Redskins Rehash-- Are they on the clock yet?

Okay-- I've tried to avoid the obvious. Each week I try to dissect the Redskins' game with snarky comments and witty repartee... but we all recognize the obvious. This team is bad. This team won't be a contender or even a pretender this year. And there's a chance that next year might not be much better. Things are that bad. I didn't think that 5-11 ("not too good"--Steve Spurrier, before faxed resignation-2003) was a possibility... now 3-13 is mentioned with all seriousness after a 3-1 start.


So the Skins lost 20-9 in Miami. To a very bad team that was winless two weeks ago and will probably finish last in the AFC East (although Buffalo could fashion a classic second half collapse-- "nobody circles the wagons to finish under .500 like the Buffalo Bills!"). This was another game that was there for the taking and wasn't taken.



Turnoverasaurus Rex... still better than Beck-- Mr. Grossman threw two interceptions... including one on the supposed go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter. This after connecting on 7 of his first 9 passes in the first half. But at least he's throwing the ball more than ten yards downfield. John Beck is also the name of the actor who played "Mark Graison" on Dallas-- he was Pam's love interest after her divorce with Bobby-- and although you didn't mind the guy, you knew he just wasn't Bobby. I don't mind this John Beck, but I just know he's not an NFL quarterback.


Torain goes off the rails-- somehow the Dolphin defense knew how to stymie Ryan Torain: 10 carries for 20 yards... and a first half sequence from the 5 that lost three yards over five plays. Let the record show he did have a touchdown wiped out by a holding call-- but Roy Helu was introduced as an option a little too late.

Backup Plan? Ha!-- Don't be so quick to roast Mike Shanahan, because the fruits we are tasting were planted during the Vinny Cerrato era. With the recent injuries we learn further about the complete lack of depth developed over the last decade. A good organization's backups are almost good enough to be starters-- a bad organization's backups are almost bad enough to be out of the league.

Hankering for the IR-- rookie Leonard Hankerson tallied 8 catches for 106 yards in what appeared to be his breakout game. Unfortunately the game during which he went off on a tear also was the one where he tore the labrum in his right hip. So the Skins go to plan H or I at wideout.

Feeling Fredtastic... dropping-- okay, so everybody's favorite tight end dropped a pass in the numbers. Still, Mr. Davis recorded 3 catches for 28 yards-- and his prorated numbers are 76 grabs for 1043 yards. But he hasn't found the endzone in some time (second three game stretch without a touchdown); on a team desperately needing a go-to receiver in the red zone... he's not it.

Red-faced-- three trips into the red zone with no touchdowns to show for it. What's worse... the 0 for 3 or the fact that they got inside Miami's 20 just three times (one aided by a interception return)?

Grading the D on a curve--the Skins allowed just 20 points... but allowed 8 of 14 third down conversions. Jim Haslett's unit did provide a pair of takeaways that led to points... and Ryan Kerrigan continued his promising rooking campaign with a pair of sacks. But the leading tacklers were safeties Reed Doughty and Laron Landry: any time your DBs are making a lot of stops-- it's not necessarily a good thing.

Dissecting the division-- Despite the Giants loss at San Francisco, New York remains atop the NFC East as the # 3 seed. Dallas is alone in second place and their 4-2 conference record puts them ahead of Atlanta for 7th place in the NFC. Philadelphia stays in third place of the division but drops to #12 in the conference with their underwhelming loss to Arizona. And the Redskins remain in last place... now 13th place in the conference. Much closer to last place than the last playoff spot in the NFC.

All signs point North... with a West Surge--- both North Divisions continue their dominance-- the NFC is 23-13 while the AFC is 22-15 after ten weeks. Major props to the much-maligned NFC West-- going 4-0 to improve to a pedestrian 16-20. Not ideal, but decidedly better than the AFC South's 15-23.