I’m not going to call it the best win since “The Replacements” beat Dallas, in Dallas, during the strike year. But it’s close. What an amazing, chest swelling, season saving victory.
Let’s savor it for a moment, shall we?
The Redskins beat the vaunted Seahawks, in their building, in shit weather, with 4/5th of a makeshift o-line, and a roster that was 3 players shy of the allowable actives. They did it after seemingly collapsing in the final few minutes on defense. They did it with a QB who has been constantly derided as “non-clutch” by his own fanbase’s irrational haters.
They did it with a maligned WR who has done very little since taking up a precious 1st round draft pick a year and a half ago.
They did it with DeAngelo Hall playing every, single, fucking, snap, on defense. He just came back from a year-long ACL injury. He’s 33.
As the Seahawks final Hail Mary fell to the ground – and it was way too close, and way too well set-up for my comfort – I was overcome with the predictable emotions. Ha ha, f you Pete Carroll! Take that Seahawks! And on and on.
But then, a stranger feeling washed over me as the win settled in. A feeling, that has been a LONG time lost, around these parts, in regard to this football team – pride.
The genuine, lasting emotion of “damn, I really feel GOOD about rooting for this team” was something to behold. And to appreciate it, you only have to look backward to the rampant stupidity this franchise has served us, not so long ago.
You only have to look around the rest of the NFL, to think: “Man, I couldn’t root for those shitheads!”
Jay Gruden and Co. delivered us a team that flat out refused to quit. They found a way. They persevered. There is no more admirable quality in the game of football, than that.
See, pretty much all we’ve had around here since Dan Snyder took over, was coaches who quit on us. After Marty was fired, came Spurrier who quit running practices (he let Marvin Lewis do it), and quit from the golf course by cell phone. Joe Gibbs did his best, but left us suddenly after a playoff run, and one year left on his contract. Jim Zorn quit by running swinging gate. Even Shanahan quit when he started leaking bombshells to the pre-game shows every single week in the end.
This is a different group. An amazing group. Still probably not going to the playoffs, but so it goes. This victory is going to sustain me as a fan, for quite some time.
Imagine being a Giants fan, watching that dipwad Ben McAdoo lose total control of his team. Did you see Eli Apple go “full pussy” on a 3rd and 33?
A slow-motion, magnified look at Eli Apple’s “effort” on the #Rams‘ 3rd & 33 touchdown. He’s at the top of the screen, at the 35 yard line. pic.twitter.com/gVJufUM4Rv
— Ƒunhouse (@BackAftaThis) November 6, 2017
Ben McAdoo’s halftime speeches sound epic pic.twitter.com/9HyJPPVOOh
— Andrew Joseph (@AndyJ0seph) November 5, 2017
Who could get excited about a still-immature man-child like Jameis Winston? This is your leader? A finger licking, fight starting, idiot?
Mike Evans NOT ejected for this…. pic.twitter.com/oBRfKvqQ5C
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) November 5, 2017
Jameis’ pregame speech had us like 👀 pic.twitter.com/qBiyVlt425
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) November 6, 2017
And then there’s Kirk. There is always Kirk to discuss and dissect after wins, and losses. I’ll admit, he looks like the most “civilian” QB in NFL clothes every single week. He has no real super-power. But he puts us in position to win, almost every single week. And he’s tough as shit.
When the 0-line was running jailbreaks on just about every passing play that wasn’t a quick screen, Kirk stood in there and whistled 10 yard slants through tight windows while getting pancaked.
Hell of a throw by Kirk Cousins with pressure in his face. Nice job by Ryan Grant reaching out to snag the catch too pic.twitter.com/wuyVm37zQy
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) November 5, 2017
When the game was there to be LOST by a QB who just felt like “throwing it up” or “taking a shot” Kirk kept us in it by being smart.
Then, when Seattle inexplicably gifted Kirk with man-press coverage late in the game, he pounced. And you gotta love deep-roster-inactives like Brian Quick – in mothballs all season – coming up huge when they finally got a chance to play.
That’s a mark of a professional. On a team of pros. Bred in a culture of competence and pride.
Our players don’t get arrested. Our players don’t piss like dogs in the endzone. Our coaches don’t snort cocaine on Facebook. Our players don’t demand trades. Our players don’t get ejected from games being fake tough guys, and getting into fights. Our players don’t call out other units on the team after losses. Our head coach isn’t a needless dick to the media. Our front office doesn’t fuck up the simple task of emailing trade confirmations to the league office. Our QB doesn’t roll his eyes and mock women in press conferences.
Yet look around. All of this shit is happening, all over the league. Not here. Not anymore. It’s amazing, and it’s beautiful.
Now we’re on to Minnesota.
And Bob McNair’s a bad guy cause he says the inmates are running the prison.
Sounds to me to be spot on.
THAT. WAS. AWESOME.
Thing is, once the playoffs begin everyone is 0-0. Teams tapping out now don’t realize that injuries haven’t hit Dallas, Philly, LA yet. That is coming. Getting injured Skins back in week 13-17 when everyone else is going down is going to be pretty good.
Not sure why you think injuries have not not hit the Eagles…Starting left tackle Jason Peters; starting middle linebacker Jordan Hicks; starting running back Darren Sproles; and special teams captain Chris Maragos are all gone for the year. They lost their starting cornerback Ronald Darby in week #1. That’s not the whole offensive line but are still pretty significant. They have just had guys step in to fill the roles really well
Fuck you Czabe! Fuck you for making me (a cowboys fan) actually like this team. that was the best guttiest performance I’ve seen in years from a team that really could have mailed it in to everyones expectations.
Well said sir. This group of skins is growing on our area like a fungus- but some kind of good one. Heck I can’t think of a good fungus and I sure I could google one but I will refrain. The point is this 2017 team is damn fun to watch and, other than the opener, they have been in each game with a legit chance to win. If we can sneak into the playoffs, watch out. Final point, I loved seeing Ryan Anderson in as fullback in the goal line plays. That is Gibbsean like in season creativity that makes me think we have a chance,
Czabe,
You really gotta chill on the Swinging Gate hits on Zorn…. While it was ugly and badly executed in a game we were already getting crushed in against New York, Zorn successfully used it earlier in the season against Denver.. And, yes, the sequence was identical to what he tried against the Giants:
-set up in swinging gate format
-call timeout when the other team recognizes it
-come out of the time out in swinging gate again and run the play
Against New York it was an ugly interception . Against Denver, it was a Skins’ touchdown
Czabe,
I heard you mentioning the Seahawks uniform. I too thought that they had a carbon fiber motif on the tops of their helmets.
But I figured it out, thanks to some huge HD TV screens.. The “carbon fiber” is actually plumage. It’s a continuation of the “feather” pattern that runs down their pants legs.