Wilbon to Redskins: SOFT

[heyabbott]

Redskins Go A Little Too Quietly

By Michael Wilbon
Tuesday, October 30, 2007; Page E01

...
You want the other team to stop running it up?
Stop 'em yourself.
Hit somebody in the mouth.
...

It wasn't particularly shocking that the Redskins were blown out; the stunner was that they just sat there and took it, that the Redskins were content to be bullied and humiliated. ..
With all due respect to professional hockey, pro football is the most violent team sport in this culture. It's based on mayhem and retribution, an eye for an eye, on sheer pride, even if that pride is occasionally misplaced. If Belichick is so bold as to have Brady in the game, sneaking on fourth down and throwing from spread formations when leading 38-0, he also runs the risk of getting his golden boy quarterback mangled. If Belichick has so little regard for the opponent, why should the Redskins have any regard for him and his?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting for one moment that the Redskins should have taken a shot at Brady's knees or gone headhunting. But in the football I grew up with, back in the infinitely more brutal 1960s and '70s, Belichick wouldn't dare have kept Brady in so long or had his second-string quarterback throwing the ball late in the fourth quarter...The players, sensing what was going on, should have done whatever necessary to drill Brady right in his strike zone. If Brady walked off the field without help, it would have meant the Redskins didn't hit him hard enough. If it brought a penalty or two, so what? The score was meaningless at that moment. Establishing the team's willingness to make the Patriots pay for their boldness is all that should have mattered...Sorry, but I can't imagine Sam Huff not tattooing Brady before he finally left the field. Football isn't golf. Maybe I'm longing too much for the good old days of Butkus and Nitschke, Night Train Lane, the Raiders of Lyle Alzado, the Steelers of any era, even now, players who snorted and pointed at the quarterback and made him fear for his own safety. Let's see if Belichick takes the same risks with Brady against the Steelers (Dec. 9) and Ravens (Dec. 3). Neither of those teams is half as good as New England right now, but there's a personality about both, an identity, that suggests there's a line in the turf where football ends and team pride begins.
If the Golden Boy stays in the game when the competition is long over, fair enough. But at that point he forfeits any professional benefit of the doubt, and is fair game for whatever comes. This is one place where the NHL gets it right. Half the players in the league would like to hit Belichick right now, but can't.

Even if it brought 15-yard flags, a couple of Redskins ought to have converged on Brady and hit the Golden Boy so hard he'd need Bridget Moynahan and Gisele Bundchen to help him to the sideline. Then Belichick wouldn't leave him in sneaking on fourth down and throwing from spread formations so late in the fourth quarter with an insurmountable lead. That, too, is football, but maybe at a violent level we don't find tolerable anymore.

 

[Chi City 81]

Re: Wilbon to Redskins: *****

Yeah, this is an appropriate thread title. ::)

 

[heyabbott]

Re: Wilbon to Redskins: *****

Yeah, this is an appropriate thread title. ::)

Don't let your Mommy in your room when you are on the internet

 

[93Devil]

Re: Wilbon to Redskins: *****

Wilbon is right, though.

This was discussed on the NFL Week 8 thread.

 

[heyabbott]

Re: Wilbon to Redskins: *****

Wilbon is right, though.

This was discussed on the NFL Week 8 thread.

Wilbon still writes for The Post, and though he writes as much a national column as a local one, this is pretty strong for a journalist of his stature to write of his hometown team.
BTW check out the Washington Post today. Michael Wilbon has TWO seperate columns in the same sports section. An NBA preview column and the Redskins column. Both pretty darn good.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

I have never seen a team do what the Patriots have done over the past couple of weeks, Not the 49'ers or the Dolphins or the '84 Bears or the Steelers. Not going for it on 4th-and-two with a 35-point lead and throwing long down the sidelines.
It's all fun until the QB gets a helmet in the knee.

 

[93Devil]

He spoke of the Redskins unwillingness to hit back so to speak on PTI yesterday.

I enjoy listening to him and reading what he writes. His take normally is pretty solid.

 

[shockey]

excellent take by my man mike. a player taking a shot at brady under these circumstances appears the only thing that will get belicheat's attention.

i'm not advocating going for his knees. just a hard hit to the chest or back would do.

of course, the wrath of commish goodell would be risked. i'm sure danny snyder -- or any owner -- would gladly find a way to foot the bill.

 

[Double Down]

I've always been of the opinion that there is no such thing as "running up the score" in either the NFL or the elite ranks of Division I football. Especially the NFL though, where everyone is being paid giant sums of money and everyone plays with the same salary restrictions. If this continues, we're going to see an awful lot of debate soon about whether the Patriots are running up the score on teams and whether that constitutes winning with class, but to me, those are two different things. If you're taunting and jumping around like a moron, mocking the other team for their ****tiness, that's one thing. But the Patriots are a machine right now. An ass-kicking, powerful, well-oiled machine. They go about their business methodically and efficiently. They don't taunt you or mock you. They just kick your ass. Frankly, I enjoyed seeing them **** up the Skins.

I do get Wilbon's point, although it's a difficult one to parse. He's not advocating someone deliver a cheap shot to Brady, which is what some people here seem to wish would happen because they loathe Belichek so. He's advocating that the local football team have some pride and fight back. Gibbs didn't seem to have a problem with what happened in the game, and said so in the press conference afterward. If your team quits and is poorly prepared, you deserve to get hammered. Who is disrespecting the game in that scenario, the Pats or the Skins?

 

[beefncheddar]

He's not advocating someone deliver a cheap shot to Brady, which is what some people here seem to wish would happen because they loathe Belichek so.

Actually, he is advocating that. And correctly, I might add.

 

[Stoney]

He's certainly right about one thing, this would not have been tolerated in the days of Butkus and Lambert, at least not without serious consequences. Those guys would've killed Brady, and if they couldn't get to him, just might've gone to the sideline and belted Belichek directly.

That said, I like what the Pats are doing. Haven't seen this kind of bravado and sheer malice from an NFL team since the 85 Bears. Yeah it is classless and unsportsmanlike, but its also making this NFL season a lot more interesting.

 

[Double Down]

Yeah it is classless and unsportsmanlike, but its also making this NFL season a lot more interesting.

Why is it classless though? In business or in the law, do you let up when your competition isn't as good?

It would be one thing if the Pats were beating the Redskins 52-7, then running to midfield and stomping on their logo. They're not. They're just whipping team's asses.

 

[Stoney]

Yeah it is classless and unsportsmanlike, but its also making this NFL season a lot more interesting.

Why is it classless though? In business or in the law, do you let up when your competition isn't as good?

It would be one thing if the Pats were beating the Redskins 52-7, then running to midfield and stomping on their logo. They're not. They're just whipping team's asses.

I see your point, but when you're up 38-0 late in the game and still going for it on 4th down and throwing bombs, pretty safe assumption your primary objective is no longer just to win the game but instead to see how badly you can humiliate your opponent.

By comparison, the Colts have also had games this year where they probably could've poured it on by a worse score, but Dungy's modus operandi when he gets a comfortable 4th quarter lead is to switch into the ball-control running game and try to grind out the clock. It's a stark contrast to the way Belichek's been handling insurmountable late leads.

I agree its not in the same category as logo-stomping type antics. In fact, as I said, I think it's probably a good thing for the league. But it ain't exactly classy.

 

[shockey]

and if i recall, wes welker had quite a celebratory spike after his 2-yard td catch to make it 45-0. he should've just handed the ball to an official.

there's been nothing classy about the way the pats have conducted themselves. although i agree that i enjoy seeing danny boy snyder's team take a whuppin'.

 

[hondo]

Good take by Wilbon. And if any team leaves its QB in at 45-0, his possible injury is their fault, not the other team's.

 

[Rhody31]

Yeah it is classless and unsportsmanlike, but its also making this NFL season a lot more interesting.

Why is it classless though? In business or in the law, do you let up when your competition isn't as good?

It would be one thing if the Pats were beating the Redskins 52-7, then running to midfield and stomping on their logo. They're not. They're just whipping team's asses.

I see your point, but when you're up 38-0 late in the game and still going for it on 4th down and throwing bombs, pretty safe assumption your primary objective is no longer just to win the game but instead to see how badly you can humiliate your opponent.

By comparison, the Colts have also had games this year where they probably could've poured it on by a worse score, but Dungy's modus operandi when he gets a comfortable 4th quarter lead is to switch into the ball-control running game and try to grind out the clock. It's a stark contrast to the way Belichek's been handling insurmountable late leads.

I agree its not in the same category as logo-stomping type antics. In fact, as I said, I think it's probably a good thing for the league. But it ain't exactly classy.

The Patriots gave the Redskins the opportunity to end drives. they could have kicked field goals - automatically putting up points - but instead, gave their opponents a chance to stop them. The Redskins - an no one else - couldn't stop them, and that's somehow New England's fault?
When Manning was going after his record, no one bitched about the Colts running up the score. Jim Sorgi found the field enough to throw 29 passes all season, most coming in the final weeks when playoff spots had already been clinched, as well as Manning's record.

If teams don't like all the points New England is scoring, stop them. It's simple. But everyone would rather ***** about how bad it is - especially former NFL players now working as commentators. It's only going to get worse as the season wears on.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

All the Redskins could muster was Randall Godfrey mouthing off at Belichick? Wilbon's absolutely right. At some point, as a professional football player, you get mad and you hit somebody. The next player the Redskins hit might very well be the first.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Actually, the way to handle this is the way Belichick handled the Rams in the Super Bowl. Forget the QB, go for the wideouts. Their sense of self-preservation tends to wander. Flatten Moss with a shiver on the first freakin' play with your 7th defensive back and take the penalty. Do it again with number six on play two. Eventually, it stops getting called.

 

[Rhody31]

Actually, the way to handle this is the way Belichick handled the Rams in the Super Bowl. Forget the QB, go for the wideouts. Their sense of self-preservation tends to wander. Flatten Moss with a shiver on the first freakin' play with your 7th defensive back and take the penalty. Do it again with number six on play two. Eventually, it stops getting called.

Here's the difference between the Rams and the Pats.
The Rams receivers were drilled in that Super Bowl on every catch, especially coming over the middle.
Moss doesn't go up the middle and neither does Stallworth, unless they're going for six. Welker run the middle and manages to avoid getting killed and I don't think there are many linebackers who want to try to hit Watson when's he's screaming over the middle of a defense.
The Rams receviers from that season - and the Colts now - were soft. I don't think these Pats are.

 

[Trouser_Buddah]

Belichick's job is to win games and get the Pats to the Super Bowl... Ahead 38-0 or 45-0, the first goal is accomplished. How is keeping Brady and co. in the game at that point accomplishing goal no. 2? I think most agree that keeping them in the game can only HURT their efforts toward accomplishing a Super Bowl run due to the risk of injury.

And if the Pats are doing the right thing, why don't they just come out and own it? Instead of Belichick's lame answers at his press conference, why doesn't he just come out and say 'we're going to put our foot on your throat until you stop us...' ?? Instead, he skirts around the issue, saying 'we were just out there playing.'

For the record, I thought it was risky, although not necessarily classless, when Brady remained in the game throwing the ball around with the score 38-0. What got me was going for it on fourth down, with Brady carrying the ball on a sneak.