For three Sundays Redskins fans enjoyed victory kool-aid. The crazies that still wear their Rod Gardner game replica jersey naturally went full bore after beating the Giants in week one. The moderates began sipping the burgundy and gold beverage after rallying past Arizona. Even the fatalists who have a sky is falling calendar in their office began chugging the Hope Float when they learned Tony Romo had a punctured lung. Sadly the winning whiskey wasn't enough to propel the Skins to their first 3-0 start since 2005. And now with a tight turnaround (nothing worse than a road Sunday 1pm kickoff after a Monday night road game)... coach Mike Shanahan's team has to ready themselves for St. Louis. While the fans sleep it off.
Footing the Bill-- Nine field goals and one touchdown with an extra point totalling 34 combined points Monday night. Not the worst showing by the Skins and Dallas on MNF (it remains 2001's 9-7 debacle between 0-4 teams). But frustrating nevertheless for fans of both teams.
Turnoverasaurus Rex-- Mr. Grossman did throw for 250 yards and a touchdown... but tossed an interception that led to a Cowboys field goal and lost a fumble in the fourth quarter that sealed the victory for Dallas. Which has been what you've expected and received from the Florida product since he entered the NFL.
Second Half Whimper-- after scoring on their first possession of the second half, the offense somewhat went into the tank. Four possessions gaining 72 yards... after gaining 76 yards on their touchdown drive.
Third and over and out-- one reason why they weren't able to hang onto the ball longer after halftime? The Redskins converted 3 of 12 third down opportunities... and didn't move the chains on three chances after their touchdown. Dallas only converted one third down after halftime-- but it was a biggie.
Hall Hell-- Deangelo Hall was beaten for a 30 yard pass on 3rd and 21 where the Skins rushed eight. Despite the fact that mega-blitzing in that situation might not be an ideal move, Hall was unable to keep up with a banged up Dez Bryant... and then facemasked him. A nice 45 yard play to set up the Cowboys game-winning points. This isn't even taking into account his jabbering before the game and passing the buck after the loss.
Hightower lowering the bar-- While he scored the game's lone touchdown on a 1-yard play action pass, 14 carries for 41 yards is not an ideal way to establish the run. Although he's contributing to the passing game (3 catches for 25 yards against Dallas- and 9-74 for the season), the Richmond product is averaging just 3.5 yards per carry. Not enough to feed a 2011 offense as the primary back.
Tight End Tandem-- while Fred Davis caught just one pass for 23 yards... Chris Cooley came through with four grabs and 41 yards. On a team where there's not a "we have to get this guy the ball" number two receiver... hopefully we'll see plenty of double tight formations this fall.
Graham not cracking-- despite having a 36 yard field goal attempt blocked, Gano successfully made his other three attempts. Why is it though one feels he's a bad miss or two from becoming the former Skins kicker?
Youth served-- the magical rookie season of Ryan Kerrigan's continues: 4 tackles and a sack against the Cowboys. Talk about a smooth transition from DE to LB as well as a relatively easy adjustment from college to pro football.
Dissecting the Division-- thank goodness for tiebreakers. The Cowboys leapfrog into first place (1-0 NFC East record) while the Skins get the second place tiebreaker over the New York Giants due to their week one victory. Philadelphia, predicted by many to walk their way to a division title, finds itself in last place at 1-2. The fact that it's a long season is encouraging for some; the fact that it's a long season will be discouraging for others.
Looking at the league-- how about a shout for the remaining unbeatens? While Green Bay isn't that much of a surprise, Buffalo and Detroit carving out 3-0 marks is quite a shocker. Especially since both teams had to rally from 20 point deficits Sunday. Instead of drafting wide receivers, the Lions have built a stout defense that's allowing 15 points a game. And let's be honest, is anyone amazed that Detroit would actually improve after Matt Millen stopped stealing money as General Manager? The Bills are a bigger one for me-- this team hasn't been able to get out of it's way since they went with Rob Johnson over Doug Flutie at quarterback. Can they sustain great play for 16 weeks?
Woe is the winless-- the pursuit of the 2008 Lions continues with Minnesota, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Miami all 0-3. And the Chiefs play the Vikings this week. FOX's legendary broadcast team of Curt Menefee/Brian Baldinger will be called out of retirement for that one.
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