Redskins Ram St. Louis

Washington looked dominant in the first half of the game Sunday leading 14-0 at the Half.  But the Rams fought back to make the game interesting.  Rex Grossman looked dicey and at times made me want to strangle him.  Ryan Torain comes off of the bench and provided a steady running attack.  In the end, the Rams drop to 0-4, while the Redskins go into the Bye Week 3-1.  There are still a lot of questions to be answered, but the Redskins are in 1^st in the NFC East.  Some experts had the Redskins finishing 3-13 this season.  One more win and they are going to look foolish.  But let’s not get too far ahead people.  There are 12 games left and a lot can happen.

As I watched the game Sunday, my most dominant thought was, “Wow, who is the 2^nd year QB again, Rex Grossman or Sam Bradford?”  Bradford could be excused for his numbers.  Not only did Bradford have about 5 dropped passes, but he was sacked seven times.  Between Lance Kendricks, Brandon Gibson and Mike Sims-Walker, poor Sam Bradford is going to be bald by the end of the season.  The only thing that Bradford can do at this point is walk the ball down field and hand it to his WRs.  I will give Lance Kendricks some slack as he is a Rookie and very talented.  Brandon Gibson and Mike Sims-Walker both have no excuse.  They are way too talented and have played better, for me to allow them to have games like they did Sunday and let it go.  One of two things are going to happen.  Either Sims-Walker is going to be traded/released or Sam Bradford is going to request a trade.  Something tells me that Sims-Walker will be the first to go.  But Washington doesn’t have that much room to talk.

Even at 3-1, Washington still has cause for concern.  Rex Grossman almost gave the game away Sunday with two, almost costly, INTs.  If Grossman doesn’t perform better, Washington will have big problems down the stretch.  I try to lay off of him because I have been a fan of his since his days of playing ball in college at Florida.  But at this point of his career, he needs to make better decisions.  Listen, a ball that gets tipped in the air I may let slide, but trying to force passes into coverage makes me want to lodge my foot in his ass.  Rex can play better than he has.  And he needs to get it straight, because the games are going to get harder.  Washington still has to play Philadelphia twice, the Giants, Cowboys, Patriots, Jets and Bills down the stretch.  Even the game against the San Francisco 49ers scare me because their Defense is very good.  But there was one bright spot Sunday and it was no surprise. 

Ryan Torain came off of the bench Sunday and lit it up.  It really isn’t a surprise as we have seen Torain do that time and time again when he is healthy.  What was a surprise was why it took so long for Torain to get on the field.  I understand that the Redskins spent money to get Tim Hightower so there is almost an obligation to play him.  But when you have Torain come in the game and put up 135 yards Rushing on 19 carries and a TD, you have to go re-evaluate your RB situation.  I predict that Tim Hightower will be the 3^rd RB on the Depth Chart by the end of season.  Why?  Torain had at least 3 rushes over 20 yards.  Nuff said!!!  Now we need some consistency in the passing game and Washington could make a push for the Playoffs.  Because with that Defense, they are going to have a chance to win a lot of games this year.  Now the only question is, which Rex Grossman show up.  Will the real Rex Grossman please stand up.

This weeks game ball goes to Ryan Torain.  Good game All-Torain!!!

Redskins Squeak By Cardinal

Washington narrowly escaped Sunday with a win over the Cardinal 22-21.  The game could have gone the other way after a slow, and sloppy start.  Grossman had two first half INTs that could have blown the game wide open.  But, just like last week, the Redskins Defense turned it up a notch and almost completely shutdown the Cardinals’ Offense.  Are we starting to see the beginning of a trend?  Are the Redskins Defense better than advertised?  I had them finishing in the top half of the NFL, but they look more like a Top 10 Defense.  If they continue to play like this who knows…

Kevin Kolb, was anointed the second coming of Peyton Manning when he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2^nd Round of the 2007 NFL Draft.  This is the same year that it was apparent that the Eagles would finally use a high draft pick on a target for Donovan McNabb.  Ask of Andy Reid why they took Kolb in the 2^nd Round, his response, “Kevin was the best player on the board.”  My response was something like “Are you f—king serious!!”  Kolb comes in and throws for 300 yards in two games and now Donovan must leave Philly.  Kolb gets his opportunity last season, he then he gets hurt and Michael Vick comes in and takes his job.  Kolb gets traded to Arizona and gets his opportunity to finally lead a franchise.  And so far he looks like he fits in. I wasn’t a Kolb fan because of how, when and why he as drafted, but he is actually a decent QB.  But like any other QB, if he gets not time in the pocket, he has no chance of success.  And the Redskins Defense proved that again Sunday.

With the exception of Larry Fitzgerald straight cooking DeAngelo Hall, the Redskins did a good job of taking away the big plays from the Cardinals.  Make no mistake about it, the Cardinals are stacked with talent on Offense.  Kevin Kolb, Beanie Wells, Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Breaston, Early Doucet and Todd Heap are all on Offense.  There is a chance that I am only looking at names, but if you have never seen the Cardinals play you wouldn’t understand why they thought that Anquan Boldin was expendable.  They haven’t missed a beat since losing Boldin to the Baltimore Ravens.  And Washington had their hands full trying to slow down that Offense, but they did a wonderful job.  Kolb still threw for 250 yards and 2 TDs, but they kept Beanie wells under 100 yards.  Larry Fitzgerald had 100 yards, but is that really a surprise.  The dude is just flat out good, and getting better.  But with that said, the Redskins’ Defense forced two turnovers, one coming in the final 2 minutes of the game that sealed the victory for them.  This is exactly what I expected when the Redskins switched to the 3-4 Defense with Jim Haslett at the Defensive Coordinator position.  It is like the perfect marriage.  Good Defensive coordinator with the correct personnel to run their system.  How good can this team be?

Washington hasn’t had a dominant team in the NFL since the 1991 season, in which they went 14-2.  No, I don’t think that the Redskins are going to finish the Regular Season with 14 wins, but I do expect them to win between 7 and 9 games.  Maybe not Super Bowl, but definitely Playoffs.  With games like this past Sunday you can’t help but to raise your expectation just a little bit.  I am happy that the Redskins are 2-0, but they still have quite a few tough games coming up, starting with this coming Week 3 matchup with their most bitter rival, the Dallas Cowboys.  Let the trash talking begin.

This week’s game ball goes to the Washington Redskins’ entire Defense for stops on the Cardinals’ last two drives.