Sunday, October 30, 2011

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.

Friday, October 21, 2011

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.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

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.

Sunday, October 02, 2011

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.