While most people wear Halloween costumes October 31st (or the surrounding weekends), evidently the Redskins 2011 outfit was as a playoff contender-- worn in September. Does anyone remember 3-1? Does anyone recall first place in the NFC East? Can anyone remember what it was like to be a Rex Grossman fumble away from defeating Dallas? No...I'm waking up to a 3-4 team that's losing altitude in the same vein as Steve Spurrier's second team that went from beating Super Bowl bound New England in September to getting a faxed resignation around New Year's. That's what's scary.
Beck Bland-- 20 of 33, 208 yards and two picks in his second start. Not completely awful (the 2 interceptions came in the fourth quarter when the Skins were in passorama mode) yet not what the team needed. Just two completions longer than 20 yards won't stretch defenses... although the record should show he had the highest yards per carry of any Redskin.
The Joy of Sacks-- of course it's very difficult to throw the football when you're lying down on your back (trust me, I've tried). Beck was dropped nine times (!) by a defense that had four sacks in six games entering yesterday's matchup. A patchwork line, covered receivers and a quarterback still feeling his way around the pocket all contribute-- but nine?
Running aground-- obviously not having Tim Hightower was going to hurt... but 26 yards on 12 carries? The Bills outgained the Skins for the day on the ground in the first quarter.
Byes are a bummer-- Sunday's plate was rather lacking for good football... but that's what you get with bye weeks. This past weekend saw more than a few compelling teams on the sidelines: all have winning records and three reached the conference championship round last year; even Oakland and Tampa Bay were playing relevant games in December. That left us with just two marquee matchups: Pittsburgh-New England and Dallas-Philadelphia. This next week looks front-loaded: Giants-New England, Green Bay-San Diego, Jets-Buffalo and Pittsburgh-Baltimore just to name a few. Couldn't the NFL have evened things out a bit?
Third and Forever-- when you can't run and your quarterback gets sacked twice per quarter, you're going to have quite a bit of trouble moving the chains. The Skins converted just 4 of 14 (29%) on the afternoon. For the season the team is ranked 23rd in the league-- with the entire NFC West behind them in that category. So glad I'm not following football in Phoenix.
Cardinals Clocked-- about Arizona. The Pacific Time Zone team struggled while playing a 1pm EDT game. Why couldn't they have flip-flopped that matchup with Redskins-Bills? Were they that wrapped up in how Central NY would split with the Giants game on CBS? This week there are two West Coast teams playing at 1. San Francisco at the Skins and Seattle at Dallas. Sluggishness as they kick off at 10am West Coast time? Set your clock to it.
Feeling Fredtastic... except for his foot-- eight more catches for 94 yards... pacing the team in both categories. #83's 36 catches for 517 yards translate into 82-1182 for the season... and with Santana Moss and Chris Cooley on the sidelines with injuries, once could expect that might increase. Unless as reported he was actually wearing a protective boot at Redskins Park Monday-- meaning he may be sidelined as well. At least he's playing better than Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly.
London Fog-- the Redskins linebacker tallied 12 solo stops and 8 assists to tally 20 tackles against the Bills. He also notched an interception. This was after he was a question mark for the contest. Even in a season turning sour, Mr. Fletcher's play is certainly sweet.
Dissecting the Division-- the New York Giant's close win over Miami gives them a two game cushion; and Philadelphia's win over Dallas means the Eagles own the second place tiebreaker and the Skins descent from first to worst only took three games. Now that is impressive. As of now the Giants would receive the NFC's #3 seed... Philly's 9th... Dallas is 10th and the Skins are 11th. But midseason is a volatile time: if Kansas City loses its Monday night matchup with San Diego, the Chiefs fall to 12th place in the AFC while a win moves them to 4th.
Divisional Highs and Lows-- the AFC North has a half game (19-10 to 19-11) lead over the NFC North. Six of the eight teams could conceivably make the playoffs. Meanwhile, the race for worst division has the AFC South percentage points behind the NFC West (in the topsy turvy race for last, that means the West is worst). And the Colts 0-8 has that four-pack weighed underwater like no tomorrow (11-19). The NFC west is 10-18 with a 5-1 San Francisco being complemented by a 5-17 everybody else. Smacks of the NFC Central circa 1986.
Past is present-- a few weeks ago, I remarked how similar the situation was to 2003. A second year coach, a 3-1 start... a tough loss to Philly... and then it all came down. Who did the Skins play in their seventh game of 2003? THE BILLS. I'm not saying things will end 5-11 with Shanahan faxing in a resignation from the golf course, but this is a strange start.
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