Panthers Outplay Redskins, Win 33-20

Of all of the issues the Redskins have had this season, one of them wasn’t the Defense.  But if Sunday was the first time that you had a chance to watch the Redskins, you would not have know that the Redskins had one of the best Defense's in the league.  Because, Cam Newton made their Defense look like the Kentucky Wildcats.  Washington has lost two straight and now have to do damage control before the find themselves below .500 and looking for answers.  But in the meantime, how about the Rookie from Auburn?

Cam Newton was a lightening rod of sorts when he was coming out of school.  First the experts said that he was only a one year starter and was overhyped.  Second, Newton didn’t show good Pocket Presence.  Third, it was Newton only played in the Shotgun so he may not know how to do a 3-, 5- or a 7-step drop.  Fourth, people said that he wasn’t accurate and “they” didn’t know if he could make all of the throws. And lastly, there was the entire NCAA scandal that he was eventually cleared of doing anything wrong.  And that was before he was drafted.  After Newton was drafted there were concerns of him adjusting to the speed of the NFL, picking up the play book and then establishing  himself as a starter.  Well seven weeks, and about four 300-yard passing games later, Newton has surpassed everyone’s expectation.  And it wasn’t more evident than his performance against Washington Sunday, when he complete 18 of 23 passing attempts, 285 yards, and 1 TD pass.  He also ran 10 times for 61 yards and a TD.  Hell one time my man broke out the Option Run.  He and Steve Smith put on a passing clinic in Charlotte.  If you are a football fan, you loved what you saw from Newton.  He is playing well beyond his years (or year for that matter).  He has a solid running game and a good Offensive Line.  If he can stay healthy, the Panther will make a push for the playoffs some time in the near future.  Dare I say, next season even.

But as one teams prognosis looks good, the other teams, namely Washingtons, prognosis looks grim.  The Redskins have already lost Trent Williams for a few weeks, Chris Cooley and Corey Lichtenstieger to either possible season-ending or season ending injuries respectively, but now London Fletcher, Santana Moss and Tim Hightower go down.  And if you couple that with the fact that Washington just changed QBs, we might be staring down the barrel of high draft pick next year, again.  I don’t think we are in the “Suck For Luck” race, but if we don’t get it together, we will be.  And that will be bad for Andrew Luck because, I love my team, but we don’t handle QBs well.  Just ask Jason Campbell, Patrick Ramsey, Chase Daniel and Donovan McNabb.  Luck should probably be praying that he does not come to Washington.  People say Dallas is America’s team, but the second most important person in DC is the starting QB for the Washington Redskins.  And with our history of dropping the ball on QB development, that man will be run out of football before his Rookie contract expires.

As fate would have it, Washington is starting to play like the “experts” (and I use that term loosely) expected them to play.  But with so many injuries, I can’t really say that I am surprised.  Either way, the Redskins are 3-3 and have 10 games left to leave an indelible mark on this season.

This weeks game ball goes to the Rookie QB from Carolina, Cam Newton, the icon and role model.  People made fun of him for saying it, but did he live up to the hype?

EAGLES FLY HIGH EARLY, TOP REDSKINS

The Philadelphia Eagles came to Washington with a huge chip on their shoulders.  Everyone had written them off, and pretty much mocked them for Vince Young’s “Dream Team” reference.  And although at times they didn’t look good, the bottom line was they scored enough points to beat the Redskins 20-13.  Washington never got started, and when they did Rex Grossman looked more like Rex Balsom from ‘One Life To Live.’  Now the Eagles are 2-4 heading into their Bye Week, while Washington drops to 3-2, and has a few questions to answer.  Namely, who is the starting Quarterback going into Week 7 for the Washington Redskins.

I have a problem when the media wants to talk bad about the Redskins’ upcoming opponents.  I almost like it better when the media downtalks the Redskins.  I think the Redskins play better.  For the past 7 days, the media was crucifying Michael Vick.  And I remember having a conversation with a co-worker and saying that Mike Vick is going come down here and put on a performance.  And for a guy that is not known for his Pocket Presence, he sure as hell looked good playing from the pocket against a very good Redskins Defense.  Time and Time again, Washington came with pressure and Vick responded well.  In the end Vick completed 18 of 30 passes for 237 yards, and 1 TD pass.  He also had onE INT, but he’ll get a free pass on that one because he was facing pressure the entire game and was bound to throw one.  But as well as he played, his counterpart on the Redskins played poorly.

Rex Grossman did nothing to help his cause Sunday.  It was so bad that the fans started cheering “We Want Beck!”  Rex, if you are not familiar with the Redskins fans, they usually get what they want.  And got it they did.  And John Beck, although not spectacular, made a case for himself and should be the starting QB going forward this season.  Grossman thew 4 illadvised passes that were either picked or nearly picked.  Had the Eagles not dropped a few of them, we could have seen Grossman set the NFL record for most passing INTs in one game (7).  There were missed throws, under thrown passes, and overthrown passes.  Rex looked like an NFL Rookie in his first game.  I am a fan of Grossman’s, but I know when it is time to sit someone down.  Sorry buddy, it is way past that stage.  Take into consideration that Washington lost by 7 points, but Grossman threw 4 INT’s.  If he could have driven down the field and gotten points out of one of those drives, the Redskins my have been able to pull out a win.  Instead the Redskins come out of this game with more questions than answers.  And if Shanny doesn’t get it together soon, we could be looking at a 4 game slide.  The good thing is this is only the 5^th game of the season. 

This weeks game ball goes to Michael Vick, for doing it through the air and one ground.