Bad sign for MNF Vs the Iggles

It already was looking grim that Cal was facing the #1 team in the country.

Somehow, though, Cal's defense clamped down on the high-flying Duck offense. It seemed amazing that Cal wasn't getting blown out after the first quarter. And they were still right there at halftime. And they even were about to take the lead in the fourth quarter!

Alas... if the pattern holds, the Skims will be on the wrong side of .500 with a hole to climb out of.

Cal plays top-10 ranked Stanford next week too.

Cowboys Coach

Normally I wouldn't bother wasting space on the Cowboys but firing Wade Phillips mid-season is noteworthy.

Possible scenarios?

1. Jason Garrett does well-enough in a turnaround effort during the second half to win the job outright. I estimate that chances are low that will happen since the defense is the side that has floundered recently and he doesn't have much influence on that side of things. With a new coach coming in, it's likely that he'll want his own guy as offensive coordinator.

2. Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh comes aboard. As a Cal fan, this scenario would be ideal since I don't think he'd make a good pro coach (although I certainly could be proven wrong). It's ideal because it weakens both Stanford and Dallas. Yippee! I believe the college scene is the perfect one for Harbaugh. At the NFL level, he was a journeyman QB. He hasn't commanded men at the NFL level enough to garner their respect.

3. Jon Gruden comes out of the booth to coach the Boys. While he did win a championship and has fire, I'm not convinced that Gruden is a winner through and through. He'd probably be an up-and-down coach lasting perhaps 4-5 seasons.

4. Bill Cowher is lured out of retirement and can make his demands. This would be the best option for the Cowboys and the worst for the Skins. Cowher is the only really proven commodity. People know he'd rebuild the Cowboys from the ground up. Question is whether he wants to take on that challenge.

Every other candidate not on this list will probably end up with results either like Harbaugh or Gruden.

It was a foregone conclusion

Matt Stafford is going to always love playing the Redskins. Somehow, Washington loves being the team that a rookie QB can get his groove on. Last year, Stafford gained some confidence and his first NFL win against the Skins. This year, Sam Bradford was able to look like a seasoned pro, picking apart the Skins defense. In a return from injury, second year man Stafford throws 4 TDs, 3 to man-child Calvin Johnson, aka Megatron.

For a moment, it seemed that Washington might be able to break the trend with some nice special teams play from Brandon Banks. But it was not to be. Darn you underachieving Cal football team!

Not Good for Washington fans

As expected, Cal was whupped 35-7 to a strong Oregon State team, extending the losing streak to four.

Skins' Fate Tied to Cal Fate

Against which team did the lowly Lions end their winless streak last year? Yes, unfortunately, it was the Skins. The Lions finished with only one more win the entire season (against the Browns).

What else works against the Redskins? Interestingly enough, it happens to be college football. In fact, it's my alma mater - the team I follow on Saturdays.

Here are the facts this year:

9/11: Cal defeats Colorado
9/12: Redskins defeat Cowboys

9/17: Cal loses to Nevada
9/19: Redskins lose to Texans

9/25: Cal loses to Arizona
9/26: Redskins lose to Rams

10/9: Cal defeats UCLA
10/10: Redskins defeat Packers

10/16: Cal loses to USC
10/17: Redskins lose to Colts

10/23: Cal defeats Arizona State
10/24: Redskins defeat Bears

Unfortunately for the Skins, Cal is playing at Oregon State this coming Saturday.

And Cal is 0-3 away from home this year.

And Cal QB Kevin Riley has never beaten the Beavers in three tries (including that woeful initiation when Cal was ranked #2 in the country).

Ironically, former Cal star RB Jahvid Best could be the Lion that rains on the Skins' parade on Sunday.

Heading into Week 6

The Redskins incredibly stayed with the powerful Packer offense. Like the Houston game, they yielded yardage but were stingy with points.

Then boom, one big play to Anthony Armstrong, and the Skins are right there. Armstrong is only listed at 5'11". Is it just me or does he look 6'2"? I suppose anyone will look tall compared to Santana Moss.

Fantastic game by Laron Landry and he was recognized for it with NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. So the fortunate Skins improved to 3-2.

Looking ahead to the Colts matchup, what works in the Skins' favor is the absence of Bob Sanders and the overall susceptibility of the Colts' run defense.

The downside, of course, is facing the talented core of players, especially on offense with Manning, Wayne (averaging 100+ yards per game), Collie (90 yards per game) and Dallas Clark. Manning has an extremely strong record against NFC teams. Plus, they embarrassed the Giants in Week 2 and knocked off the previously unbeaten Chiefs last week.

Bye bye, Devin Thomas

As announced by the Post, the Skins finally parted ways with Devin Thomas. If he had the tools to be a star, he should have shined during training camp and preseason. He should have earned his way into a starting role, or at least as the #3 guy.

Having worked with Andre Johnson, Mike Shanahan knows what elite receivers have. Thomas obviously does not have it.

The team had the opportunity to select DeSean Jackson and chose Thomas instead. Here's hoping that the Shanahans draft well in 2011!

Quarter Point of the Season

The Philly game started off beautifully and then just turned ugly when McNabb could no longer convert any passes. However, Jim Haslett's bend-but-don't break game plan worked wonderfully, forcing nickel and diming down the field. Yes, LeSean McCoy had a huge game receiving and DeSean Jackson or Jeremy Maclin couldn't get anything deep. Look for other defenses to immediately copy that strategy from here on out. Jackson's and Maclin's fantasy stock will decline while McCoy's and Brent Celek's value goes up.

2-0 in the division is something to be quite proud of. Blowing a 17-point lead against the Texans and losing to the formerly lowly Rams are not.

Regarding the two divisional wins... The Cowboys found a nice rhythm in defeating the Texans. They are sure to be much more fired up facing the Skins in Arlington. The G-Men looked sound defeating the previously undefeated Chicago Bears. Ahmad Bradshaw, in particular, other than his arrogant fumble, was very impressive. The Giants games will be tough matchups for the Redskins.

Counterpoint to the downside of losing to Houston and St. Louis... Houston is an explosive team that will likely be playing in the playoffs. The positive side of that game was seeing all the offense on display. The long Fred Davis play, which failed in Philly because McNabb put too much on it, was a thing of beauty, executed to perfection. St. Louis appears to be rallying behind their rookie QB Bradford. He put together impressive back-to-back games against both the Skins and then the Seahawks. The Rams could notch 7-8 wins this season. It's still a game Washington should have won but instead lost by two touchdowns.

Remainder of the season...

Packers - Aaron Rodgers has plenty of playmakers around him and the Packers are a cut above the Redskins. The Redskins would be lucky to pull this one off, despite being at home.

Colts - Manning, Wayne, Collie, Dallas Clark. The Colts have the second highest scoring offense in the league so far. If conditions are bad at home, it favors the Skins. Otherwise, the defense will be challenged to keep Manning and squad under lockdown. But perhaps like the Houston game, McNabb can lead a shootout win.

Bears - Cutler leading the Martz offense with Urlacher and friends leading the defensive charge. Another tossup. The Bears looked tough in their first three wins but were dominated by the Giants Sunday night with their 10 sacks. Unfortunately for the Skins, they have to travel to Soldier Field.

Lions - Jahvid Best and Calvin Johnson are explosive but probably aren't enough by themselves. I'm counting on the Skins to win at Detroit.

Outlook - Likely 1-3 coming out of this stretch. 2-2 would be very good. These aren't easy teams.

Dallas win

It was a funny experience watching the Sunday Night Football game online while also getting scoring updates in the iPhone with the Yahoo! Sportacular app.

Case in point. I'd previously paused the stream so I was about a minute behind. At the end of the half, Dallas has the ball and looked like they might drive down for a half-ending FG. Then I get an alert that Washington is up 10-0. Meanwhile, the stream is showing that with less than 30 seconds left, Dallas still has the ball. Down to 11 seconds, Dallas still had the ball. At this point, I thought the Sportacular alert must have been wrong. Then down to 4 seconds left and I could only guess that there was going to be an INT return for a TD.

Meanwhile, Tashard Choice catches the ball in flat on the last play of the half so I'm still perplexed on what might happen. Until DeAngelo Hall (player!) comes over to stand him up and strips him. Beautiful!

Very ugly on offense. A lot of kinks to work out. I would have preferred to see Fred Davis more involved. He definitely needs to be involved in the passing game when there's no quality WR depth after Santana Moss.

Changes

As previously foretold, Zorn was fired after two years and no playoff appearances.

It's wonderful to have Cerrato gone an have real football men making the decisions. People may knock Shanahan and Bruce Allen every which way (no championships after Elway, the Bucs had a mixed record during Allen's tenure) but the bottom line is that they are both fine upgrades over Zorn and Cerrato.