Bills Shut Down, Shut Out Redskins 23-0

I have seen and been around football for some years, and I have only seen one performance worse than the Redskins’ showing Sunday in Toronto.  Ironically, it was the Redskins in 2004 against, you guessed it, the Buffalo Bills.  A game in which the Redskins quit.  Then Redskins starting Outside Linebacker, LaVar Arrington was literally ready to go upside Rob Johnson’s head for joking around after such a poor showing.  I thought that I’d never see another game in which I was embarrassed to be a Redskins fan.  Well I spoke too soon.  This past Sunday was a very bad performance by the Redskins.  Not only did they not score any points, at no point in this game did they look competitive.  That is not good.

Let’s give Buffalo some credit.  They’ve suffered some years as well with underachieving teams.  They have had teams in which people expected them to make a run for the AFC East title.  No one has ever showed any pitty for the Bills and they’ve never asked for it.  Ralph Wilson, their owner, has never had a pitty party, and never intended to.  This man has had four AFC Championship teams that ended up losing Super Bowls.  Buffalo was the punchline in a lot of jokes in the 90’s.  Jim Kelly, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas along with others played extremely well in the late 80’s and early 90’s, they just couldn’t get over the hump.  Now I am not saying that the team the Bills have now is comparable to the great Bills teams form 20 years ago, but you can’t argue with a surprising 5-2 start in the same division with the N.Y. Jets and the New England Patriots.  Who guessed that we’d be having this conversation?  With guys like Fred Jackson, who shouldn’t even be in the NFL, Leodis McKelvin, Ryan Fitzpatick, George Wilson and Rookie Man-Beast Marcel Dareus this team is going to make some noise in the AFC East this year and challenge New England for the that crown.  But as on team is going up, another team is going down.

Washington looked pathetic.  There was a blocked FG attempt, a few INTs, more than a handful of sacks and lot of knock downs.  Poor John Beck was getting pummeled.  There was absolutely no pass protection, no running game to speak of and NO POINTS!!  Washington has 6 starters either out or on IR (Injured Reserve; essentially out of the season) and have guys in key positions that are playing with little experience.  The Offensive line looked porous and confused.  The WRs were getting manhandled by the Buffalo CBs.  Hell I even saw one WR trip over the invisible man.  That’s what happens when things are going bad.  Washington mounted 26 Rushing Yards in 60 minutes of football.  My alma mater Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in Washington, DC had RBs who could do that in one play with their eyes closed.  Are you kidding me?  Somebody call Coach Fleming from Wilson and ask him does he want to coach the Redskins.  He could do a better job than Shanahan.  Carlos Rogers my have had hands like feet, but he was one of the best Press Cover CBs in the NFL.  Yes you read that right.  Rogers is one of the best Press Cover CBs in the NFL.  Derrick Dockery was the only man on the Offensive Line to start every game in 2009, yet the Mike Shanahan was deactivating him for no reason last year and finally released him a the end of the season.  They disrespected an ultimately dismissed Jason Campbell and Donovan McNabb, for Rex Grossman.  I’ll bet Jason Campbell and Donovan McNabb could have played better than Rex did this season.  As a matter of fact the last time that the Redskins mounted 8 wins was when Campbell was the starter.  Andre Carter looks really good playing Defensive End in a 3-4 Defense in New England. Why the hell did the Redskins try to make him and Outside Linebacker?  If you ask me, one, if not, both Shanahan’s need to right this ship in the next few weeks or they need to get fired.  Philadelphia at 1-4 was better than this team.  When will the bleeding stop?

The good thing about this point of the season is that there are still nine games left.  Washington could still finish 8-8, but I highly doubt it.

On a lighter note, this weeks game ball goes to Fred Jackson of the Buffalo Bills.  Jackson had 120 Rushing Yards on 26 carries, and had 74 Receiving Yards on 3 Receptions.  This man is the real deal.

The Old Man’s Still Got It…..

Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings came in to FedEx Field and stole a victory from the Washington Redskins on Sunday. Never mind the fact that the Redskins have had a ton of injuries. And never mind the fact that Adrian Peterson went out of Sunday’s game with an injury. Washington had plenty of opportunities to put this game away and just couldn’t quite do it. And the old man, Brett Favre, being the veteran player that he is, knew how to take advantage of the Redskins’ mistake and come away with a 17-13. Now what?

The Redskins are now 5-6. The last time that Washington was in this position, it was in 2007 where they won four straight games to sneak into the playoffs. At that particular time Washington was a dismal 5-7 and people were ready to bury Jason Campbell. Enter Todd Collins after a Campbell injury, and he gets the Redskins to the Playoffs. But Seattle quickly sent Washington home with a 35-14 loss. Well guess what people. Todd Collins is not in Washington anymore. Neither is Jason Campbell for that matter. So who’s to blame this time?

Let’s take a look at Sunday’s game. Minnesota wasn’t losing for lack of talent. It was a lot of stuff going on behind closed doors. I mean Vishante Shiancoe has been around for years and has always been a talented Tight End, but Brett Favre loves throwing to his Tight Ends and Shiancoe benefited from that last year. Now everyone knows who he is and trust me, the Redskins Linebackers were well aware of his whereabouts Sunday. Sidney Rice has always been a talented Wide Receiver but just never had a chance to show it on the big stage. He got his opportunity last year. Percy Harvin is just a stud. And trust me, if you think you’ve seen everything from that young man… you haven’t seen anything yet. Harvin is going to be a Top 10 Wide Receiver in the NFL in the future. And do I even need to say anything about Adrian Peterson? Minnesota also boasts one of the best Defensive Lines in the NFL. Pat Williams, Kevin Williams, Ray Edwards and Jared Allen provide a solid Pass Rush for the Vikings and allow them to do a lot on the back end of that Defense. Antoine Winfield is probably one of the best Cornerbacks in the NFL, but you don't hear anything about him.  Nothing Minnesota did Sunday surprised me. A lot of what Washington did, did surprise me. And I see parallels between the Vikings and the Redskins.

Washington has just as much talent as Minnesota.  But just like Minnesota, Washington is not playing up to their potential right now. Washington has the talent on Offense to be able to score points on anyone in the NFL. I have seen McNabb do more with less talent on Offense. There were years in Philadelphia where McNabb only had Brian Westbrook and he was still able to win 10 games a few times. Anthony Armstrong is a welcomed surprise this season. Santana Moss is still a talented Wide Receiver. Chris Cooley and Fred Davis are probably the best Tight End tandem in football. But, the injuries have killed the momentum. The Offensive Line is banged up yet again. And if that is not enough, the Redskins are not turning the ball over. Takeaways were the name of the game in the beginning of the season. But, Washington had five dropped passes Sunday, one of which resulted in an Interception within their own 20 Yard Line. Minnesota didn’t make those mistakes Sunday so that is why they were victorious. That is why they were a Playoff team a year ago. Is Washington a Playoff team? Right now, I’d have to say no. The are staring down the barrel of an 8-8 season yet again, but after finishing 4-12 last season, it would be an improvement.

Sunday shed light on a few things that have not really been addressed from last year. At this point of the season everyone has at least one or two key injuries. It is how you weather the storm that separates the Playoff teams from everyone else. Right now, it seems as though an ego or two is holding back the Redskins. So what we have Offensive Linemen out. So what we have Defensive Backs out. So what we have a couple of Linebackers out. So what we have two Running Backs out. Do what you have to do to win games. Even if it means scrapping some of the usual plays in your Offensive and Defensive Playbooks and calling plays to benefit your personnel. Otherwise, load the team with talent during the Offseason. But looking back at the Redskins’ track record, has stacking talent worked? Has it worked for any team? I think the Shanahan’s need to go back to the drawing board. Otherwise, if you think the fans at FedEx were ruthless last Sunday, you haven’t heard anything yet. We have some of the most passionate fans in the NFL and they will tell you about yourself. So Mike and Kyle, get it together. This is not the place where you’d want the fans turning against you. It ain’t Philly, but it ain't the Ice Capades either.

IT WASN’T PRETTY…. BUT THE REDSKINS WON!!!

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.