Goodbye, Joe Gibbs

Joe Gibbs is retiring as Redskins head coach.

We have a fond place for Coach Gibbs in our heart, but it's the right decision.

Gibbs was a good coach for the Redskins in the '80's--he fit what the Redskins had and the envirnoment in which they played.

But he's not a terrific coach in today's environment. Mostly, he's just too conservative with play calling. No sooner than the Redskins get a lead than does he go into a stall. You may burn up three minutes in the last quarter on three consecutive running plays, but if you then have to punt it away, you're giving the other team a chance. Too often Gibbs did just that, rather than take a little risk for the reward of keeping the ball longer--or, heaven forbid, scoring again.

Contrast Gibbs with Bill Belichek, who frequently goes for it on fourth down, and succeeds. You just can't win consistently without taking some measured risks.

The Redskins did well to make the play-offs this year, but they should have had at least two, and as many as four, more victories during the season.

A fresh face will do the 'Skins good. We'll miss ol' Joe, but somehow we think he'll be having fun with his racing toys.

Deadskins Fall To Earth

The aliens have retreated.

That's right. For the past couple of weeks--indeed, right through the first half of yesterday's game between the Redskins and Giants--aliens had been inhabiting the Redskins' uniforms, taking them to a 2-0, and what looked sure to be 3-0, start for the season.

However, the aliens' mother ship beamed them back up from the locker room at halftime yesterday (sadly, leaving behind the yellow and red McDonald's tribute uniforms--"Hey, Jason, can I get some fries with that incomplete pass?"). Worse yet, the aliens sent back the real Redskins whom they had abducted.

And so it was no surprise that, with the real Redskins on the field, they reverted to form. The real coach, Joe Gibbs, helped call lame plays. The real quarterback, Jason Campbell, threw lame passes. The real running backs ran lamely. The real defense played lamely. The special teams played especially lamely. And we had the predictable result: despite the aliens giving them a two-touchdown lead, the Redskins lost to an 0-2 team that had allowed an average 44 points per game to be scored in its first two games.

Please aliens, come back. And while you're at it, can you also abduct and replace the Nationals, Wizards and Capitals?