Giants Embarrass Redskins, Haynesworth Suspended

It wasn’t much of a game from the start. The Giants and that New Jersey wind blew Washington away, 31-7. So many little things happened in that game that bothered me and should bother any other Redskin fan. The Giants had a basic game plan and executed it to perfection. Run the ball down the Redskins’ throat and dare them to stop it. Well the Redskins stopped it alright. They stopped it in the Second Half when the score was already 21-0. Kinda late at that point don’t you think? But maybe there was more going on with the Redskins than we knew about.

You can’t have internal issues going on and wonder why you are not putting out a good product. The Redskins have a big issue to take care right now, maybe two by seasons end. For all we know, there might be a third. Issue number is Albert Haynesworth. Is Albert really the problem? Here we have a talented player who is unhappy. Is this another case of Terrell Owens or is this a Josh McDaniel-type issue? Whose ego is really out of control? It may surprise you, but I actually think that both are to blame. Coach Shanahan is trying to impose his will and Albert wants to be successful doing the exact same things that he was doing in Tennessee. Haynesworth has somewhat closed himself off to learning anything new. Some of that has to do with him feeling like he tried it “their way” and it didn’t work and the fans were booing him. Now he is reluctant to try any other new thing because he has lost trust for the Redskins and the organization. If you have played sports on any level, you know first hand, sometimes coaches can be assholes. And to a man, we all wish that we could have told one of our bosses to kiss our asses. It just so happens that Haynesworth’s feud is being televised. But he is not entirely to blame.

Coach Shanahan has to come in and establish authority. There is nothing wrong with that. But when does it becomes an issue of ruling with an iron fist, and just being disrespectful, then all bets are off. I don’t care what anyone says, the “Conditioning Test” was a form of torture. How many times is someone going to run 300 yards on one play? If he made Albert do the conditioning test one time before practice then I would have understood. But Haynesworth had to run it numerous times. I don’t care what kind of shape that you think you are in, that is one hard ass test. Secondly, Shanahan brought in Joey Galloway and penciled him in as a starter. But Galloway was rarely, if ever, used. And to add insult to injury, Galloway gets released in the middle of the season. We wasted that man’s time. Third, and most disturbing to me, is we made the move for Donovan McNabb and have yet to take care of McNabb like the Hall Of Fame QB that he is. Our Offensive Line is bruised and battered again. No surprise there. Who doesn’t have injury issues on their team? But don’t deactivate one of our best Offensive Linemen (Derrick Dockery) and wonder why the guy that is playing out of position in Dockery’s place is struggling. Donovan, statistically is having one of, if not, the worst season of his career. McNabb has never thrown more INT’s than TD’s in any season in his career. He is on pace to do it for the first time in his career this year. And to make matters worse, we have been having the case of the drops lately. That is why the Shanahan regime looks like a hot mess right now. No wonder the Giants steam rolled the Redskins.

I am not going to take anything from the Giants. The were down like 3 Wide Receiver’s and a couple of starters on their Offensive Line, namely Dave Diehl and Shaun O’Hare. Their only option was to run the ball. They did that and then some. Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks were both hurt. Mario Manningham was the No. 1 WR and did very little Sunday. Yet, the Giants were able to put up 31 points. Now you tell me, is that talent or coaching? The Giants, over the past 6 season have just done a good job of taking care of business when the need too. That is a direct result of coaching. Yes, Tom Coughlin is a rock solid asshole, but his players respect him. Right now, Shanahan is on the verge of losing his entire team. He has to do something to turn it around or his head will be on the chopping block. Has he forgotten who his boss is? Look up impatient in the dictionary and Daniel Snyder’s face will be right next to it. But if the plug is pulled on Shanahan, would this be a bad move by Snyder?

Shanahan was 24-24 over the last three season in Denver. That is hardly impressive if you ask me. Coach Zorn went .500 in his first year in Washington. Am I missing something here? Right now the Redskins could realistically be staring down the barrel of a 6-10 season. With games against Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Dallas and the N.Y. Giants remaining, this could be a very ugly finish. I think the ironic thing is everyone was quick to blame Jason Campbell last year. Do you still think Campbell was the problem? He looks like a completely different QB in Oakland right now. I wonder why that is. I’ll use the example that I always use when discussing QB’s. QB’s are like children. Children are a direct reflection of what is going on at home. If things are bad at home, the child will be completely lost and not know where to turn for support. Even if their siblings have it together, the chaos starts from the top and will affect everyone to some degree. But even if you are in a dysfunctional house, if there is even an attempt at normalcy and there is an inkling of support from the parents, the kids just might be o.k. The former describes Donovan McNabb. As good as he is, he is not in a good situation, again, and it is a direct reflection of what is going on with Washington right now. It wasn’t Campbell’s fault last year and it is not McNabb’s fault this year. The later describes Jason Campbell and the Oakland organization. As bad as Oakland is, and even though their QB situation isn’t settled. The coaches like all of their QB’s so whether it is Gradkowski or Campbell, the Raiders are just getting it done. And the games that I saw Campbell playing, Campbell looked liked a very confident QB. Just ask the Chiefs, the Chargers and the Broncos if they think that Washington made a mistake in letting Campbell go. This is not the Raiders of old. Campbell has a very bright future in Oakland.

At 5-7 Washington, and the Shanahan’s are in trouble. Only finishing 9-7 could make this a respectable season. Otherwise, the Shanahans and McNabb could be looking for a job by seasons end. There is no reason why Washington shouldn’t be 7-5 and fighting for a division title. But as it has been 12 of the last 15 seasons, we just didn’t quite get it right. I guess we’ll have to wait for next year, right? Wait just a second. Maybe not. As long as we have #5, we still have a chance. This is the same guy that took an 8-7-1 team to the NFC Championship game just a couple of years ago. But in order for that to happen, some adjustments have to be made. And adjustment number one has to be an attitude adjustment by the Head Coach. Start their and the rest will fall into place. Just ask Josh McDaniel. He ran Brandon Marshall and Jay Cutler out of town traded Peyton Hillis away to Cleveland. McDaniels is in the unemployment line right now. Who will be next?