Saturday, October 16, 2010

No Fear Of Payton Manning and the Colts by the Redskins

PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 03: Head coach Mike Shanahan of the Washington Redskins looks on against the Philadelphia Eagles on October 3, 2010 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Redskins Hog Heaven's preseason guess at the Washington Redskins final record was seven or eight wins. As gratifying as is Washington's 3-2 start, neither that record nor the Redskins middle-of-the-pack performance should cause visions of sugarplums this Christmas. The Redskins will be closer to 4-4 by midpoint of the season than to six or seven wins.
But hey, an eight win season is the benchmark of success for new coaches. Check the list of head coaches who finished 8-8 in their first year:

Joe Gibbs, Washington, 1981
Mike Ditka, Chicago, 1983 (First full season)
Marty Schottenheimer, Cleveland (4-4), 1984
Marty Schottenheimer, Cleveland, 1985
Marty Schottenheimer, Kansas City, 1989
Mike Shanahan, Denver, 1995
Marty Schottenheimer, Washington, 2001
Marty Schottenheimer, San Diego, 2002
Jim Zorn, Washington, 2008
The list is not exhaustive, and yes, you could call it the Marty and those other guys list. An eight-win season would be an accomplishment for Mike Shanahan. A win over defending conference champion Indianapolis Colts would cause everybody to rewrite their season projections to nine-plus wins for Shanny and the 'Skins.
To read the rest of this story, go to Redskins Hog Heaven....

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