Taking the Bullets, Standing Up

So what can you say about Sunday’s ass-whipping at the hands of the Giants?

Answer. Not much. And yet, a lot.

But I won’t get too far down the road on the “a lot” part because I am trying – TRYING – to become less reactive as an NFL fan and analyst, since it often makes you look hopelessly foolish and easily duped.

This league, is the ultimate kaleidoscope league, where one minute, you see a certain picture of who is good, and the next minute you see something totally different. That fact that the Niners beat the Bucs, proves this “Kaleidescope theory” beyond argument.

So, without trying to hyperventilate at JUST how bad the Skins looked, let me try to bullet-point some observations.

- The bill is about to come due for the Skins inability to field a defensive front-four that actually concerns teams. Who is our “DL of the Future” exactly? Right. At least the Giants have some young studs that can play up front with hi-priced Pro Bowler Strahan. The Skins? Nobody. Big concern.
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- Has there ever been a 71 point swing in a two-week span in NFL history? (e.g. Skins win by 35, then lose by 36). Has this EVER happened?
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- I don’t EVER want to hear the phrase “out of position” as an argument against LeVar playing. EVER! So many Redskin players were “out of position” on Sunday, it’s a flat out joke that the subtle message for the first 5 weeks of the year was that somehow only 56 played out of position, and that HE ALONE was a threat to disrupt Gregg Williams’ finely tuned defensive machine.
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- Walt Harris was terrible. Beaten in coverage all day, took horrible angle on the 2nd big Tiki run, and haplessly tried to strip Amani Toomer while allowing him to drag him for another 9 yards.

- The coaching staff needs to take 90% of the blame for this loss. Why? Because they did nothing to show the Giants any looks (on either offense or defense) that looked different from what they were expecting. And they did not have their players in the right frame of mind to play the game. If you are going to praise Gibbs for poking his team into a frenzy over the lowly Niners and call it brilliant motivation, you MUST THEN apply the same logic and bring down the hammer for not having them frothing for this one.

- Comedic Moment: When 63 year old Ray Brown subbed in for Chris Samuels in the 4th, and got knocked over backward and tripped over his walker. High comedy. Except it was my team. Not so funny.

- David Patten had a brutal drop early in the game where Brunnel had scrambled to throw a miracle 1st down pass. Hit him right in the gut. That’s the last one this guy gets from me this year. Tighten up!

- Once again, the Redskins can’t turn over their opponent. The ONE pick was essentially a second year player gift, and not a result of havoc in the backfield. This continues to be a major concern.

- Unrelated to the game, it must be noted that the Redskins spent two 1st round draft picks (Campbell and Rodgers) on players who are not contributing right now. We knew that to be the case with the QB, and Rodgers has been hurt. But when I see rookies like Foxworthy and Williams playing DB for the Broncos as rookies, it makes me cringe.

- Special teams continue to be on the high school level. Not since Brian Mitchell have the Skins had a return man on either punts or kickoffs that was a legitimate threat to take it to the house. Now, teams do not fear giving up kick returns to us, at all.

- Finally, I must say that I find Tiki Barber impossible to dislike as a player. His running stride is so elegant, that watching him singlehandedly crush my team, is just a tiny bit less painful because he’s the epitome of an NFL caliber tailback.

Okay, no time to pout. Eagles comin’ on Sunday night, and it’s a “loser leave the Division race” game, if you will. I trust Gibbs will be true to his past form, and be a formidable “bounce back” coach after big losses. Otherwise, it might be another bitter winter.