Thursday, September 9
Since January, I've been gidddy about this weekend, which really starts today. Joe Gibbs got hired. Joe Fucking Gibbs, wearer of three enormous rings. He was back to coach my Redskins again. After years of hopes and frustration, I knew they were on the right track again, because Joe Gibbs is a genius.
In the late eighties, the Redskins and the Giants were heated rivals. The division title always came down to one of the two and it was usually a late-season game that decided it. Gibbs, knowing this, worked something into the first 13 weeks of the season that he could use down the road. He hung some meat on a string and let the dogs on the other side see it plain as day. For 13 weeks, everytime they rolled the QB out of the pocket to one side, he threw down field on a long streak pattern or a short crossing pattern. For 13 weeks they ran this play at least once a game. It didn't work all the time and by late in that run, I'm sure it rarely worked, but no matter. The hook was baited. And in the match-up against the Giants he completed his plan at just the right time early in the second half... Roll out right, stop, and heave a bomb back down the left. There were yards between the receiver and the nearest defender. Neal could have run that route and caught that ball. Hell, my grandma coulda run that route and caught that ball. Fun times.
And the fun times are back.
Prediction: 8-8. My optimism is tempered. The old man needs a year to get the feel for things again.
In the late eighties, the Redskins and the Giants were heated rivals. The division title always came down to one of the two and it was usually a late-season game that decided it. Gibbs, knowing this, worked something into the first 13 weeks of the season that he could use down the road. He hung some meat on a string and let the dogs on the other side see it plain as day. For 13 weeks, everytime they rolled the QB out of the pocket to one side, he threw down field on a long streak pattern or a short crossing pattern. For 13 weeks they ran this play at least once a game. It didn't work all the time and by late in that run, I'm sure it rarely worked, but no matter. The hook was baited. And in the match-up against the Giants he completed his plan at just the right time early in the second half... Roll out right, stop, and heave a bomb back down the left. There were yards between the receiver and the nearest defender. Neal could have run that route and caught that ball. Hell, my grandma coulda run that route and caught that ball. Fun times.
And the fun times are back.
Prediction: 8-8. My optimism is tempered. The old man needs a year to get the feel for things again.
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