Redskins Put On A Pre-Season Panic Party

Okay, let’s dig into the Redskins chum bucket of concerns following the 41-0 loss to New England on Saturday.

1. Positive Spin: Repeat after me. “Hey, it’s only pre-season.” Keep repeating as necessary.

2. More Spin: “Hey, we didn’t even travel our star tailback, rock of the D-line, or our #1 sack guy from last year. Relax.”

3. Now, the other side. Scores aside, they team has looked awful. The o-line can’t block. The d-line can’t penetrate, and seemingly every little tiny mistake can, and will be made.

4. I’m concerned about Brunell dipping his head, the instant pressure closes in. I can take that he’s not as mobile anymore, but I don’t like seeing the premature head-dip.

5. What’s with Al Saunders punking Jason Campbell so publicly all the time (it seems) over being “mentally” ready to play? That interview which aired, was very bizarre. You would seemingly want to pump the kid up, not tear him down.

6. It is now pretty crystal clear, that the team has no PLANS for Campbell this year. They might HAVE to play him, but they have no plans. Period. Pretty staggering, that a 1st round QB (who you spent two additional 1st rounders to get) will essentially be on ice for two full years. It’s worse than the Philip Rivers situation by far.

7. Really Smart Point I Can’t Believe I Had Not Heard Until Yesterday: Larry Weisman of USA Today, says: “Gee. They get DE Andre Carter and WR Brandon Lloyd from the 49ers, and that was supposedly a “coup?” Two guys who came from the worst team in football on BOTH sides of the ball. And that team wasn’t hurt to lose either guy? Duh.

8. Another Really Smart Point: Thom Loverro says that this year is truly a referendum on the “All-Star” coaching staff Danny and Gibby have assembled. If all that coaching “talent” can’t maximize the talent existing already, then it’s one more big failed Danny experiment.

9. For the record, you’ve got Gibbs and THREE former head coaches right under him: Williams, Saunders, and Bugel. Add to that, several position coaches who were once coordinators: Lindsey and Blache. That’s a lot of hands in the kitchen baking the pie.

10. About 8 months ago, after his SHANK in the Tampa game – I, Steve Czaban, untrained couch football fan and commentator said: “Derrick Frost is simply NOT an NFL caliber punter.” Then for 8 months, I watched Danny Smith and company say how happy they were with Frost, and refused to draft or sign another legit punter to compete. Monday, they were looking for another punter to come in and compete. Good work.

11. Um, exactly why are we not using Antwaan Randle-El on punt returns? I know it’s the pre-season, and you don’t want him to get hurt. But a few live touches wouldn’t be a terrible idea, would it? More curious, is that I haven’t heard the coaches say FOR SURE that he’s our guy, starting week one back there. How come? Is it possible – possible? – that he won’t be our everyday punt returner? If not, then we overpaid for the guy by another 75% of his actual “value.”

12. David Patten is looking like a $3 million bust. Unless there are injuries, he’ll be lucky to be the 4th or 5th wideout. Last year, we got half a season out of him. While $3 million of guaranteed money doesn’t all that much, it’s the kind of money that can keep guys like Ryan Clark.

13. Good News for Dan Snyder Radio: The new triple-cast outlet for Redskins broadcasts got good coverage as I drove around Saturday night. I don’t think hearing the games will be that challenging for fans.

14. Bad News for Dan Snyder Radio: Larry Michael continues to be on the most un-fundamentally sound play-by-play men in the NFL. I don’t mind that Larry can bellow at times, and is an admitted “house man” for the Skins. What I mind is not knowing the SPOT of the football, and the DOWN and DISTANCE. Michael misses these all the time, and if you are stuck listening to the game and can’t watch TV, it’ll drive you mad. He’ll also forget to say basic PXP benchmarks like “Brunell, UNDER CENTER…. “ followed by the SNAP of the ball, and the action that follows. Michael often just picks up the play in progress, and makes you figure out what’s going on. Sam Huff… well, god bless him. That’s all I’ll say there. Sonny is Sonny. He’s still sharp, and still the glue.

15. On The TV Front: El Riggo did the game with Mike Patrick for Redskins.com TV (another in-house arm of Snyderworld Enterprises, which is fine) and many people who emailed me were STUNNED at how neutered the former Skins bad-boy has become now that he’s working for Danny. All night, he kept repeating “I still think this is a good football team.” Well, time will answer that. I’m not saying he had to KILL the team for sucking that bad, but maybe a better more critical analysis of WHY they are rotten so far would have been good. Sad to see El Riggo, so chastened by a paycheck.

16. How is that white-on-white treating everyone? Uh huh. Right. I guess it was never really about “karma.” Why doesn’t the team just go ahead, and make it “official” as the new home uniform, and spare guys like me the agony of thinking they may go back to the red pants?

17. One more thing on Brunell, is that he seems to have to really give it all his MIGHT to throw a routine 20 yard out pass. That’s troubling. It means unless he’s got a clear step-through lane, he won’t be able to throw that ball under heavy fire.

18. Thank god for Sean Taylor. Twenty-one is stickin’ his body in there on everybody’s business. Let’s hope he stays clean.

19. Would it be crazy for Gibbs to stick his starters out there for a full half of football on Thursday against the Ravens? I don’t think so. Hell, they need the work. But I believe Gibbs and other coaches are so injury-phobic, it won’t happen.

20. Funny how much pressure there is on the home opener now, isn’t there? It’s not just Dallas looming on the road in Week 2 and the fear of going 0-2 out of the gate. But how about the embarrassment of losing at home on national TV? Plus, the Vikings are no cupcake. That team went 9-7 last year, with a clown coach, a sex-boat scandal, an emergency backup QB, and bunch of weedhead running backs. It’s fair to say, they are improved under Brad Childress. Who, by the way, has seen the Redskins up close, more than just a few times.

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This just in, from a blonde geometry test!