Redskins 16 - Rams 30
I'm...I'm...hell...I don't know what I am. I guess stunned might be a good word. Stunned but not surprised. I knew the Skins were going to lose the minute the Gano booted the opening kick out of bounds. How did I know? I knew because the Redskins havea history of making bad teams look like Super Bowl contenders. Against the Skins a struggling rookie QB, in this case Sam Bradford, can look like Joe Montana. Against the Skins, a struggling team, in this case the St. Louis Rams (who have won maybe 5 games in the last three seasons), can look like The Greatest Show On Turf.
This game was simply ugly from the beginning as the Rams quickly went up by 14 points. There was some spark in the Skins but a weird sputtering, "there's a short in the wiring" kind of spark. In one of the strangest moments of the game, Clinton Portis broke of a 29 yard run, but then simply fell down as defenders closed on him. Since when did CP, who has been know to throw himself bodily at defenders twice his size in pass protection, suddenly become gun shy? This team is going to make me a crazy person this year. Whether the level of crazy remains the usual "What the F*** are they doing" crazy or ratchets up to true Redskins psychosis is yet to be seen.
At the beginning of the season I felt that the Skins might be an 8-8 team at best. I have to revise that prediction. The Skins schedule leading up to the bye is as follows: Eagles, Packers, Colts, Bears, and Lions. In an alternate universe, the Skins win two for sure (Bears and Lions), maybe take the Eagles, and play well but lose to the Packers and Colts. In this universe it is perfectly possible for the Skins to head into the bye at 1-8. I'd count it as a major miracle if the Skins come away with victories against Chicago and Detroit. If they win against Philly, Green Bay, or Indy, I'm stocking up on canned goods and building a fall out shelter because, face it folks, if that happens, the end is near.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory
WASHINGTON 27 - HOUSTON 30
In an amazing football juxtaposition, the Redskins managed to look better and worse at the same time. The offense stepped up and the defense stepped down.
It is beyond obvious that Donovan McNabb makes the Skins instantly better and that he is definitely not "done" as the Eagles seem to have thought. Find him a running game, and the Skins might actually have something.
The real surprise was the Skins D. While no one was expecting them to totally stop the high flying Texans offense, neither did anyone expect them to give up 500+ yards to Matt Schaub and company. A perennial top 10 defense, the Skins, with the exception of LaRon Landry, Brian Orakpo, and London Fletcher, looked decidedly pedestrian.
Both the Skins offense and defense had chances to win the game, but, as has been the case for too many years, couldn't come through in the end. Despite the loss, it was a fun game to watch. If this is a Redskins team truly on the mend, then I pity the St. Louis Rams next week.
...And so it goes.
In an amazing football juxtaposition, the Redskins managed to look better and worse at the same time. The offense stepped up and the defense stepped down.
It is beyond obvious that Donovan McNabb makes the Skins instantly better and that he is definitely not "done" as the Eagles seem to have thought. Find him a running game, and the Skins might actually have something.
The real surprise was the Skins D. While no one was expecting them to totally stop the high flying Texans offense, neither did anyone expect them to give up 500+ yards to Matt Schaub and company. A perennial top 10 defense, the Skins, with the exception of LaRon Landry, Brian Orakpo, and London Fletcher, looked decidedly pedestrian.
Both the Skins offense and defense had chances to win the game, but, as has been the case for too many years, couldn't come through in the end. Despite the loss, it was a fun game to watch. If this is a Redskins team truly on the mend, then I pity the St. Louis Rams next week.
...And so it goes.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Typhoon Kompasu and the Apathy Blues
It's coming on 6am in the Land of the Morning Calm, although it's not very calm as Typhoon Kompasu is rolling through, rattling the windows and doors and basically being a nuisance. The first big blast woke me around 4:30. Been up ever since.
I've been thinking about my posting something here for a while but just couldn't find the inspiration.
There's certainly a lot to get worked up about in the news these days. The politics of hate are alive and well in the US these days. The problem being that everyone's so focused on who they hate and why they hate them that no one's actually getting anything done. The US was built on compromise. The Constitution is a shining beacon to the value of compromise. It's what Americans are supposed to do well. When did the population become so blinkered and uncompromising? Of course, you can also check out the reader comments section in any online article about politics these days and be left wondering when the population got so terribly stupid.
I suppose you could blame the Republicans (fascist, right-wing, psychotic, religious nutbags) and their "Just Say No to EVERYTHING because Obama's President and We don't have Control of Congress" campaign. They make an easy target, but only because the mouth pieces of the conservative movement happen to be the ones screaming the loudest these days.
You could, I suppose, also blame the Democrats (Commie-pinko, Godless, liberal, tax and spend, tree-hugging scumsuckers) for...well...whatever it is that conservatives blame liberals for (I'm trying to be objective, but it's difficult). They make an easy target simply because they're so damn wimpy these days.
Regardless of who you blame, the fact remains that neither side could agree on the color of shit if it got dumped on their heads. It's getting old, and I'm pretty much beyond caring.
Even sport is without its clarion call these days. It's football season. Usually my favorite time of year. However, the Skins have been down so long that it's hard to work up any real excitement. Realistically, what's the best the Skins can do this season? I say 8-8. It's difficult to get hyped about 8-8. We ave yet ANOTHER new coach; yet ANOTHER new offensive and defensive scheme; yet ANOTHER off-season soap opera (Albert Haynesworth). Yawn.
The Nationals keep hope alive to a certain extent. The future does seem to be fairly bright. However, with their record at 57-76, which amazingly enough is an improvement over last year, is not something to inspire much of anything, really. The only thing Nats fans can hope for this season is that the team doesn't end up in LAST place in the entire league. Sigh
Well, it appears the wind has died down, so I can go back to bed and see if there is any inspiration buried in my sub-conscious.
...And so it goes.
I've been thinking about my posting something here for a while but just couldn't find the inspiration.
There's certainly a lot to get worked up about in the news these days. The politics of hate are alive and well in the US these days. The problem being that everyone's so focused on who they hate and why they hate them that no one's actually getting anything done. The US was built on compromise. The Constitution is a shining beacon to the value of compromise. It's what Americans are supposed to do well. When did the population become so blinkered and uncompromising? Of course, you can also check out the reader comments section in any online article about politics these days and be left wondering when the population got so terribly stupid.
I suppose you could blame the Republicans (fascist, right-wing, psychotic, religious nutbags) and their "Just Say No to EVERYTHING because Obama's President and We don't have Control of Congress" campaign. They make an easy target, but only because the mouth pieces of the conservative movement happen to be the ones screaming the loudest these days.
You could, I suppose, also blame the Democrats (Commie-pinko, Godless, liberal, tax and spend, tree-hugging scumsuckers) for...well...whatever it is that conservatives blame liberals for (I'm trying to be objective, but it's difficult). They make an easy target simply because they're so damn wimpy these days.
Regardless of who you blame, the fact remains that neither side could agree on the color of shit if it got dumped on their heads. It's getting old, and I'm pretty much beyond caring.
Even sport is without its clarion call these days. It's football season. Usually my favorite time of year. However, the Skins have been down so long that it's hard to work up any real excitement. Realistically, what's the best the Skins can do this season? I say 8-8. It's difficult to get hyped about 8-8. We ave yet ANOTHER new coach; yet ANOTHER new offensive and defensive scheme; yet ANOTHER off-season soap opera (Albert Haynesworth). Yawn.
The Nationals keep hope alive to a certain extent. The future does seem to be fairly bright. However, with their record at 57-76, which amazingly enough is an improvement over last year, is not something to inspire much of anything, really. The only thing Nats fans can hope for this season is that the team doesn't end up in LAST place in the entire league. Sigh
Well, it appears the wind has died down, so I can go back to bed and see if there is any inspiration buried in my sub-conscious.
...And so it goes.
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