Well out of playoff contention and possibly facing a losing season, at least the Skins beat the sorrier New York Football Giants. Their last three losses weren't too bad either. They had the lead in all of them but undisciplined defensive and hesitant offensive play yielded fourth-quarter leads to their opponents (Carolina, Miami, and New Orleans). It would be wonderful if the Skins had won all three and were 8-5 instead of 5-8. Sadly, that's not the case.

So Spurrier is staying another year. Unless Spurrier runs as much as he did against the Giants, that's probably worse for the Redskins than better. He likes to pass way too much and too often in the fourth quarter the offense sputters with a 3-and-out and the defense tiring. The opposing offense gets on the field with momentum and pushes it down the field.

If the Skins had kept Schottenheimer around, the Skins would have been in the playoffs the next year. That was a guarantee. You could sense it. And that was despite a pathetic uninventive Jimmy Raye-led offense. The Skins have twice as much talent now as they did then but they seem so much farther away.

Why? Discipline. Coaching. A lot of teams are playing at much higher levels this year than in year's past making the league more competitive. There are no more patsies. Arizona played some tough games at home. Atlanta had a bad stretch in the middle there but started off strong and now has Vick back. There are many more 'good' and 'competitive' teams than there are pushovers. Parcells has the Cowboys overachieving. John Fox is coaching the same way - smart football with good defense and a strong run game. These are guys having an immediate impact on their teams. That's why I don't see Spurrier succeeding.

In this era of parity, the aerial-based attacks are not going to succeed. They require too many different variables coming together - a good quarterback, good receivers, the threat of a run game... Up until the early 90s, the dynasties were the teams that did everything well. They had great players across the board and were solid everywhere. In this day and age with salary caps and free agency, there are no great chasms between great teams and horrible teams. A team just needs a simple proven formula to win. Defense and running. It used to take a complete to win the Super Bowl. Not anymore. The simple formula and staying free of the injury bug will get you there.