What amazes me about this current Redskins season has been how closely this team has played up to as well as down to its opponents. Looking at the entire Jim Zorn era, I can only point to the first half of last year's season opener against the Giants where they didn't play directly to the level of their opponent. That means good showings against good teams with bad showings against bad teams... the overall ledger standing at 11-17.
I think coach Zorn and the Skins are providing an excellent service to the NFL: fans of other teams, do you often wonder how good or bad your team might be? By playing the Redskins you find out the exact level of your team's competence! I had a teacher who always advised, "be a thermostat-- not a thermometer". The Skins are the ultimate football thermometer-- providing a direct reading of their surroundings without having the ability to affect their surroundings one bit.
Other weak thirteen thoughts...:
Kicking themselves silly-- a missed 23-yarder could have clinched Sunday's game with the Saints (providing the defense didn't cough up two scores, which...)... meaning the Skins are seven points away from a four game winning streak, a 6-6 mark and a legitimate shot at the postseason. Shaun Suisham missed three field goals this fall... any of those three could have wrapped up a victory against a favored foe. Goodbye Shaun, hello Graham Gano (not to be confused with Gary Gnu of the Great Space Coaster) from the Las Vegas Locomotives of the UFL (how can the UFL NOT have a team in Rosewell, NM?).
Campbell comes up competent-- Jason Campbell played well again, throwing for 367 yards and three touchdowns... but tossed a late interception that almost resulted in a Saints regulation time win. He might not have a longterm home in the DC metro area... but #17 has proved he belongs in the league with some team in some capacity (at the least, he can be a backup in Denver).
Fantasy Fallout-- the Dread Pirate Roberts took on more water last weekend... losing for the third time in four weeks (and I don't even have a Mike Tomlin unleash the fury speech in me)... I started the Steelers defense/special teams instead of the Giants, and Matt Schaub instead of Tony Romo. No shot at the title...AS YOU WISH.
The Firm is Radioactive! (aka tracking the triumvirate)-- the 2008 second rounders are making Vinny Cerrato look better each game... Devin Thomas had his breakout game with 7 catches for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns... Fred Davis added 5 for 53 with a score and Malcolm Kelly notched a pair of receptions. Last year they combined for 21 catches-- this season Davis and Thomas have surpassed that mark with Kelly on pace for 19 receptions of his own.
The committee continues-- Clinton Portis' month in limbo ends with a trip to Injured Reserve... a disappointing season that never got in gear (remember how much practice time he missed in July and August)... another year with more mileage... how much left does #26 have in the tank?
That's why they call them surprises-- I'm shocked Pittsburgh's dropped four straight to fall from the elite... losing to Cincinnati and at Baltimore is understandable-- but Kansas City and Oakland?
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