HAIL REDSKINS FANS!
VS 
For those of you unable . . . (or in my case unwilling) to listen to Howdy Doody’s press conference following Sunday’s Motor City Meltdown, here are a few of the highlights:
“Clinton looked good in pass protection.” Unfortunately, not so good running the ball.
“We have tremendous talent on this team.” Apparently not on the sidelines.
And my favorite…
“We’re getting better – it just isn’t translating into wins.” Isn’t that how NFL success is measured? Exactly how are we getting better?
Are we better because we scored 5 more points than in week 2 vs. the Rams?
Are we better because the offense FINALLY scored more than one TD in a game?
Are we better because we aren’t the Browns???
Let’s face it -- since our high water mark of 6-2 in 2008, our beloved Skins are 3-8 and averaging an unacceptable 12 points a game, and the guy in charge of our team truly believes we are getting better. Pass me what you’re smoking because I want to make my problems go away. He MUST be smoking something because I want someone to explain two crucial calls on Sunday:
(1) How do you accept that penalty during Detroit’s first TD drive when it would have been 4th down and three? Our defense had been on the field for over 7 minutes…so they try a 52 yard FG…big deal. Better we’re down 3-0 and feel some sense of accomplishment at stopping them as opposed to allowing them to continue a drive that resulted in a 99 yard TD?
(2) WTF was that play at the end of the game? We are not Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl!! It was only 36 yards – bunch ‘em up, throw it up, and hope for a catch or a penalty – not that college level crap hook and lateral. We saw earlier what happens on the drive that set up Detroit’s final TD when balls are thrown in the end zone. And those of you griping about that pass interference call on Horton – stop – he was falling back and wasn’t going for the ball. Legitimate call and that is not what lost the game for us. Giving up over 350 yards to an offense led by a rookie QB with 5 interceptions in the first two games and a listless unproductive offense is why we lost.
And this “genius” gets to keep his job because he wears three hats, and it would be too difficult to replace him?, How difficult is it to replace a guy averaging 12 points a game who has no respect from his players or the fan base? Give a monkey enough bananas and I feel confident he could provide the same results.
Better yet, call Mike Shananhan or Bill Cowher and ask “how much” and let’s finally get the structure and continuity this team has lacked since the glory days of Beathard and Gibbs. But my fear is Danny will wait too long, listen to that idiot Cerrato, and given the situations in Carolina (Cowher’s first choice), Jacksonville and the perennial hot seat dough boy Phillips in Dallas sits on, we lose out on these top tier choices and be back to square one.
I just don’t understand how Snyder can be around this team each day and not make a change. The mixed messages coming out of the locker room should tell him morale and attitudes are at an all time low, and the results on the field should be the final nail in Zorn’s coffin. But he is taking a wait and see approach…what do you want to see…if we can go 1-15?
This week’s game in DC against the Bucs should be a bore fest of mammoth proportions. The Byron Leftwich era is over in Tampa, giving way to Josh Johnson, a second-year player. What scares me about this game is there is so little game film on Johnson, so it will be difficult to prepare for him - - the main reason being our defensive guru Blanche seems to think blitzing young QBs is mean and may damage their psyche, so he refuses to do it.
Tampa Bay came into last week’s game vs. the G-Men averaging over 400 yards of offense and 20 points per game, but they were shut down by NY, leading to the QB change. So who knows what Tampa offense will show up this week. I just know that if the same Redskins offense shows up…it will be a LONG afternoon for us.
Do you know every team we have played this year, this week included, will have a chance to get their first win of the season against us?
Maybe going 1-3 and the chorus of boos raining down will open Danny Boy’s eyes. I hope so because I am so tired of the “next year mantra…”
HAIL! .........................................................................................................................Mary Priddy
Welcome New Fans to the B&G Fan Club Family:
By-Line: Fairfax, VA, September 29, 2009. Tough loss in Detroit.
Another viewpoint, I suppose is: Now there are a whole lot of very happy Lions fans saying, "Take that Washington, and stick it where the sun don't shine." It is amazing to me how many ex-Skins players (like Jon Jansen) win their first game with their new ball club against the Skins. Is Mr. Snyder cursed? Then I opened the Washington Post Monday morning and saw the photo on the front (A-1) page showing the Skins lost that game by less than a "meter". That is 37 inches, boys & girls. That photo shows a totally committed Clinton Portis (CP) flat-out horizontal, about 3 1/2 feet off the ground. Unfortunately he is outside the sideline. Then my questions started: Did CP run his pattern too wide, or did Jason Campbell (JC) deliver the ball too late, or was CP forced to go outside by the three defenders? Three defenders -- that means there could have been two other Redskin receivers jumping up & down, waving their arms, yelling, "Throw it to me, throw it to me." But maybe JC didn't have time to see them. I just wanted to throw up.
What a tough week this is going to be. Many scribes and radio yapping heads are filling the air waves guessing, "Is Mr. Snyder going to fire the Z-man on Tuesday or Wednesday?" What an environment -- the Z-man is one cool cucumber. I think he has all the right stuff, I hope he's here for a long time to come. It took Coach John Thompson (Georgetown, Basketball Hall of Fame) three years to learn how to win. You know Coach Gibbs went 0-5 before his teams started winning. If Jack Kent Cooke had fired him at 0-3, how many Super Bowls would the Skins fans have missed? Great things sometimes have very humble beginnings.
About the Lions game: We were watching it with about 350 wild & crazy Skins fans at a children's charity benefit. The fans didn't have much to root about, so our hands were full and I didn't have much time to focus on the game. I do recall, early in the game, the Skins had a 4th and one inside the Lions five yard line. The Skins ran that dad-gum off-tackle play that did not work in the Rams game. I'm screaming, "Move the pile, move the pile, run straight ahead." Maybe this week. Any points is better than no points. What is the basic NFL axiom, "You have to score points to win." Of course the other side of the coin is: Who would have figured the Skins highly toted defense would allow a rookie QB and a no-name offense to march 99 yards for a touchdown? Somebody said the Skins tackling sucked again this week. I hope that gets fixed soon. Don't they make tackling dummies and sand pits any more?
The Skins players and coaches fought to the bitter end, but a loss is a loss. It's better at 1-2, than late in the season. I just hope the Skins players got out of Detroit without too many injuries. I hate concrete fields - the players really get banged up on them. It is now onto the BUCS who are coming to FedEx Field -- we owe them. Another hard game against a poor team - oh joy! My hope is the Skins score more points than they do, and they don't get booed going off the field
P.S. I heard Mr. Snyder and his buddy, Tom Cruise, were on the Lions’ field before the game? Maybe they were having a competition to see who could give out the most autographs to the Redskin players?
Til next time...Cheers, Mikey T., Boss Hogette, HoF '99