Off The Mark: NFL Week 12 in Review

Ugh, the Redskins. I can’t believe I rushed home from New Jersey to see that performance. After the Chargers made it a 17-10 game with about 14 minutes to go, most Redskins fans knew that it was going to get ugly. And right on cue, for the third straight week, the Skins come from ahead to lose late.

These are the old Redskins. These are the Redskins that invent ways to lose in the fourth quarter instead of finding ways to win. The Redskins that have now lost a total of 27 games in the past 3 seasons. 20 of those losses have been by 7 points or less. That is incredible. Whatever mojo the Skins had after their first three wins has been used up.

The end of the game against San Diego was a carbon copy of the game against Seattle. Only this time, the Redskins were playing the role of the Seahawks. Flashback to October 2nd. The Seahawks have just tied the game at 17 and the Redskins have a chance with about a minute left to drive for the game-winning field goal. Instead, on the second play of the drive, Brunell’s pass to Portis deflects right off Clinton’s hands and into the waiting arms of a Seattle defensive back. The Seahawks get possession at the Redskins 37. Poor play calling and an illegal formation penalty force Seattle to try a 48-yard field goal. Josh Brown misses by inches. The Redskins win the overtime coin toss and score a field goal on their first possession to win.

Now back to Sunday. The Chargers get the ball around their 25-yard line with more than a minute remaining in a 17-17 ballgame. On the second play of the drive, Drew Brees’ pass is deflected by Marcus Washington and picked off by Shaun Springs. The Skins get the ball around the Charger 30. Poor play calling and an awful holding penalty force the Redskins to try a 52 yard field goal. John Hall misses by inches. The Chargers win the overtime coin toss and score a touchdown on the second play of the extra period.

It doesn’t seem to matter who the coach is. Whether it was Norv or Marty or Spurrier or now Gibbs, the Skins can’t finish off an opponent. They even had two huge breaks in the final minute (a penalty on San Diego during a punt return giving the Chargers poor field position and then the tipped interception) and couldn’t win the game. Three terrible losses in a row have taken all the joy out of a once promising season.

This doesn’t mean the Skins are done. They have two winnable road games against the Rams and Cardinals coming up. They follow that with three straight division games, two at home, to finish the season. Because of home games against the Giants and Cowboys, the Skins, oddly enough, still control their own fate. But they must win out to make the playoffs. A 9-7 record will not be good enough in the NFC.

Can they win out? Yes. Will they? Probably not. Knowing the Skins, they will find the most painful way to avoid the post-season. I can just picture the Skins winning four in a row, only to lose to a depleted Eagles team in the last week of the year. That would be classic Redskins. Just like the past three Sundays.

Elsewhere around the league:

Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich broke his ankle in the first quarter of a 24-17 win against Arizona. David Garrard is now the starting quarterback for the 8-3 Jaguars. I still stand by my prediction of the Jags finishing 11-5 and getting a wild-card spot in the AFC. Garrard may actually be a better quarterback than Leftwich. He definitely will fit in the Jacksonville offensive scheme better than Leftwich does…

The Lions fired The Mooch today after the ugly performance his team put on during Thanksgiving. Matt Millen should be the next to get his walking papers, but he’ll probably be allowed to stay on at least one more season. Detroit may not be the worst team in the league this season, but they are the worst run franchise in the NFL. Any team that allowed Millen to become GM without any experience should be ready to endure a prolonged period of failure (which Lions fans should be good at dealing with by now). Only a GM with no experience would waste three straight high draft picks on receivers. This is a position that is completely reliant on the quarterback and the offensive line to get the ball and make plays. Millen has a team that is deficient in both of those areas. Millen's decisions are sort of equivalent to the government of New Orleans trying to make sure that Mardi Gras goes on without a hitch and that all the jazz clubs reopen quickly despite half the city being uninhabitable. Millen was basically trying to wax and polish up a car that had no engine or tires. Now matter how good the car may look, it still isn’t going to run. Millen said that drafting three top receivers would make his quarterback and offensive line better. Unfortunately for the Lions, it doesn’t work this way in the NFL…

I underestimated the Broncos. I thought that they would fade down the stretch again this season. They have a great running game and Jake Plummer has finally learned to throw the ball away instead of making bad plays. Too bad that defense still can’t stop Indy…

The Giants choked away another road game. Until they beat someone not named the 49ers on the road, there is no way to take this team seriously since they won’t have more than one game at home in the postseason…if they even make it. By the way, I bet Ron Dayne is looking pretty good right now…

Just curious: Were the Saints considered a home team at the Meadowlands this time around? One New York team already got the benefit of an extra home game, so why not the other? What’s the next advantage this appalling city will get? The Knicks “winning” the lottery to draft a certain superstar from Georgetown. MLB fixing the 2000 NLCS so the Mets could play the Yanks. The Yankees being allowed to have a 200 million dollar payroll. The NFL tampering with rookie contracts to allow some quarterback to whine his way out of playing with San Diego. Oh wait…