One losing streak ends…one more to be broken??

So since I couldn't find a photo of our last victory against the Chiefs, I thought I would post an image of Joe Washington from 1983 slipping past tacklers during a season where the Redskins scored more points than anyone in league history. Does this make us feel better or worse?

So the Caps got a much needed win against one of the NHL’s best teams in San Jose.  Alex Ovechkin scored two goals against the only team against which he had never scored.  Mike Knuble’s saucer pass to Ovechkin on his first goal was and absolute gem.  When the Caps show up and play a complete game of hockey as they did tonight and against Boston in the season’s opener, they are nearly unstoppable.  Now it will be up to Boudreau and the boys to get this kind of consistent effort.

The Caps’ win tonight broke an 11-game losing streak the Caps had suffered to San Jose dating back to February 20, 1999.  1999?? Hell, that victory came even before the Redskins last won the NFC East.  So you know now we are really talking about a long time ago.

Now about our Redskins – who knows when was the last time we beat the Kansas City Chiefs? Anyone? Anyone?  The correct answer is 1983.  That’s even before my section 449 buddy Ryan Kalinowski was even born. Well on that day, Rigoo and the boys whipped them 27-12 at RFK.  Since then, they have beaten us  soundly with the most recent loss being the closest: a 28-21 heart-breaker in 2005 at KC. Overall, the Chiefs lead the all-time series 6-1.

I don’t have a lot of emotional or intellectual insight to make towards this Sunday’s game. The last 4 weeks of Redskins football has just about drained me spiritually and frankly I feel like a beaten man.  So today, I am going only with stats.

As many of you may know, and perhaps expect, the Redskins’ defense is currently ranked #4 overall in the NFL.  We are 5th in points allowed and only Indianapolis, Denver and the Giants have allowed fewer points than us among teams that have played 5 games.  All that is pretty good.  We are tied for 14th with 10 sacks and are a 16th with 7 forced turnovers.  All of this is pretty good.

Frankly speaking, the offensive numbers are too depressing to describe here, but as we all would expect, we are #27 in points scored.

Now back to defense.  I know I am, and will always be, a fan first. Thus, I tend to look at things optimistically.  What really bothers me though is when “analysts” or sports “journalists” say things that are just wrong.

This week in talk radio, talk has now re-surfaced about how out of shape Albert Haynesworth is and how few plays he participates in.  Until now I did not know the exact numbers, but I knew what my eyes had been telling me especially since I’ve been at 3 of our first 5 games.  So here are the stats: #92 has played in 219 of our 300 total plays on defense which puts him in the line-up on 73% of our team’s defensive statistics.  The only defensive lineman on our team who plays more is Andre Carter.

Now, I have not taken the time to compare his numbers to other prominent defensive lineman in the league, but I have heard on a variety of different national programs that the average defensive tackle is in on about 60-65% of his defense’s plays.   I have defended Haynesworth a lot this week and I don’t know why. He doesn’t seem to be the nicest guy in the world anyway, but at the end of the day, it just goes to show that people believe what they want to believe.

I guess I am victim of the same thing because believe it or not, I think the Redskins will win this weekend.  Besides, it’s Friday and I’m a fan and I can’t help but get excited about an upcoming home game even though the weather report for this Sunday is bleak: high temperatures in the low 40s with showers and heavy wind.  Looks like I will be pulling out the Redskin poncho for Sunday.  One positive is that it’s not like the rain will clip the wings of our high-flying offense.  Maybe it will bring the Chiefs’ offense, which is averaging a few more points than ours, back down to earth.

Like I said, until the Redskins score 20, I will not predict it.  I expect another game where my old man will declare that he is not cheering for anything except TDs.  I think he will cheer twice this weekend as the Redskins win 17-14 and Washington breaks two of its longest losing streaks in less than three days.

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NFL Power Rankings Week #6

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  Our fairweather fanny checks in wth his week 6 power rankings. I correctly anticipated that he would have no interest in going to last week’s Panthers/Redskins game since he now roots for the Saints. I wonder if the Giants win this week whether he will be begging me for tickets to the Skins/Giants game in December.

 

1. New Orleans Saints (1): Showdown for #1 with Giants this week.

2. <!–[endif]–>New York Giants (2): Raiders really no competition.

3. <!–[endif]–>Minnesota Vikings (3): Beat up Rams patsies. Will play a competitive game this week against the Ravens

4. <!–[endif]–>Indianapolis Colts (4): Peyton Manning! One more time!

5. <!–[endif]–>Denver Broncos (9): Continuing in the Power 10 and rising with McDaniels win over mentor.

6. <!–[endif]–>Cincinnati Bengals (10): True mettle was revealed versus the Ravens

7. <!–[endif]–>Atlanta Falcons (HM): Strong win over the 49ers rockets Falcons up the Power 10 as last week’s #5 through #8 all lose. Two young QB’s, Ryan & Cutler, battle this week.

8. <!–[endif]–>New York Jets (5): No answer for combination of Wildcat and Henne.

9. <!–[endif]–>New England Patriots (6): Defense couldn’t get Brady on the field in OT.

10. <!–[endif]–> Baltimore Ravens (7): Hold on to ranking in the Power 10 as wins by Pittsburgh & Philly over scrubs were not sufficient to move them past Ravens.

Honorable Mention: Philadelphia, Chicago, Green Bay, Pittsburgh & San Francisco

 

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Cold October Rains

Between the Caps losing streak, Antawn Jamison’s shoulder injury, and the general doom and gloom coming out of Ashburn, it hasn’t been a fun week to follow DC sports.

Even Bowles, for whom hope springs eternal, is questioning what it means to be a diehard fan of a team on the way down. And boy is it grim.

The Redskins Insider reports this morning that Chris Samuels could be out for the year and might even be contemplating retirement because of the severity of his neck injury.

The death watch on Jim Zorn’s job is almost comical and has prompted some players to say to management, either fire him or say you’ll keep him until the end of the year.

It seems like fans are starting to realize that this team, with this group of players and this management, will never be good.

I’ve been wondering, though, didn’t we go through this in 2006? Maybe then we had the hope of Campbell becoming a great QB and we still could count on Joe Gibbs as the coach.

And maybe it felt like an aberration after making the playoffs the year before. I remember watching a video on Redskins.com before the 2006 season where Clinton Portis and Earnest Byner were talking about Portis running for 2,000 yards that season and thinking, “Uh oh. They think too highly of their chances.”

In the end maybe this is the rock bottom that’s needed for Snyder to finally realize that this whole thing– Cerrato, Portis, media silence, bad drafts, neglecting the lines, etc.– just doesn’t work.

I agree with Bowles. I don’t think that not going to the games or organizing boycotts does much. I think you root for the uniform and you hope for the best. I mean, I’ve been a Wizards/Bullets fan as long as a Redskins fan and I’ve never seen them do much of anything, but I never contemplating not being a fan, or not going to games.

One thing that heartened me this week was a small item regarding Anthony Montgomery. Apparently they’re trying to shop Montgomery, a BBR, who has been injured and moved down the depth chart due to the arrival of Haynesworth and the emergence of Kedric Golston.

Anyway, Montgomery had this to say, which reminded me why I love BBR’s and why this franchise, despite the owner’s best efforts, continues to be important to so many people.

Again, taken off the Redskins Insider blog,

“I don’t know if it would be better [to be traded] because at heart I’m a Redskin,” he said. “This is where I was drafted, this is all I know. Obviously, I would love to be here.”

This is all I know, and I’ll continue to be here as well.

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Should I stay or should I go?

The desperation, angst, depression and sickness is beginning to set in. The Redskins have become a losing team in front of our eyes. Some might say that we have been a losing team for the last 17 years and statistically and truthfully, these people would be right.

Say what you want about Gibbs Part II, but in my mind, he brought back an identity to our team, a sense that there was some fight and belief in what it meant to be a part of this team. His record was not stellar, but I think only a true hater of the Redskins would not say that Gibbs turned this team in the right direction in some way by representing and recapturing some of the pride from our now, ever-more-distant glory.

Last year’s 6-2, as I’ve said before, whether smoking mirrors or not, is also a distant memory. This team is finding creative ways to lose. There is a lot blame to be passed around and many have said that it all lands sqaurely on the owner. Maybe they’re right. Something certainly has to change and he is the only one with the power to effect change.

Or is he? Some have suggested that the only way to create change, to get our team back, to  demonstrate our anger, is to give up our season tickets and hurt the owner financially. My family waited over 25 years to get season tickets, so honestly, that is not something we are going to do.

Some have suggested that we should stop going to home games and paying for parking/food. We have laredy paid for our parking and never buy food at the stadium anyway. We taligate.

On top of that, I haven’t missed a home game, (aside for 2007’s game against Detroit when my daughter was born), since 2002.  As cheesy as it sounds, the Redskins are truly a a part of my life.  It would not make me feel any better about the team’s future if I did not go this Sunday to the game against Kansas City.

If I was able to convince everyone in section 449 to not go to the rest of the games this year, would that make Snyder get rid of Cerrato? I don’t know, but for some reason I take pride in supporting the team win or lose.  Maybe it’s foolish pride and I should not identify myself with a team’s colors no matter what. But it’s in my nature.  To be honest, it’s in a lot of Redskins’ fans nature.   Many people in section 449 have been showing up for years, no matter what.

Are we too loyal? If so, we deserve better than what we are getting.  Since Monday, I’ve already met two random ‘Skins fans, in addition to me and my old man, who went to the game in Carolina this past Sunday.

Some long-time Redskins fans are quick to say that while they will never stop  loving the team, they will not actively support it until  it starts making changes.  They are content with actively supporting the well-run teams in this city like the Caps and to a certain extent the Wizards.

To me, if I don’t go to this Sunday’s game, it means I don’t care anymore and that’s not true.  So, while I may be wrong, and perhaps am a victim to my own misguided loyalty, I will be going on Sunday to the game and will be sitting in section 449.

On Monday, I will report how many empty seats there are at the game.

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Tidbits from section 255 at Bank of America stadium – Skins fans were all over the place (updated)

At FedEx field, my beloved section 449 is situated in the upper deck at approximately the 5 yard line close to the east end zone. This point of view is excellent for seeing player substitions, the development of blitzes and blocking schemes as well as the development of pass patterns and secondary alignments.

In Carolina this past weekend, my old man and I found ourselves in the lower level of the endzone. (For those of you who care, it was the end zone towards which the Redskins were driving in the 1st & 4th quarters). End zone seats obviously don’t give you the perspective that our usual seats provide, but it did give us a chance to see up close how the offensive and defensive lines were working as well as an opportunity to, in some way, “see” what the players see.

Our offensive line was not opening up a lot of holes, but when it did, it seems like Portis was taking bad angles to the holes and sometimes did not get to or through the holes quickly enough to gain all the yards that seemed available.

Conversely, it seemed that the only runs that Carolina was able to get were on cutbacks. Their line opened even fewer holes than ours did. Everything their backs got came from quickness.

Mason and Alridge have got to play. It has been written that Portis praciced all last week, so don’t ask me what the problem is. I guess he must either be injured or has “lost a step” – words which worry you deeply as a Redskins fan.

I know the offensive line was not great, but it seemed to me on three of the five occassions he was sacked, Campbell had a lot of time to throw the ball and then got caught trying to scramble as the pocket finally collapsed on him. Delhomme got sacked often times further behind the line scrimmage and often these sacks occured quicker and provided DelHomme no outlet for escape. Campbell sometimes seemed to lose his vision of the field as he moved in the pocket which thus prevented him from getting rid of the ball fast enough.

Our young receivers actually got open yesterday. Campbell hit them some, but as I mentioned above, missed them on other occassions.

Orakpo is much faster than I thought. He also got repeatedly burned by the Panthers’s tight end who, oddly enough, also wears #47. On the Panthers first TD, the Panthers ran two crossing routes with the receiver and tight end and as the two routes converged, Orakpo took a peek at the receiver coming his way and lost track of the tight end for long enough to allow DelHomme the space to get that pass in over Orakpo’s head.

I guess we should give it a year to see how he plays at linebacker, since we don’t have anyone else there, but it seems to me that our starting defensive ends of the future (i.e. next year) should be Orakpo and Jarmon.

I did not see Landry play at the line of scrimmage at all. I could have missed it when the ball was on the other end of the field, but I don’t remember seeing Kareem Moore in the game like last week against the Bucs. Maybe the Skins’ defense did not want to gamble as much with an experienced DelHomme.

A little about the Panthers stadium: it looks a lot fresher than FedEx.  According to folks there though,  it was built aruond the same time.  The layout and scoreboards remind me of the Eagles stadium.  That’s where the comparison ends though with Philly, or with New York for that matter.

Having been to four games in Philly and one in New York, the treatment we received in Carolina was otherworldly.  No one cursed at us, no one threw drinks at us. No one referred to members of the male and female genitalia when they saw us.

The stadium even introduced the entire Redskins starting offense.  That is unheard of in D.C., New York, Philly or Chicago (where I have also seen to Skins games). It’s almost as if they figured that since there were so many Redskins fans there that they should go ahead and announce our starting lineup.

Now, let me say this – there were a lot of ‘Skins fans there. Me and my old man thought 30% of the crowd were Skins fans. Mike Wise said on the radio that it seemed like 40% were Skins fans. Our players felt our presence as well as they repeatedly encouraged us to come to life while our defense was on the field. It made for a unique experience as a visiting fan. Now the take over this past Sunday was not as complete as the Steelers game from last year at FedEx field, but our presence was a factor in the game to the point where Panthers players talked about it during the Panthers post-game show.

How come Redskins fans are not getting any mention in the local papers? Where is Wilbon to write about how dedicated of a fanbase we are? We travelled and took over a stadium and we haven’t won shit for 18 years. The Steelers fan travel so well partly because they have won 2 Superbowls in the last five years. All of us showed up on Sunday, some drove over seven hours to be there, and the only spiritual guide we have is distant glory and a 6-2 record from last year that resulted in one the biggest collapse’s in our teams history. That’s IT. And yet we showed up in packs on Sunday.

Maybe Wilbon is salty because he was embarassed to see the Steelers fans obvious presence when Pittsburgh played the Bears earlier this year- something he wrote would never happen in Chicago. Maybe nobody heard “Hail to the Redskins” ringing from many different sections in Bank of America Stadium this past Sunday because no one was watching a game between two not very exciting teams.

This does not vindicate the Redskins fans who sell their tickets to opposing teams fans for any game, let alone the Steelers game last year. Nor does it make up for that embarassment from last November. But in a season, when it has become hard to hold up your head as a Redskins fans, there is some solace to be gained from the knowledge that the passion with which we associate our fanbase is still there.

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Color me Camus (updated)

Sorry this post is coming so late.  It was a long drive coming back from Carolina last night.  I have not read or heard anything about the gameas of yet, aside from my partner’s post, so I apologize if anything here is repetitive.

My partner had done an excellent job of identifying what the hell went wrong yesterday.  Let me start by what did not go wrong:  the defense.  People around town have been saying that this is not an elite defense.  People have said that they have not produced game changing plays and set up short fields for the offense.  I will go into the turnovers in more detail later, but let me say that yesterday our defense was elite.  5 sacks and forcing two turnovers which led directly to 2 TDs (it’s a shame that Clinton Portis, not DeAngelo Hall gets credit for our TD in the 4th quarter) is elite defense. 

This may not be popular to say, but DeAngelo Hall and Albert Haynesworth are becoming the #1 starts on this team.  I sat in the lower level endzone yesterday where both Haynesworth’s forced fumble on Carolina’s first play and our goal-line stand took place.  Haynesworth’s play was absolutley nuts.  He was everything any Redskins fan could hope for.  DeAngelo Hall now has made three interceptions all of which have directly led to points and turned games around in huge ways.  Yesterday, I thought he played very well in coverage and of course made the pick which should have sealed the win for us.  (Since writing this, I have heard some people complain Hall really sucked it on DelHomme’s scramble and whiffed on a tackle on the previous 3rd down play of that drive that resulted in the first 1st down.  I guess if people said it happened, it happened. I guess I just feel like this guy is delivering and has the right attitude about the team’s troubles – i.e. stop making excuses and play.)

The two TD drives on which Carolina scored were from 39 yards out and 12 yards out. 

The debacle that is our offensive line was analyzed well by my partner. 

Let’s move on to other problems: I said this in pre-season and I will keep saying it:  the Redskins need to remove Randle-El and Cartwright from their respective return roles.  This has nothing to do with the fluke play that happened yesterday to Randle-El.  He does nothing. Put Tryon or Devin Thomas back there.  Put Aldrige in returning kick-offs.  Cartwright gets it to the 24 yard line on kick-off returns almost every time. That’s not a bad average, but does anyone get the feeling he will break one this year?  These positions require some smarts (especially punt returner) and a lot of speed and elusiveness and reckless abandon.  Right now our two returners have a lot of smarts and nothing else in this department.

Sitting close to the field and in the endzone gave me a totally new vantage point from the one I usually have at FedEx.   I have defended Portis to many people recently, but it became clear to me and my old man yesterday that Portis doesn’t have anything substantial left.  Either that or he is very badly injured.  I have a lot of respect for his toughness, but there were some holes being opened up yesterday, especially on the right side, and he was not able to break through them to gain anything more than 4-5 yards.  Marcus Mason had the longest run of the day for the Skins I believe. It was 8 yards.  Let the kid play more.  Betts doesn’t give us shit. Let Alridge play. What do we have to lose?  As we all see, the offense couldn’t be any worse.

The other thing I saw is that Campbell, when pressured, often moved to positions where he could not fully scan the whole field.  A perfect example of this was the 3rd and 16 in the third quarter where he was forced to dump off to Davis after being pressured.  He had Devin Thomas rather open on the play but couldn’t see him because after being pressured, he ducked down behind Mike Williams to avoid the rush and by the time he lifted his head, all he could do was get the  ball to Davis who was well behind the 1st down marker and who, as my partner has astutely pointed out, seems to have developed an allergy for picking up 1st downs.

As soon as Samuels went out, Cooley’s role changed. I’m sure people have talked about this. But when we were running two-tight end sets, why not put Yoder and Cooley in at the same time and let Yoder chip the edge and Cooley go out for a pass?  If Fred Davis cannot block, then he should not be used in two-tight end sets when one TE blocks and the other stays in to block.  This seems obvious to me. 

So many of these changes  have seemed so clear to all of us for a long time that yesterday, on the way back home for Charlotte, a weird sense of desperation, bordering on insanity creeped in my mind. How can the same problems be happening without any change?  It’s like all of us Redskins fans are characters in No Exit.  If we were to write an existentialist novel about life as a Redskins fan since the Steelers game last year, it would start something like this: “Yesterday, our offense sucked and our defense was great. Or was it last week?  I can’ t remember anymore.  Everyday seems the same since that moment last November, on the eve of the election, when we changed from a team that was almost always finding ways to win to one that almost always finds ways to lose”.

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That Sucked: Offensive line edition, pt. 157

When the Redskins went up 17-2 yesterday, all I could think about was, “God, I hope they can hold on and win 17-16.”

Why? Well, not only does this team have a penchant for making a game super close and having it be decided on one big play, in this case the bizarre Westbrook pushed into Randle-El punt return change of possession, but finally the chickens came home to roost.

All the negative “what ifs” along the offensive line finally came true and for most of the game the team trotted out D’Anthony Batiste, who is listed as a practice squad guard on his Wikipedia page, at left tackle, arguably the most important position on the line, and Mike Williams, who hasn’t played in years and is a tackle by all accounts in at right guard.

There’s not a team in the league that could lose it’s starting right guard and left tackle and not have the offensive line drop off a little bit. But when you have Randy Thomas and Chris Samuels, who are older and often injured, and you have absolutely no plan B behind them, eventually you’re going to have a game like yesterday, where it’s clear that your offensive game plan is simply, “keep the quarterback alive.”

And what the hell did Chad Rhinehart do to get himself benched anyway? And what about Will Montgomery? Wouldn’t it make more sense to put in Montgomery at RG if they felt Rhinehart wasn’t cutting it, and have Mike Williams back up Samuels?

Yesterday was a further showcase of how last year’s draft—barring Chris Horton, I know, I know—was a complete joke. Fred Davis is absolutely clueless and seems allergic to first downs. Devin Thomas dropped what could have been the game changer for the Redskins, granted that it was a tough catch. And Malcolm Kelly continued be a non-factor.

Throw in the fact that Rhinehart was on the inactive list after just two starts in his NFL career and there you have it, crap sandwich draft.

Now we get to have another week of insanity at Redskins Park. Snyder reportedly has already approached Mike Shanahan about the job and the rumor is, he won’t take it unless Cerrato is gone.

I’m not sure if any of this is true and at this point, I don’t care. Zorn will be gone soon and Campbell will be sure to follow him this offseason.

Then we’re in for a circus like summer in which we’re told that it will take the team two to three seasons to learn a new system while we plug in some aging past his prime QB to hold down the ship.

At least I can say that all the shenanigans have made me numb to the results of the game. In other years, I would have been bemoaning the refs about the punt return call, or wondering to myself all week about the coulda, woulda, shoulda’s that kept the team from winning.

I would be telling myself that this loss against an NFC team would end up haunting us later in the year, and would be concocting scenarios where we would get hot in the second half, sneak into the playoffs and make some noise.

This year I just wonder who will be on the sidelines next week and hope that late in the game against the Chiefs the big play will go our way and we’ll be able sneak out another meager win.

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Will it never end?

I don’t have much to add today other than now reports are indicating that Portis and Sellers had an argument regarding Portis’ request to coaches to bench Sellers in favor of Todd Wade due to, what Portis perceived to be, Sellers’ ineffective play.  This added to Dan Snyder finding a way to mysteriously remove all anti-Synder pictures from Dan Steinberg’s very entertaining Sports Bog, tops off one of the most insane, tumultuous weeks surrounding any sports franchise I can remember.

Some teams can rally around turmoil.  I’m positive most think that this team cannot. However, with a road-trip to Carolina in front of me, somewhere deep down, I’m trying to find ways to believe that something magical will save us this Sunday. 

For those of you watching on T.V., keep your eyes open for the Redskins fan sitting in the upper deck of the endzone, rubbing my evil eye and quietly mouthing the words to “Hail to the Redskins” with my eyes closed as I rock back and forth.

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NFL Power Rankings Week 5

Our fairweather fanny checks in with his weekly power rankings (albeit a little late this week).  As I mentioned in my last post, fairweather fanny has officially switched his allegiance from the Carolina Panthers to the New Orleans Saints.  He says that because his duaghter went to school in New Orleans that he has the right to be a Saints fan.  As mentioned earlier, he and I made a bet regarding the upcoming Panthers/Skins game this weekend.  So he will be attending the game with me and my father. Unfortunately for him, he will waste his Sunday afternoon watching a football game in which he has no rooting interest since he is no longer a Panthers fan.  

My mistake was wasting my money last Xmas on a Panthers shirt for him for which, less than a year later, he has no use. 

Enjoy the picks.

1.New Orleans Saints (1): Won the battle for #1

2. New York Giants (3): Kansas City no competition.

3. Minnesota Vikings (5): Favre’s revenge

4. Indianapolis Colts (6): Peyton Manning!  Yet again!

5. New York Jets (2): Ranked higher than Patriots based on head-to-head win.

6. New England Patriots (7): They’re ba-ack!  Use running game to relieve pressure on Brady.                           

7. Baltimore Ravens (4): Could/should have beaten the Patriots but only actual wins count.

 8. San Francisco 49ers (10): Blowout over hapless Rams.

 9. Denver Broncos ( ): Can no longer ignore them although I suspect this will be a short-lived ranking in the Power

10. Cincinnati Bengals (9): Hold on to ranking in the Power 10 with close call over Browns.  True mettle will be revealed versus the Ravens.

Honorable Mention: Philadelphia, Green Bay, Chicago, Atlanta & Pittsburgh

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Boy was I silly

Chris Cooley runs for a 66 yard touchdown off of a pass from quarterback Jason Campbell against the Carolina Panthers during the fourth quarter on November 26, 2006 to take the lead and defeat the Carolina Panthers 17-13.

Forgive my sour mood as I embark on this posting. I just watched the Caps lose at home to the Rangers and play uninspired hockey in the process. Very depressing.

So, while I was complaining this afternoon about the Redskins and how it has become impossible to ignore the constant “news” coming out of Redskins park, unbeknowest to me, Greg Blache was pressing the mute button for the rest of the season. Silly me for thinking that all of the weekly chaos and speculation in Ashburn would end at 1pm on Thursday. With all this pandemonium, the news that Malcolm Kelly has ligament damage in his thumb almost seems inconsequential as does anything else that has a damn thing to with the game against Carolina on Sunday.

Silly me for getting tickets to this game for me, my old man and the fairweather fanny. (Yes, the fairweather fanny is a Panthers fan and he won a bet with me last year when he said that the Panthers would have a better record than the Redskins. The loser of the bet would have to buy tickets for this game, which was not such a big deal for me since me and my old man were planning to go to the game anyway.  One other side note: the fairweather fanny stated earlier this week that he is no longer a Panthers fan and is now a Saints fan.  I swear, it’s true.)  Silly me for getting all hyped up for this season.  Silly me for thinking that the Redskins would show marked improvement from last year’s heart-wrenching season.

I have no commentary on this week’s game because I, like everyone else, has had no time to think about  the Panthers with this constant shit swirling over the airways about who is arriving, leaving, talking and not talking at Redskins practice.  (By the way, at the time that I am writing this, Greg Blache has been gone from Redskins park for over 7 hours.  What happened to coaches like Gibbs sleeping at the practice facility 6 out of 7 days a week.)

The only break from this madness will come when the Redskins and Panthers play this Sunday.  I am already counting my blessings that I will be at the game so I don’t have to here the incessant repetition of the fiasco that has become week 5 of the Redskins football season during the T.V.  broadcast.  At least I can go to the game and grumble to my old man about why Zorn has not yet run an effective draw play this year without having to watch the T.V. feed cut to a shot of Sherm Lewis chewing on pumpkin seeds in the coaching box.

Maybe the best thing for the players will be just to play.  Maybe they’ll play well in spite of all this nonsense.

Before all of this happened, I was getting ready to predict a Redskins break out game. I was getting ready to predict that the Redskins would win by more than 10 points. I was getting ready to give you reasons to ignore all the obvious factors which favor the Panthers this week such as:  they are coming off a bye; if they lose and fall to 0-4, their season is basically over; they are healthier than they have been all season and their running game has the potential to chew up our suddenly suspect run defense. I was ready to tell you that in all my life, I have only seen the Redskins lose twice on the road and both of those times were in the ’80s and that I have been to 7 games in a row to opposing stadiums and watched the Redskins win.

Now, all of my hope seems like a bunch of bunk.  I will take some fun pictures, have some good bonding time with my old man on the way down to Carolina, but I will not see a Redskins win. 

I guess the final score will be something like 24-17.

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