Vision Quest Will The Real Redskins Please Stand Up.

The see saw that is Redskin football under the Dan Snyder era has gone to the extreme this season. After a much heralded off season where we signed every Free Agent we could find the Redskins did their best Oakland Raiders impression in the pre-season going 0-4. They followed that up with stinking up the joint in the first two regular season games. After solidly beating the pitiful Houston Texans they then had one of the best games ever played in Fed Ex field as they beat the Jaguars in OT.

Then there was this week. The Redskins came out uninspired, tired, and dismal. The high point of the game literally was the opening coin toss. After scoring points almost at will against the Jags vaunted defense, they barely could function against an under achieving Giants defense. After running at will the previous two weeks, the Giants Swiss cheese line contained Portis all day. After passing with near god like proficiency the last two weeks, Mark Brunell could barely throw 10 yards down the field.

The question now remains: Who are the real Redskins this year, the pitiful losers from Sunday or the hearty warriors from 2 Sundays ago?

Every time a loss happens Redskin Nation seems to divide into two camps. The first camp is loyal beyond reason, refusing to acknowledge the deficiencies of the team. And then there is the other camp consisting of a schadenfreudian desire to proclaim the deficiencies of our team to the heavens and actually seek joy from a loss. I am pitching my tent in a third camp and I hope you will join me. Our motto is “It’s not as bad as it looks but it could get much worse.”

Ok I admit, it’s not the best slogan in the world but that is how I feel about our team. For therapy I went back through some of my off season articles that were full of so much hope. And one of the things I notices was a prediction article from early in the season where I proclaimed the Redskins could go 12-4 and win the NFC East .

Now I admit that this article was written a long time ago, even before the draft (notice how I had Reggie Bush going to Houston and Matt Leinart to Tennessee….seems a million years ago huh). But if you look at the game by game analogy I put out, we are only one game behind that pace. I never expected the Redskins to win in Dallas, NY, Indianapolis, or Philadelphia. Those were my four losses. However I did have us winning against Minnesota for the home opener, so thus we are one game off. Not enough for me to start making vacation plans in January.

But that is not the whole story is it? It’s not so much who we lost too but how we lost. Minnesota is a surprisingly decent team and the Redskins were stumbling coming out of a turmoil driven pre-season. No one really though we could go into Dallas and win two years in a row. And something just happens to the Redskins when they go to play in the Meadowlands. Seriously the bus driver must take a detour through a toxic waste dump in NJ because the past three years we have lost to NY early in the season only to come back and beat them like the frauds they are after Thanksgiving.

But again it is how we lost. Our defense has been consistent in all 5 games…. consistently bad. Poor tackling is infectious and it has reached plague like status on our vaunted defense. No pressure is being generated by the front four and our blitzes are vanilla an ineffective. Springs and Pierson’s injury has crippled the pass defense and runners are plowing through seemingly at will.

Our offense was no better. Sure we did well in Houston and Jacksonville, but to say we were dreadful against the Giants would be an understatement. The offensive line protections schemes as well as run blocking broke down completely. Passes were dropped, quarterbacks went down, and running backs were stuffed at the line.

All this rest on the shoulders of two gentlemen, Al Saunders & Gregg Williams. Both are supposedly auditioning for the eventual head coaching spot that will be left when Joe Gibbs retires. And if this year is how we judge their resumes then I say pass.

The Associate Head Coach Offense and Assistant head Coach Defense both pull down generous salaries but the units they are coaching are showing limited effectiveness. Both have lost key figures and failed so far to react to those losses. When Port6is went down on offense it stuttered and failed. And the Defense still has not adjusted to the loss of Prioleau and Springs.

The lack of adjustment was not just in the personnel department but also in game planning. Against the Giants, Saunders continued to try and establish the run to no avail and was unable to open up the passing game. Williams was so afraid of leaving his corners on an island not only did he refuse to blitz most of the game, but also would not put 8 in the box on obvious running downs.

Can this last loss be walked off and ignored as the usual slump we exhibit in the Meadowlands? Maybe, but it depends on what we do from here on out. The team can hang their heads and not play with intensity or creativity and I guarantee the result will be the same as last week. Or they can come out and play with Guts and Power like last year and be the team we hoped they would be.

A lot has been said about this team needing to have their back against the wall to focus. Well we are there. Tennessee is now a must win. Every game is now a must win. And if the players don’t play this way we are going to be wondering about draft placement instead of playoff possibilities.

5 Things We Don’t Know Now

Ugh back to the losing and back to the things we don’t know. Lots of questions here, again. But I limited myself to 5 for brevity’s sake.

Will the switch to Novak cure our kicking woes? Maybe, but it is a step in the right direction. Hall was a question every week. His range was anywhere from high 40s to high 30s depending on his health. At least with Novak we will know what he is comfortable kicking and can game plan around it. This writer is glad to see Nick back and with the move to IR Hall has probably seen his last days as a Redskin kicker.

Can Springs save this defense? Again, maybe. But the defense is a lot more the just one guy. Sure he is the best corner we have and one of the premier corners in the league, but he can’t make others tackle well. He can’t solve the humungous holes on the right side of the line. He will help on 3rd and long where we have been down right horrible. But he is not the savior some think and the Redskins better learn to adapt because even when healthy he could get re-injured at any time.

Are tiebreakers now not on our side? 3 losses in the NFC and 2 in the NFC east are not good after just 5 games. We have had strong NFC records in the past two years going into the end of the season allowing us to control our own destiny, and that might not be the case this year. Still if we can right the ship and start winning games, most things will fall into place.

Will the “win now pay for it later” moves in the off season ever start paying off for us? We traded this last year’s first rounder for Jason Campbell and he remains our 3rd QB and can not even come into games to provide a spark if needed. We traded at least next year’s 3rd for TJ Duckett who is on a one year contract and he has only 5 more rushes this year then I do. We traded next year’s second to move up to take Rocky McIntosh and sit him on the bench except for special teams. We traded this last year’s 3rd and next year’s 4th for Brandon Lloyd. We have huge signing bonus and back loaded contracts for ARE, Carter, and Arch all of who have had less then successful years so far. Please remember I actually agree with this philosophy. I don’t mind trading future draft picks or signing vets to big contracts. N But they have to start coming together and working or else we will be Kings in March, Paupers in January once again.

How long before we give over to youth in an attempt to rebuild? Jason Campbell sits behind two aging QBs. Rocky McIntosh is watching the right side of the defense give up run after run. While it is not time to yank the plug on Brunell, it is time for McIntosh to see the field in some defensive packages, if only for his raw athletic ability. Holdman is not as bad as last year, but he is not that good either. And if we continue to struggle, then it might be Campbell time during the bye.

Looking ahead

Up next are the Tennessee Titans. While some may scoff, the Titans did take Indianapolis to the wire last week. Vince Young is an x factor as his athletic ability could make up for his lack of accuracy and knowledge. The Redskins will need to put this game away early or else they risk giving the Titans a chance to steal a game at the end. Look for heavy dosages of Portis and Betts as well As a vertical passing game. The Titans could be just what the Dr. ordered for the ailing Redskins. But if we lose, it could be Dr. Kervokian.

That’s it. Until next week hail to the Redskins!!!!