Week Four (surprise!)

I didn't have high expectations for Washington this week. I just dearly hoped that they would not be absolutely blown out of the water by the high-powered Cowboys.

Instead, what happened was that the Jim Zorn-led Skins kept pace with Dallas for the first half. Then, in the second half, Jason Campbell, Clinton Portis, and mates consistently drove into Dallas territory to come away with three field goals. Meanwhile, the Skins defense contained Romo, Barber, Witten, and TO, keeping them from any meaningful drives until their last touchdown. It's hard to draw convincing conclusions without the benefit of studying the "NFL Matchup" show's famous coaching tape but it sure seems that defensive coordinator Greg Blache is coming up with all the right game plans. He's even doing it while shorthanded - Jason Taylor was out, Marcus Washington was playing hurt, and corners Fred Smoot and Shawn Springs were sitting on the sidelines during the game. It's still early to call it a masterful job by Blache but the early returns are certainly encouraging. The Horton interception was absolutely a beautifully designed and executed defensive play. Romo never saw it coming.

Now Washington travels to Philly to take on the rejuvenated McNabb and the Eagles at the Linc. Can Zorn handle Jim Johnson's blitz schemes? Will Blache dial up the right defensive plans to contain McNabb and Westbrook (assuming he returns from injury)? The Skins are building up confidence. Let's hope that they can respond if they run into adversity early on next week.

Week Three

True grit. The Skins hung tough and pulled out the win against a rising Cards team. Two wins against some decent teams. Can they continue the momentum?

Aside from Campbell's development, what I've been most impressed with the last couple weeks are Zorn's gutsy play-calls to close out the game. Against the Saints, he went for it on fourth-and-two and the slant to Moss gave the Skins the necessary first down to run out the clock. Similarly, against the Cardinals, Campbell rolled out on a naked bootleg after a play-fake to Portis and dumped a nice pass under pressure to Cooley. Cooley easily got the first down and more.

In comparison, Joe Gibbs would have gone for the safe calls - running the ball and milking the clock. The great thing about Jim Zorn's calls is that they are tremendous boosts of confidence for the players - it lets the Skins O control the end of the game, instead of hoping that the opposing offense runs out of time. On the Cooley pass, it was very well executed, as play-by-play man Larry Michael was fooled along with the Cardinals defense. Sellers and Portis sold it well.

The next two games are true tests on the road. The Cowboys are looking invincible. The Skins will have to be on their top game to stop the Boys. The last time they faced Dallas, Sean Taylor was missing and TO had a monster game. Let's hope that Blache can call up another great defensive game plan.

Week 2 Surprise

After the clunker in Week One against the Giants, I was sure that the Redskins were doomed to a woeful season of ineptitude, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Instead, the offense came up with plenty of huge plays on Sunday.

The Saints are a high-powered team with a standout quarterback in Brees and the most versatile player on the field in Reggie Bush. Shockey's no slouch, either. Fortunately, the Redskins didn't have to contend with Marques Colston. His big-play ability would definitely have changed the complexion of the game.

The big change was Jason Campbell. He was decisive in his throws and when the first option wasn't there, he went through his progressions. Amazing what a difference a week makes. All Skins fans hope that the progress continues against the scary Cardinals this Sunday.

The Cardinals offense is so explosive, it's scary. The Skins D will really need to pull it all together to contain their playmakers - Boldin, Fitzgerald, triggerman Kurt Warner, and Edgerrin James. The Skins were very lucky last year to escape with a win on a long missed field goal by Neil Rackers. They need more than luck to take on the 2-0 Cards.

Week (Sauce) One

The team looked awful.

On defense, Eli stood in the pocket, withstood the pressure, and picked the team apart alongside his partner-in-crime Plaxico Burress. Brandon Jacobs bowled over the defense figuratively and then literally with Laron Landry.

On offense, the Skins couldn't execute. Jason Campbell has severe deficiencies. It was obvious that he wasn't progressing in his reads to the second and third receivers. Worse, he is feeling the pressure too early. On the very first snap, he moved out of the pocket before he needed to. He had a few more moments to stand tall and wait for a receiver to get free but didn't. Portis was running hard but the team wasn't creating any holes. Why they didn't do more cutbacks or run to the outside on tosses is beyond me. It seems to me that against a suspect D-line with two new starters at DE, you would want to challenge how well they could contain perimeter runs.

This is going to be a long year. 4-12?