Donovan McNabb has a knack of attracting attention even when he tries to drift off into the background. This Sunday was unavoidable. In his return to Philadelphia, McNabb didn’t have the best passing game, but when you score more points than the other team, do you really care? In the first two possessions of the game, the Redskins scored. The best play between those two drives might have been Ryan Torain’s monster Touchdown. Poor Quinton Mikell took the brunt of that collision. But Donovan McNabb had a pretty floating Touchdown pass to Chris Cooley that put the Redskins up 14-0 early in the game. But things got really interesting after that.
If you ask me, had Michael Vick not gotten hurt, the Eagles may have sneaked away with a win Sunday. Kevin Kolb is a good QB, but doesn’t present the same problems that Michael Vick does. And Vick was making most of his plays from the pocket. That is something that we haven’t seen in all his years in the NFL. The Redskins Defense, who we have seen struggle in the past 2 weeks, came up huge in shutting down the very explosive DeSean Jackson. Jackson was a non-factor, but LeSean McKoy took over with 12 catches for 110 yards. How is that for McKoy who is a Running Back? Jeremy Macklin was also nonexistent. Brent Celek, Philadelphia’s stud at Tight End, was completely taken out of the game as well Sunday. This is where Michael Vick’s legs would have made the difference. Some of the play that Kolb ran for First Down’s, were good, it’s just that Vick would have gotten more yards on those plays. That may have been the difference. But for the Redskins the difference was made in the Offensive Backfield, by a virtual unknown, Ryan Torain.
I love finding guys like this. Ryan Torain is a guy that was brought in with no fanfare. This offseason Torain was brought in because Coach Shanahan signed him in the Denver before taking a break from coaching. Torain has been a hard worker. Torain is consistent. Torain is dependable. And when Clinton Portis was unable to go, Ryan Torain came in and not only finished runs, but finished the game. Torain only had 70 yards on 18 carries and one Touchdown, but the way Torain was running was something that has been missing. Portis runs hard, but in the past, there was a drop off when he came out the game. Now you have a guy behind Portis who runs just as hard, maybe harder, now you don’t have the drop off in the running game. Now Donovan McNabb doesn’t have to throw 50 times like the genius Eagles used to have him do. How big is it to give McNabb a running game? How big is it to have a talent like McNabb not feel like he has to do it all by himself. Slowly but surely, the pieces are falling in place. Washington might have the type of team to make a Playoff run.
At 2-2 this early in the season, there is a glimmer of hope. I am cool with a 9-7 season. It will mean that the Redskins have finished with a winning record for the fist time in 3 seasons. It will give the organization something to build on going into the 2011 season. Anything after 9 wins is huge. Anything after 9 wins may mean a Playoff birth. And the Post Season is something for which Donovan McNabb has a nose. Dare I say that Washington could sneak into the Playoffs this year and steal a win or two? We will see. They have a tough test this Sunday against the very good Green Bay Packers. Which Redskins team will show up? I would like the Defense from this past Sunday, to join the Offense from two weeks ago. If that happens, the Green Bay Packers are in trouble. But I think this game will be a close one. Who will win is anyone’s guess. But for the Redskins sake, this is a must win, because you need some momentum going into your showdown with the great Peyton Manning in two weeks.
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