We’d rather be lucky than good, but given our druthers, we'd most like to be
BOTH.
So, the Burgundy & Gold is 2-2. Oddly, so are the Colts and the Rams to name two opposite ends of the spectrum. Of course, so are the Eagles and Giants while the Boys from Big D are 1-2. Nice
MESS this NFC East.
What have we learned? We have learned that without question, Mike Shanahan’s Redskins are much
LUCKIER that Jim Zorn’s Redskins. Coach Shanahan’s team is a couple of lucky breaks and two bonehead coaching decisions away from being 0-4. But, they aren't.
Worthy of
NOTE, Shanahan’s Skins are much more disciplined that Zorn’s which is noticeable in many ways including many
FEWER mental mistakes and penalties.
Yesterday, McNabb was great. Then McNabb was
AWFUL. He threw for 10 yards in the second half. You could do that. Seriously, you could.
But, the Skins won and that is what we want from McNabb – enough good plays and leadership to win games so we can overlook the inconsistencies. How badly did he miss Fred Davis who was as open as any football player has ever been? And why is that when rushed he tends to throw the ball into the ground? Who knows, but right now he looks much
BETTER than Jason Campbell, not to mention Rex Grossman.
The only real criticism here of McNabb comes from his big first down run while the Skins were looking to run out the clock. McNabb runs for the first down, signals same (OK, who can blame him this was his Redemption Bowl), then runs inexplicably out of bounds instead of sliding to keep the clock running. Seriously, dude, you’re a big-time NFL quarterback you have to make the
SMART play.
So before we go off and enjoy leading the NFC East by virtue of victories over the Eags and the Boys, let’s check that
RABBIT'S FOOT.
Again, our guys benefited from a coaching
MEGA-SCREW UP on the far sideline. Troy Aikman (who is clearly no fan of the Redskins) made it sound like it was the refs fault that the Eagles were called for delay of game before a critical late first half fourth-and-goal. No, it wasn’t the ref’s fault, it was Any Reid and Co. Either way, a lucky break for the Redskins who hold the Eagles to a field goal. A touchdown late in the first half completely
CHANGES the game.
Then after throwing the ball to Mike Sellers
WHO ACTUALLY CATCHES IT and completes the play with a highlight film worthy leap, you throw him the ball again. This is a
BAD idea. Why? Because Sellers
CAN’T CATCH. (He would have the worst hands on the team were it not for Carlos Rogers who
REALLY can’t catch to the point that one time a radio show caller asked Joe Gibbs to get Rogers’ eyes checked, but then you don’t have Carlos out running pass routes now do you?).
So, old Iron Hands pops the ball up right into the hands of an Eagle linebacker who simply must clutch it and rumble untouched into the end zone. But, Lady Football Luck intercedes and the ball
FALLS harmlessly to the turf.
Which brings us to the guy with the worse hands on the Eagles. Today, at least, that has to be Jason Avant. The only deep pass of consequence hoisted up by the largely ineffective Kolb was a last play Hail Mary that hit Avant right smack in the
HANDS. He “dropped” it. Actually, it popped out and up into the hands of DeAngelo Hall. But, the pass landed squarely in both hands. If he catches it, it’s one of the most demoralizing last-second losses in the
HISTORY of pro football. But he doesn’t catch it and that goes in the “good luck” column too.
Bottom line is the offense was great then ultra-conservative. (OC Kyle Shanahan said his dad wanted it that way and who’s gonna argue with him since he’s both dad and
BOSS?) The running game looked as good as it has in a while. (Yes, that was a
RUSHING touchdown!)
The defense seems to be getting a grip on Hasslett’s crazy version of the 3-4. Heck, even Albert “There is no L,B or R in team” Haynesworth had a GOOD game. Yeah, there were some blunders – a key false-start penalty on Heyer, a shanked punt, and (yet another) game clinching dropped interception by Carlos Rogers (but, we have already covered that).
Would it have been different had Vick not been knocked out of the game? Probably, but that’ not what happened, he did get sent to the locker room, and that too was a bit of
“GOOD LUCK” for the Skins as well.
Let see where we stand after next week’s game against the Packers. The Frozen Tundras are 3-1 and only lost the one in a rather
UNLUCKY fashion so hang onto that rabbit’s foot.
As noted, lucky is better than good, but lucky and good will most likely
WIN the NFC East. It seems
ODD that matches of such size, talent and practiced precision often come down to a quirky play or two.
Go Skins,
Your Loyal Fan
Fifth-year senior forward Will Graves has been dismissed from UNC’s basketball team for failure to comply with team rules, coach Roy Williams announced in a statement Thursday afternoon. Graves was the Tar Heels third-leading scorer.
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