Smoot played. He ended up killing them.

Bailey too. Not only is Ike Hilliard a capable receiver but he caught 2 TD passes. Bailey surrendered 2. Argh. That was amazingly frustrating. Bailey is supposed to be a shutdown corner but when he surrenders TDs like that, he shows he is not the top cover corner in the league. He's one of the better ones but the best, in my opinion, is someone who won't give up 2 TDs in the same game. He doesn't have the leverage to be asking to be the highest paid CB in the league anymore, not after a game like that.

The Skins deserved to lose that game. The ridiculous penalties, over and over again. And I was just thinking on that 3rd and 24 play -- the only way the Giants can get a 1st down is that the Skins have some boneheaded personal foul penalty that keeps their drive alive, because it had happened in other games. And then it happened in the Giants game. Trotter is such an idiot. All those penalties are a matter of keeping cool, maintaining discipline and thinking about the best interests of the team.

Even the previous heros had bad days. Hall missed two FGs but that's excusable because they were very long. Coles was even dropping passes! And this came only a week after Spurrier was praising him for all balls sticking to his hands.

Although the Skins deserved to lose, losing a divisional game is the worst kind. There are only 6 divisional games now and they are all critical. The Skins do not have an easy schedule in front of them, with games against the Pats, the Seahawks, the Bucs, and the Bills. Parcells has made the Cowboys into worthy contenders so they are no pushover either. The Skins have the talent to go 10-6 but if they play as stupidly and undisciplined as they did against the Giants, they will finish 6-10.

A loss like that is just so painful to relive. We'll see how they fare against the supremely well-coached Patriots. If any opponent is paying attention, the players should be pulling Dennis Rodman routines and goading the Skins into stupid penalties that will be difference makers.