Harbaugh-nger (Harbinger) of Doom

Bad pun. Jim Harbaugh has had the Niners on a tear since taking over my local team. His commanding yet engaging personality has pervaded the entire organization, turning around a franchise that has been directionless for the past decade.

New Niner/former Skins Carlos Rogers couldn't be happier with his new surroundings.

The only thing Washington had going for them heading into this game was home-field advantage. That obviously wasn't enough. A stout defense, a caretaker QB, and a strong running game was supposed to be the Skins' formula for success. Instead, it's how San Francisco has played it for a surprisingly strong 6-1 (now 7-1) first half record.

Blown Out by Buffalo

With the team in disarray due to injuries and the quarterback mess, it was no surprise that the Bills dispatched Washington.

What was surprising was how bad the Skins looked in their defeat. They could muster up nothing. Wound up with Shanahan's first-ever shutout loss. Ignominious distinction that he went more games than any other coach before being shut out but yet here it was, a shutout loss as coach of the Washington Redskins in his second year at the helm.

Tied Fates No More

Cal had beaten Utah handily. Despite Cam Newton's up and coming status, I was confident that the Skins would have this game well in hand.

Unfortunately, the NFL.com analysts were right. They almost all (including Joe Theismann) chose the Panthers to win based on the Skins' inability to handle Newton. And that's what happened. cam Newton played really well and carried the Panthers to victory.

Worse yet, Washington lost a number of players to injury in the past two weeks:
Tim Hightower
Chris Cooley
Santana Moss
London Fletcher
Kory Lichtensteiger
Trent Williams

Hightower and Cooley's losses might be mitigated by a capable stable of RBs in Torain and Helu. However, Moss's loss will hurt the passing game significantly, as will injuries along the offensive line.

Wiith today's game against the Bills, it looks like the Skins will continue their downward slide.

Week 6: Train Rex against the Eagles

The outcome was a given. We all knew that Philly was too talented to not turn it around at some point. If only I had wagered for the Eagles to beat the spread... Plus, Cal had lost to USC on Thursday anyway.

Way too many turnovers for Grossman. Columnist Sally Jenkins hit the nail on the head by noting if Grossman doesn't acknowledge his own mistakes, then he will continue to be a huge liability.

The Shanahans are much better going off with John Beck. Let's all hope that he can avoid Unsexy Rexy's mistakes.

Not a good sign

Cal lost to USC Thursday night. Doesn't portend well for Washington today. Now they are in a 7-0 hole.

Week 4: Winning the Winnable

In past seasons, this is a game Washington would have lost. On the final drive, they would have let Sam Bradford drive down the length of the field and punch it in. Instead, this year's Skins team was helped by the fact that Bradford's receivers kept dropping catchable balls. They were also helped by a Redskins team that was called for numerous penalties.

On the other hand, it's quite obvious that Washington isn't yet an elite team. An elite team would have kept the pedal to the metal and continued building on the 17-0 lead and pushed it past 30+ points. Instead, with two consecutive weak offensive series, the Skins gave the Rams and their fans hope to make a game of it in the end.

Week 3: Demise in Dallas

Washington seemed to have the Dallas game in hand, up 16-15. They had the Cowboys backed up and looking at 3rd and 21. Hard to blame DeAngelo Hall for failing to stop Dez Bryant. It was all Tony Romo, making that play happen, scrambling, leading Bryant, and converting the third down play. I'm in Hall's camp and would have played a more conservative defense after having blitzed the previous two plays. Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett has defended the call.

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images North America

Yet the Skins still had one last gasp to drive down and try hit one last field goal and couldn't make it happen. Instead of throwing the ball away, Grossman was sacked from behind, stripped, and the game was over.

Negatives:

1. Felix Jones gashed the Skins for 115 yards.

2. The Redskins only rushed for 65 yards.

3. The Skins lost despite Romo being handicapped with a non-name receiving corps.

Ominous

For the first 10 weeks of the 2010 NFL season, the Skins' outcome was
the same as the California Golden Bears's outcome. When Cal won on
Saturday, Washington also won that weekend. And when Cal lost,
Washington also lost.

It'd be a shame to see that repeated this year. Unfortunately, Cal
lost to the Washington Huskies today in Seattle, 31-23.

How the Skins Have Done in Other Years When Starting 2-0

Dan Daly of the Washington Times notes that 73% of the Redskins teams that have started 2-0 have made the playoffs.

I wonder what the percentage breakdown is for 3-0 starts versus 2-1 starts.

Week 2: It was in the Cards

Eight straight wins over Arizona. Nice to dominate a team like that, especially when rallying from an 8-point fourth quarter deficit. The game got off to an extremely shaky start and was in doubt until the final whistle. Two consecutive interceptions! Fortunately, Grossman was able to shake them off and leads the Skins to victory.

Must have felt good for Tim Hightower to exact revenge on his former team. He had over 80 yards by halftime. Not sure why they went away from him in the second half. Nevertheless, with Helu as the #2 guy, the Washington ground attack went for 172 yards. As a whole, the offense had 455 yards. Balance wasn't awful but still favored the passing game with 44 pass plays (including the sack) to 35 rushing plays.

Each getting a sack in this game, Kerrigan and Orakpo are looking like a mighty fine pair of bookend OLBs.

A blocked field goal, the two interceptions, and coming away with FGs instead of touchdowns are the types of mistakes (or ineptitude) that will separate contenders from non-contenders. Can they get those sorted out?

Week 1: Cowboys Lose to Jets

Almost as nice as the Skins' victory was the fact that the Cowboys lost. Even better was that they let it slip through the fingers with a bad Tony Romo interception.

Week 1: Giant Win for Washington

The G-Men have owned the Skins these past few years. The Giants had won 9 of the past 10 games over the Skins.

Facing the Giants, the Washington had a great opportunity to take advantage of a greatly weakened team that was without its top two pass rushers. The Giants also had suffered injuries in many other positions, forcing a 6th round draft choice to be the starting middle linebacker - the defensive playcaller.

But Skins fans have reason to be optimistic. The team was only 6-10 last season but had lost quite a few close games. The defensive personnel are better suited to the 3-4 compared to the players from last year. Certainly, it's unrealistic to expect such a strong contribution from its rookies all year long (two sacks and an interception for a touchdown) but it feels great in the short term.

On offense, almost the entire line is new and considerably younger than the starting five from last year's opening day. Trent Williams was a rookie last year but is already the most seasoned guy at his position this year. Will Montgomery took over at Center for long-time starter Casey Rabach. The Skins didn't dominate in the running game (only 74 yards) and did give up four sacks, so there is definitely room to improve.

The Skins faithful also are hoping that Rex Grossman is about to go through a Rich Gannon-like revival this side of the 30 year age mark. With 305 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions, so far so good.

Two Pre-season Games

John Beck is 14-17 for 140 yards in the first half against the Colts? Rex Grossman was 19-26 for 207 yards and a touchdown last week? Why, oh why, do the Skins have to get their fans so unduly excited during the pre-season?

Don't toy with our emotions like this!

Grading Offseason Moves So Far

Trading McNabb (+)

Needed to close the chapter; coaching staff should have played it better during the season

Signing Stallworth (neutral)

Two non-descript years; worth the minimal risk to see if he pans out during training camp

Trading for Gaffney (-)

He had 700 yards last season - why trade?

Trading Haynesworth (+)

Also needed to close the chapter on this troublesome guy

McShame

It's an absolute shame the way the Skins brass and coaching staff recruited Donovan McNabb to Washington and treated him. Yes, he may not have been the sharpest to pick up a brand new offense but surely they could have tried harder to adapt to his strengths. Will be interesting to see what happens with Beck or Grossman but whichever quarterback ends up as the starter, the Skins will have a tough slog for the 2011 season.