Vikings at Redskins: The Return Voyage

Minnesota Vikings vs. Washington Redskins
7:00 p.m. FedEx Field - Landover, MD

When most teams struggled in preseason, there always seemed to be a broadcaster or analyst nearby to quickly remind the fans that “it was preseason, don’t put too much stock into it.” Now granted, the Redskins looked awful in the preseason, but where were all these analysts telling the fans not to worry? Were the Redskins that bad? Or did the sports media use the Redskins bad preseason as another opportunity to slam Dan Snyder, claim that the game had passed Joe Gibbs by and to tell us that Mark Brunell was too old? Most likely the latter. I talked about this in the spring; the sports media has so much invested in seeing Snyder fail that they can’t pass up on a couple of bad and meaningless games to take pot shots at the Redskins owner.

Furthermore, until preseason, most were picking the Redskins to win the East. Or at the very least, return to the playoffs as a wild card. But apparently the preseason went so bad, that many “experts” have the Redskins dead last in the East and finishing well under .500. In fact, Predictor personal favorite Pete Shithead Prisco has the Redskins 20th in his power rankings. Behind the Eagles, who have no offense, finished four games behind the Skins last year and looked mediocre against a bad Houston team. Behind the Chargers, who don’t have a NFL caliber quarterback. Behind the Ravens, who are a 6-10 team waiting to happen. What happened to the preseason being meaningless?

Clearly, the preseason being meaningless only applies when it’s convenient to the sports media. In other words, it only applies when the media’s darlings have a bad preseason so they can continue to hype up those teams. Like the Giants, Jets, Eagles, Cowboys, Patriots and Brett Favre. Let’s say, hypothetically, the Cowboys had a bad preseason, going 0-4. Would the media think any less of Dallas? No. They would unequivocally say that Bill Parcells would turn it around and the fact that Dallas went 0-4 was just part of Parcells’ master plan. Let’s say the Patriots went 0-4. Loudmouth no-nothings like Chris Berman would be falling all over each other trying to defend Bill Belichick.

So what’s the big difference in the Redskins now as compared to July. The answer: nothing. This is the same team that everyone had making the playoffs two months ago. The only minor change is that Clinton Portis may have a bum shoulder and might miss half of one game. Is this anything to panic about? Is this any reason to have the Redskins going 5-11? I can’t say that it is. But the Redskins’ preseason failings have given the media an excuse to stop talking about them and instead focusing much needed attention to those little covered teams like New England or Dallas.


Without ol' 2-6 who may or may not be at "93.6% capacity", the Skins will need Ladell Betts to fill in running and blocking for Mark Brunell.

On the other hand, this whole conversation would be moot if Al “2% of the Playbook” Saunders showed anything in the preseason. Obviously the Redskins offense didn’t look good in August. That’s an understatement. The Redskins offense couldn’t have beaten the Terrapins with their August showing. There are still problems and questions that need to be answered on the offensive side of the ball. However, they are the same questions I had in July. It’s nothing new, and nothing the Redskins can’t fix with one good showing.

Since I’ve been discussing the Redskins all off-season, it’s great to finally get to talk about another team. I feel like I keep bringing up the same points over and over again. So let’s move on to the actual game. The Redskins play host to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday in front of a nationally televised audience (I know that Bush, not Reggie but the President, is going to give a speech during the game. You wanna bet which one has a higher rating in the D.C. area).

Minnesota, led by Captain Smoot and his crew of miscreants, sets sail for their maiden trip on the Love Boat with coach Brad Childress. Trying to avoid the embarrassment that was brought upon the organization last season has been harder than anticipated in 2006. The Koren Robinson affair a few weeks ago was ugly and led to the release of the Vikings only proven receiver. Losing the receiver was bad enough, but the loss of team chemistry this close to the season will be further detrimental. Even though the Vikings have managed not to purify themselves in the waters of Lake Minnetonka again, they still can't keep off the police blotter.

Childress is one of nine new coaches around the league (10 if you count Art Shell). He last stop was in Philadelphia, helping Andy Reid go 6-10. This nerdy looking guy never figured out Greg Williams’ defense during his stay in Philly and I’m sure he hasn’t figured it out yet. Especially when Williams had all off-season to prepare for him.

Minnesota starts a bigger but slower version of Mark Brunell behind center in former Skins quarterback Brad Johnson. Johnson, who can still win games in this league, has certainly seen his best days a long time ago. But he’s an accurate passer. He’s also a smart passer. Johnson is still one of the best quarterbacks in recognizing and picking up blitzes. With a weakened secondary, the Redskins will probably blitz a lot to compensate. That could burn them against Johnson

Furthermore, Johnson has a decent unit in front of him to pick up Greg Williams’ schemes. Steve Hutchinson was added to help with the running game…but he’s pretty good in pass coverage too. With Bryant McKinnie to his left and center Matt Birk to his right, along with Johnson behind Birk, this will be a very tough team to blitz against. The weakness is the right side of the line, with two unimpressive young players in Artis Hicks and Marcus Johnson.

The real problem for Brad and Brad is the bare cupboard at the skilled positions. With the loss of Robinson, only Troy Williamson will scare opposing defenses. Williamson in his rookie season posted a respectable 24 catches and 372 yards. He’ll put up better numbers this year as the number one receiver, but it’s not like the Redskins will be facing Larry Fitzgerald or Steve Smith out there. Other than Williamson, the Vikings employ NFL castoffs Travis Taylor and Marcus Robinson.

Chester Taylor gets the start at running back. Taylor has never been the featured back in any offense in his four year career. He is a NFL-caliber backup running back. Nothing more, nothing less. The improved left side of the line will help him, but only to a point. The Vikings were only 27th in rushing last season, and they won’t improve dramatically with Taylor in 2006.

Despite what a number of scouts are saying, the Vikings defense is still very weak. This was a unit that was only 21st in the NFL last year (19th against the run, 22nd against the pass). The only addition to the defense is outside linebacker Ben Leber, who’s a nobody. Second-year end Kenechi Udeze returns from knee surgery that sidelined him most of 2005. If Udeze performs at his highest potential, that’s another change in the Vikings defense that will benefit them.

For the Redskins on offense, with the question at running back, it is important that they utilize Antwaan Randle-El in the slot and tight end Chris Cooley. The Vikings are weak at linebacker, with undersized Napoleon Harris manning the middle. Cooley and Randle-El could have field days in the center of the gridiron matched up against Harris or one of the other linebackers.

Even without Clinton Portis (and who knows how much playing time “2-6” is going to get), the Skins should be able to attack most of the Vikings line and linebacking corps on the ground. Only Pat Williams is a proven run-stopper on Minnesota’s front seven. Running and passes over the middle should prove effective. First, it keeps the Vikings off-balance. Second, it allows shaky Brunell and the offense to get into a rhythm. Finally, it allows the Skins to move the ball and avoid the strength of the Vikings defense. Corners Antoine Winfield and Cap’n Smoot are a solid tandem, and will most likely shut down Santana Moss and Brandon Lloyd (or Randle-El when Lloyd lines up in the slot) for most of the night.

Assuming that Washington is sans Portis for most of the game, the Redskins should win this contest. They get a primetime game, at home, against a .500 team to open up the season. Sure, Minnesota can put more of a fight than Houston, but the offense is devoid of dangerous playmakers and the defense is susceptible to long drives. And please, no fooling around. Don’t let the Vikings hang around, because I don’t want to see the game come down to John Hall’s leg. The Redskins need to win this early game before heading to Texas for the next two weeks. If for no other reason than to silence the critics and settle down a nervous fan base.