Vision Quest: Giving thanks

After the Redskins loss yesterday I contemplated many things, but the main was was this: How much has my life been shorted being a Redskin fan? The fact that we continually come up short in the 2^nd half of games this year is beyond frustrating. It would be one thing if this was the Spurrier or Norv Years. Sure we failed then, but I pretty much expected late game and season collapses. We could talk about the talent gap, or the coaching gap, or the Strahan’s tooth gap…there were plenty of gaps to blame.

What is so frustrating with this team is that we have the talent on both the coaching staff and the player side to not just compete in this league, but to win. Yet they are mired in mediocrity. First the offense was sputtering this season and the Defense was able to mask it’s inefficiencies. Now the offense is awakening but the league has figured out our schemes and the Defense is not adjusting. The only time we have put together a complete game was Detroit.

However I have decided that I can not do a blog full of vitriol and hate this week. Though we lost this last week, I truly expected a Patriot like blow out. We took the NFC’s best team, down to the wire and the outcome was in doubt until the last play of the game. Our offense has finally found a leader and identity and our defense, though horrible, will get better with Taylor back in a week or two.

So I have decided to take in the spirit of the Thanksgiving season and list the things that I, and the redskins, should be thankful for:

Jason Campbell. This kid has to be at the top of anyone’s list. He is growing each and every game. It is no longer a question of whether Jason Campbell is going to be a good quarterback in the NFL, it is now a question of how good. Sure he may fumble a little too often and has yet to give us the signature comeback win (though yesterday was close), but he is going to get a few in his time here in DC. Mark it down.

Clinton Portis. He may not be the CP of 2005 and had a bad game against
Dallas rushing wise, but he is still the heart and soul of this Redskin team. He makes hard runs and gives us consistency on offense. And when he is not running he is pound for pound the best blitz pick up in the league.

Chris Samuels. Easily the most reliable offensive linemen we have had during his tenure. He rarely misses a game to injury and is routinely asked to block the best defensive end on the other team without much help as all available help has been designated to the right side of the line. I for one appreciate one of the longest serving Redskins.

Parity in the NFC. Thank god because if it wasn’t for the mediocrity of this conference we could not be even thinking about a nplayoff run. But 9-7, maybe even 8-8 may get into the playoffs this year.

Sean Taylor’s Super Human Healing abilities. A man can hope can’t he? We need him back more then ever…soon. Without him the uncover-2 Williams likes to employ is more suspect then an email from the Bank of Nigeria.

Joe Gibbs: He may be slow to change. He may decide to kick Fgs with inches to go. He may not know how to call a TO properly. He may be too old and the game may have passed him by. But watching Gregg Williams arrogantly refuse to change his schemes makes me appreciate Joe Gibbs change in the offense as of late. Whether it was Saunders taking over, or Joe taking over, I am thankful for hope on the offensive side of the ball.

Mini Playoff Rooting Card

I usually reserve doing this until After Thanksgiving. But WTH, lets start it early on. To review here are the current standings for the Playoffs in the NFC:

NFC East: Dallas Cowboys 9-1

NFC North: Green Bay Packers 9-1

NFC South: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6-4

NFC West: Seattle Seahawks 6-4

Wildcard #1: NY Giants 7-3

Wildcard #2: Detroit Lions 6-4

The Pack:
Washington Redskins 5-5
Philadelphia Eagles 5-5
Arizona Cardinals 5-5
Carolina Panthers 4-6
Minnesota Vikings 4-6
New Orleans Saints 4-6
Chicago Bears 4-6

The bad news is the Redskins are 1 game behind the last Wildcard spot. The good news is that currently they own head to head tiebreakers over Detroit & Arizona and none of the wildcard contenders have head to head tiebreakers on them, yet. The Redskins also get a chance at getting head to head tiebreakers on Tampa, Chicago, & Minnesota in upcoming games. All NFC games are must wins for the rest of the season because virtually all wildcard contenders have 3 or 4 wins in the NFC.

So here are the relevant games to scoreboard watch this weekend:

Green Bay (9-1) atDetroit (6-4)

Gotta go for Green bay here. Allows us to control our own Destiny. Go Packers!!

New Orleans Saints (4-6) at Carolina Panthers (4-6)

Interesting Matchup. Carolina has a better NFC record right now so I am going to root for New Orleans. Go Saints!!

Seattle (6-4) at St. Louis (2-8)

Seattle has a great conference record and I don’t want them in the mix for the playoffs, especially with us having a head to head tiebreaker against Arizona. Go Seattle!!

Washington (5-5) at Tampa Bay (6-4)

Though I want Tampa to win the South due to their better NFC record, they can do it next week. Go Redskins!!

Minnesota (4-6) at NY Giants (7-3)

We have a must wn game against the Giants coming up, might as well get them feeling bad before we go tho their house. Go Vikings!!

San Francisco (2-8) At Arizona Cardinals (5-5)

We may have a head to head onArizona but I want some cushion. Go 49ers!!

Denver (5-5) at Chicago (4-6)

Might as well knock Chicago down a peg or two as well. Go Broncos!!

Philadelphia (5-5) at New England (10-0)

Let New England be New England and put Philadelphia away. Go Patriots!!

If we win and Detroit loses we catapult into the top Wildcard spot. However with tough games at the Giants and with the Cowboys we need as much cushion as we can get. If we can get a handful of these to go the right way we can put ourselves in a good position to take the last wildcard spot.

As always HTTR!!!

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