done this before and can handle it” instead of “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.” Because Gibbs has let it get to this, the other players on the team (not to mention the media and all of the fans) read this move as a throwing in of the proverbial towel on the season. Do you think that will have an effect on how the other players – particularly the older vets – approach the rest season? I do. Do you think that puts Jason in a good situation? I don’t.
The bottom line is that Gibbs has not really set this team up for success and that is a problem. This surprises me because I’ve always thought of Gibbs as a good coach who, if nothing else, is good at dotting the Is and crossing the Ts. I’m not a Skins fan but come on the guy is a Hall of Fame coach. As an Eagles fan, I was as worried as anyone when he came back. I’m baffled at how he has handled this situation among others. I always felt bad for Patrick Ramsey and how his career in DC panned out. There are few guys with the kind of character he showed in this league, particularly at the skilled positions, and you want to see them treated well. He wasn’t. As it turns out, he wasn’t really set-up to succeed either. For his sake, I hope the Skins don’t do the same thing to Jason Campbell.
==========
Well apparently not all the fans think this is throwing in the towel, but I agree this move may have effects on the veteran players and how hard they play. Santana, Jon Jansen, Chris Samuels, Cornelius Griffin, these guys are veterans and are here to win it all, not be fodder for Fresh Meat's NFL live-fire orientation. I hope I'm wrong and I will be the first to stand up and admit it. The percentages though now move to the long end of the average. The Redskins are looking at 6-10, maybe 5-11.
A wise man once said
the secret to good self-esteem is to lower your expectations to the point where they're already metPrepare to lower your threshold of praise. Hail to the Redskins.
Kansas fencepost: Don Palmer
0 comments:
Post a Comment