NFL Week 8: Meet Brodie Croyle, NFL Starter

I had my worst week of the year this past Sunday. And when I say “worst”, I mean only 6-6. There are a lot of so-called experts who would love to consistently go .500. So the record percentage drops a bit, and I’ll try to raise it back up this week. The records:
Overall: 64-29 (69%)
Vs. Spread: 56-33-4
After a down week, I’m due for a much better one, but still don’t use these picks for wagering purposes.

SUNDAY
Houston Texans (2-4) vs. Tennessee Titans (1-5)(-3)
1:00 p.m. LP Field
You have to hand it to Houston, despite being massively undermanned in every game they play, the team plays with heart. Now that Charlie Casserly is long gone, maybe the new regime can actually get some players on their offensive line whose talent matches the effort they give.
Pick: Titans

Jacksonville Jaguars (3-3) vs. Philadelphia Eagles (4-3)(-7.5)
1:00 p.m. Lincoln Financial Field
The Eagles deserved to lose last week. They were outplayed by Tampa. Matt Bryant’s miracle field goal only occurred because of Philadelphia’s ridiculous last minute touchdown by Brian Westbrook (during which there were two obvious holding infractions that weren’t called against Philly). The last couple of weeks, McHernia looks a bit sluggish out there. The Eagles eek out a win here, but are about to begin a three or four game losing streak after their bye week.
Pick: Eagles, Jaguars cover

Atlanta Falcons (4-2) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (4-2)(-3.5)
1:00 p.m. Paul Brown Stadium
My record picking the Falcons: 1-5. My record picking the rest of the league: 63-24. So it looks like another win for Atlanta this week.
Pick: Bengals

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-4) vs. New York Giants (4-2)(-10)
1:00 p.m. Giants Stadium
The Bucs were my upset special last week and they came through. I’m going to keep riding the Bruce Gradkowski horse until he lets me down.
Pick: Buccaneers

San Francisco 49ers (2-4) vs. Chicago Bears (6-0)(-15)
1:00 p.m. Soldier Field
Clearly we’re not going to know how good the Bears are until they lose in the second round of the playoffs. How does a division winner get this easy of a schedule?
Pick: Bears

Arizona Cardinals (1-6) vs. Green Bay Packers (2-4)(-4)
1:00 p.m. Lambeau Field
Even though Oakland managed to beat Arizona, the Raiders are still the worst team in the league. However, Arizona is getting awfully close to supplanting the Raiders. A loss to the Fightin’ Favres may be the advantage they need to get the first overall pick.
Pick: Packers

Seattle Seahawks (4-2) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (3-3)(-4)
1:00 p.m. Arrowhead Stadium
This may go down as one of the worst quarterback matchups of all-time. Seneca Wallace vs. Brodie Croyle sounds like a great high school match on a Friday night…not a Sunday battle at Arrowhead. At least Kansas City still has their running back healthy. So I guess advantage goes to KC. And yes, I just picked Croyle to win an NFL game.
Pick: Chiefs

Baltimore Ravens (4-2) vs. New Orleans Saints (5-1)(-1.5)
1:00 p.m. New Orleans Superdome
Vegas still doesn’t believe in New Orleans. Like I’ve said before, I don’t think New Orleans is losing a home game all season. And I still don’t think the Ravens should be considered a playoff team. At least Brian Billick is calling the plays now, because that’s exactly what the Ravens needed. It worked so well the past few seasons.
Pick: Saints

St. Louis Rams (4-2) vs. San Diego Chargers (4-2)(-9)
4:05 p.m. Qualcomm Stadium
For whatever reason, on my computer the word “Qualcomm” doesn’t get the little squiggly line that tell me that there’s a misspelled word. Yet, the word “Bengals” apparently is not in my computer’s vocabulary. That’s weird. Anyway, the Rams will probably make this one interesting against a weakened defense, but they’ll have no answer for LT. As long as Marty doesn’t have a brain fart, this should be a San Diego win. On another note, if Shawne Merriman loses his appeal, he should be suspended for a full season. 16 games and any playoff games this season. Maybe even longer than that. Baseball’s already been ruined by steroids, let’s not have the NFL go down the same road. The NFL has an opportunity to send a message right now.
Pick: Chargers, Rams cover

Pittsburgh Steelers (2-4)(-9) vs. Oakland Raiders (1-5)
4:15 p.m. McAfee Coliseum
Am I the only one that thinks the Steelers should bench Ben Roethlisberger. Charlie Batch has looked great in the two games he’s played in. This has nothing to do with Roethlisberger’s concussion or his motorcycle injury or anything else. He looks awful this season. I would seriously consider starting Batch until Roethlisberger wins the job back in practice. Of course the Steelers would never do this with the money and hype tied into to Roethlisberger, but they may want to consider it before their season tanks even further.
Pick: Steelers

New York Jets (4-3) vs. Cleveland Browns (1-5)(-2)
4:15 p.m. Cleveland Browns Stadium
I don’t know why, but I just feel like the Browns take this one. Maybe because I can’t see the Jets going 5-3.
Pick: Browns

Indianapolis Colts (6-0) vs. Denver Broncos (5-1)(-3)
4:15 p.m. Invesco Field at Mile High
We’ve all heard about Denver’s defense by now. They’re allowing less than 10 points a game and no one is passing against them at all. But look at some of the teams they’ve faced: Kansas City (minus Trent Green), Baltimore, Oakland and Cleveland. Not exactly the most offensive juggernauts. The Denver defense is pretty good. If they can hold the Colts to 10 points, then we’ll start talking about them being great. But I see Peyton and the Colts putting up at least 24 points in the altitude, and I don’t see Jake Plummer keeping pace.
Pick: Colts

Dallas Cowboys (3-3) vs. Carolina Panthers (4-3)(-5)
8:15 p.m. Bank of America Stadium
Listen closely. Do you hear that? Sounds like something is crashing and burning. That would be the Dallas Cowboys’ season. I hope Facelift and Fat Ass have fun in salary cap hell after the year is over.
Pick: Panthers

MONDAY
New England Patriots (5-1)(-2) vs. Minnesota Vikings (4-2)
8:30 p.m. H.H.H. Metrodome
Wow, the Patriots actually have to play a team that has a winning record. How did the NFL allow that to happen? Couldn’t we free up Arizona or San Francisco for the Patriots to play? We wouldn’t want ESPN’s favorite team to have to exert themselves before the playoffs. The Pats opponents have a solid overall record of 17-22. In their only game against a good team (Denver), they were embarrassed. Just one of the many good reasons to take the minor upset.
Pick: Vikings

Bye Week: Buffalo, Detroit, Miami, Washington

Thankfully, there is no Redskins game to talk about. That means that you get the rest of the weekend off. Next week we continue with our NFL picks and the Predictor will step outside of sports and into politics as he tries to foresee the 2006 election results.

Redskins at Colts: Giving Peyton His Due

Washington Redskins (2-4) at Indianapolis Colts (5-0)
4:15 p.m. RCA Dome
Again, I’d like to apologize to the five people who read this thing for the lateness of the post. I’ve been busy at work, and it won’t get any better the next couple of weeks. My hours are going to be different than normal, and I may leave the company completely for a better position elsewhere very shortly. We’ll see. Regardless, my schedule is hectic. And it’s the wrong time for this to be happening with football season in full swing and college basketball season right around the corner. Oh well.

The one thing it appears I won’t have to concern myself with is talking about the Redskins postseason hopes. They’re pretty much done. The Skins had a much more favorable schedule in the second half of the season (after their bye week) but they’re most likely going to limp into it at 2-5. More on that in a second.

Where to begin talking about last week’s game? I really don’t know. Was it more embarrassing to watch Vince Young, with a gimpy ankle, look like a savvy veteran in only his third NFL start? Or was it worse to watch washed-up Travis Henry rush for almost 200 yards? Or perhaps the low point was the Redskins inability to rush the ball against one of the worst rushing defenses?

I think the most embarrassing part about last week’s game was the fact that the Redskins, a team loaded with talented veterans, were beaten by a team that has 31 players with less than three years of NFL experience. In other words, the Redskins were beaten by a bunch of winless nobodies, at home, in a game they couldn’t afford to lose.

The coaching was bad. The execution of the play calling was worse. Why the Redskins ran the ball fewer than ten times in the second half is beyond my reasoning. Why the Redskins only attacked downfield once against a terrible secondary is perplexing. And why the Redskins still couldn’t get off the field on third down and long situations against Tennessee’s offense is unexplainable.

So now the Redskins have to go on the road and take on Indianapolis. And let’s make no mistake about this. The Colts are still the best team in the NFL. Much better than New England. Much better than Chicago. Leaps ahead of Seattle or Denver or Carolina. And they will be the third team to play the Redskins following their bye week (By the way, the Redskins are the only team in the NFL that has to play three teams coming off bye weeks. Most teams only have to do it once or twice, and a few don’t have to play any rested teams all season). So the Colts have had an extra week to game plan for the Redskins. Not as if they needed it.

(Sidebar: I’m sitting here watching the Alabama-Tennessee game. I think the color commentator’s name is Gary Blackledge. He has said twice “This is where Vols’ quarterback Erik Ainge has to earn his money.” If Ainge is earning money, then Tennessee has a serious problem. I don’t know why I included this; I guess I’m easily distracted.)

The Colts have a great offensive line. They have three dangerous receivers who can all be used as possession receivers and as deep threats. The combination of Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne is among the best receiver tandems in NFL history. They’re right up there with Lynn and Stallworth, Rice and Taylor, Clayton and Duper or Reed and Lofton. When you figure in Brandon Stokley, this may be the best triple threat since the Redskins’ infamous “Posse” that included Art Monk, Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders. And you can’t forget about the Colts’ tight end Dallas Clark and both of their running backs are receiving threats as well.

And what named haven’t I mentioned yet? Probably the most obvious one. The Colts are quarterbacked by some guy named Peyton Manning. Perhaps you’ve heard of him? You can feed me all the B.S. about Tom Brady and other quarterbacks, but I’d still go with Peyton to win me a game (maybe not a playoff game necessarily, but any other regular season game).

Regardless of who you root for or what you think of Manning’s postseason record, there’s no denying his talent and it’s hard to argue that he’s not currently the best quarterback in the league. In fact, he may already be one of the top 10 quarterbacks of all-time. I know he hasn’t won a Super Bowl, but when you talk top three quarterbacks of all-time, most people would include Dan Marino. In fact, all Manning has to do is win one Super Bowl, and by the time his career ends, the only quarterback who will be considered better than Manning in my book will that Joe Montana character.

A lot of people hate Manning because he’s successful. But why go after Manning? He’s legitimately good. He’s not a product of an outstanding offensive system (Brady), he doesn’t seem better because of all the talented players around him (McNabb, pre-2006) nor does he happen to be a decent quarterback playing with an outstanding defense (Roethlisberger).

Here’s how I measure up quarterbacks. Let’s say that Manning played for New England and Brady played for the Colts. The Colts wouldn’t be nearly as good with Brady and I’d bet that New England would have won more than three Super Bowls with Manning. In fact, I’d say that with Manning, the Patriots most likely would have won the past five Super Bowls. Do you think Manning would have lost to Jake Plummer and Denver in the playoffs last season? I don’t think so.

I’ll be honest; I’m a huge Manning fan. I love the way he plays. I love the fact that he basically calls every play, a rarity in the NFL now a days (I’d love to see Brady have to deal with calling all those audibles, it would be ten kinds of ugly). But I really like Manning because it seems that everyone outside of Indiana absolutely hates him and refuses to acknowledge how special his talent is. So I'm going to root for him. Manning is a once in a generation quarterback that football fans are missing because they’d rather slam him instead.

This is only the third time the Redskins have had to face Peyton. They lost in the last second in 1999 at Indianapolis and they beat him in 2002 on a Sunday Night game at FedEx. But all this was before the Colts became the most dominant regular season team. The Colts became a juggernaut during the 2004 season, and haven’t stopped winning games since.

As we’ve seen the past few weeks, the Redskins defense can’t stop anyone. They gave up 25 points to Tennessee. How many do you think Indy is going to score? Probably a lot more. The Colts can’t really run the football with Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes, but they don’t need to. Manning can put it up 40 to 50 times a game and easily score 30 or more. The return of Shawn Springs to the defensive backfield is coupled with the loss of Carlos Rogers due to a broken thumb. So the Redskins are still stuck with having only one capable cornerback and one capable safety (Sean Taylor). Springs and Taylor can’t cover the whole field and cover all the weapons Indy possesses. The only way to rattle Manning is to get some pressure on him, but the Skins defense doesn’t blitz anymore and the front four have no chance to get pressure on him straight up against the Colts line. So that’s out of the question.

The only other way to stop the Colts offense is to keep them off the field. There are two ways to do this. The first way is to hire Northern Colorado punter Mitch Cozad and turn him loose in the RCA Dome before the game. The second way, and the only way that will end with no Redskins’ personnel in jail, is to run the football.

Unless the Redskins run the ball effectively at least 30 times, they have no chance to win. Throw away that game plan that was used against Tennessee. We’re paying Clinton Portis gobs of money, so let’s give him a chance to prove why he has a large contract. The Redskins can’t afford to have three and outs against Indy, so they need to run the ball, control the clock, keep Manning and company off the field, and punch the ball in the end zone if they get inside the 20. Field goals are as worthless as a Canadian dollar against the Colts.

The Colts defense is beatable, and the Redskins can get their fair share of points. I’m not advocating a shootout with Mark Brunell taking on Manning, but let’s be honest here, the Colts are going to put up a lot of points. So the Redskins have to match them. But they have to do so with a ground attack that eats up clock and keeps Manning on the sideline. The more Manning is on the field, the more the Colts will win by.

NFL Week 7: What Happens When A Collapsing Team Enters A Black Hole?

The record for week 6 wasn’t as good as the record for week 5, but a 9-3 mark is still solid. Combine that with another above .500 week against the spread, and the records keep looking better and better:
Overall: 58-23 (71%)
Vs. Spread: 49-28-4
Because I’m busy at work this week, we’re going to keep it short and simple. The following predictions should not be used for gambling purposes

SUNDAY
San Diego Chargers (4-1)(-6) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (2-3)
1:00 p.m. Arrowhead Stadium
I love when Vegas does this. They put too much stock into a team, in this case Kansas City, getting blown out the week before. They then overrate a team with a good record that blew out an inferior opponent. They completely ignore the fact that the Chargers are playing a division game, on the road, in one of the NFL’s most hostile environments, at a stadium they never play well at, against a decent Chiefs team. Do I need to say more?
Pick: Chargers, Chiefs cover

Jacksonville Jaguars (3-2)(-9.5) vs. Houston Texans (1-4)
1:00 p.m. Reliant Stadium
The Jaguars finally end the Murderers Row part of their schedule and now get to step into the college ranks to get an easy win. By the way, in five games Mario Williams has a lousy total of 1.5 sacks. Season pace total: 5 sacks. Career pace (considering he won’t last more than five years in the NFL): 25.
Pick: Jaguars

New England Patriots (4-1)(-5.5) vs. Buffalo Bills (2-4)
1:00 p.m. Ralph Wilson Stadium
So let me get this straight. The Chargers are six point favorites at Arrowhead. The Pats are only 5.5 point favorites at Buffalo, a place where the stadium is never full, the Bills are already out of contention, and the team has one legit offensive weapon? Make any sense to you?
Pick: Patriots

Pittsburgh Steelers (2-3)(-2.5) vs. Atlanta Falcons (3-2)
1:00 p.m. Georgia Dome
So it appears that the Falcons are going to be the team that, no matter if I pick them to win or lose, will do the opposite of my prediction. With the exception of correctly picking the Saints to beat them in week 3, I haven’t been right about the Falcons all year. So to punish the Falcons, I’m picking against them. Or will that help them? I don’t know, it will probably be wrong.
Pick: Steelers

Green Bay Packers (1-4) vs. Miami Dolphins (1-5)(-5)
1:00 p.m. Dolphins Stadium
As a former member of the Lions, Joey Harrington is used to throwing interceptions to the Packers. That trend will continue.
Pick: Packers

Philadelphia Eagles (4-2)(-6) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-4)
1:00 p.m. Raymond James Stadium
The loss last week for Philly was huge. After this week’s game with the Bucs, there are no more gimmies. Four division games (three on the road), along with games against Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Carolina and Atlanta remain for the Eagles. That’s a lot of losses left for the Birds. And you know what, they’re going to lose this game too.
Pick: Buccaneers

Detroit Lions (1-5) vs. New York Jets (3-3)(-3.5)
1:00 p.m. Giants Stadium
Why waste time talking about this game? You know I’m not going to pick the Lions. What, was their win against the miserable Bills last week supposed to impress me?
Pick: Jets

Carolina Panthers (4-2) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (3-2)(-4)
1:00 p.m. Paul Brown Stadium
Oh man. What do I do here? Up to the midway point of the Patriots game, Carson Palmer looked healthy and confident. Since then he’s been a mess. In last week’s game against Tampa, he was limping around for several quarters. He yelled at his teammates more than I’m used to seeing him do (I’ll admit that I don’t watch that many Bengals games, so that observance could be wrong). Most importantly, there were plenty of plays where he just looked confused. You could see it in his face after the play was over. He wasn’t sure what he was seeing from Tampa. And he had plenty of open receivers downfield and never really looked for them. I’m not sure if he didn’t see them, or if he didn’t trust his line, or didn’t trust his arm or ability to get the ball there or if it was a combination of those things. Either way, I’m hesitant to take the Bengals in a game like this until I see the September Carson Palmer return.
Pick: Panthers, Bengals cover

Denver Broncos (4-1)(-6) vs. Cleveland Browns (1-4)
4:05 p.m. Cleveland Browns Stadium
If anyone is looking for a possible “major” upset, this could be the one. The Broncos don’t score much, so their opponent is always in the game. Plus, they’re going on the road against a scrappy team coming off their bye week. It’s tempting for me to take Cleveland, but I can’t see the Browns scoring more than seven points.
Pick: Broncos, Browns cover

Minnesota Vikings (3-2) vs. Seattle Seahawks (4-1)(-6)
4:15 p.m. Qwest Stadium
It’s the Revenge Bowl. The Vikings signed restricted free agent and ex-Seahawk Ryan Hutchinson to a $49 million deal. The Seahawks responded by signing restricted free agent and ex-Viking Nate Burleson to the same deal. Who was the ad wizard in the Seattle front office that came up with that one? Anyway, another game without Shaun Alexander means another 300-yard, 3-touchdown performance for Matt Hasselbeck (With the way I drool over Hasselbeck, can you tell he’s on my fantasy team?).
Pick: Seahawks

Arizona Cardinals (1-5)(-3) vs. Oakland Raiders (0-5)
4:15 p.m. McAfee Coliseum
The thing that gets lost when discussing the Arizona collapse last week is that analysts that know the NFL are actually surprised that the Cardinals fell apart. Really? This is the same Cardinal team that has won one playoff game the last 20 years and routinely is one of the league’s laughing stocks. And people are surprised? Once the Bears defense scored on the Matt Leinart fumble at the end of the third quarter, I knew the Bears were going to win it. To be fair, I didn’t see the Bears winning with only three offensive points and six turnovers, but nothing really surprises me when it comes to the Cardinals ineptitude. So with all that, I’m obviously picking against Arizona as they travel to the East Bay's Black Hole, right? Um, you see the team they’re playing, don’t you?
Pick: Cardinals

MONDAY
New York Giants (3-2) vs. Dallas Cowboys (3-2)(-3)
8:30 p.m. Texas Stadium
The best part about this game? Barring the partial Texas Stadium roof collapsing and the game ending in a tie, someone has to lose this one.
Pick: Giants

Bye Week: Baltimore, Chicago, New Orleans, St. Louis, San Francisco, Tennessee

I’m working a lot this week. And I’m going to need a lot of time to rip the Redskins after their performance last Sunday. The short answer: they stunk. The long answer: they really stunk. So eventually I’ll get that post up before the game this weekend. At least things get easier for the Redskins…they only have to go on the road and play Indianapolis. Ugh.

Titans at Redskins: The Young And The Worthless

Tennessee Titans (0-5) at Washington Redskins (2-3)
1:00 p.m. FedEx Field
You know what makes me nervous? Facing a team that is winless. Facing that team at home. Facing a team with nothing left to lose.

Yes, the Tennessee Titans are one of the worst teams in the NFL. Their offense is devoid of playmakers. Their defense is devoid of talent and depth. Arguably their best defensive player is currently serving a five game suspension for kicking someone in the face. They've got more players with less than three years of NFL experience on their roster than any other team in the league.

In other words...they're dangerous.

Why are they dangerous? Because no team, and that includes the current outfit in Oakland, is going to go 0-16. So the Titans, who check in at 0-5, are due. Sure this sounds like a stupid reason to be afraid of a team currently residing below Houston in the standings, but it's legit. The odds are stacked against Tennesee going winless. No team in the modern era of the NFL has gone truly winless (The 1976 Buccaneers didn't win a game, but they did tie one).

There have been many teams that have gone 1-15. Almost all of these teams have been seriously inept. You don't go 1-15 by catching a couple of bad breaks. But these teams got wins because they still had some NFL-caliber talent on their roster and played their "A" game one weekend. You can be sure that at the same time, whatever opponent they were facing, played something less than their A game. The two factors combined for a victory for the otherwise terrible team.

For example we can look at the 1989 Cowboys. Maybe one of the worst teams in NFL history. Other than drug lord Michael Irvin, the team had nothing. But they still managed to win a game. One Sunday in November, the ragtag bunch of misfits put together their best performance of the season, while their opponent literally handed them the win with three turnovers in the fourth quarter. Take a guess who the opponent was.
I really don't know where I'm going with this. I guess it's my way of saying that the Redskins should win this game and win this game big. There is no way the Titans are going to outplay the Skins. The only way Tennessee walks out of FedEx Field with a win is if the Redskins gift-wrap it for them. But it can happen. The Skins are coming off an ugly loss to the Giants (and I don't have the time or the patience to go over that one) and you can bet they're already looking ahead to a road contest against the big, bad Indianapolis Colts next week. TRAP GAME ALERT, TRAP GAME ALERT. A home game against the winless Titans is sure to bring on some yawns and shrugs at Redskins Park. So this game will be another test of Joe Gibbs' coaching skills. This is a week where a good coach motivates his team to blow out an inferior opponent. The Skins were able to blow out San Francisco last season in a similar situation. They were able to handle Houston this season relatively easily. Can he do it again?

The Titans do possess one thing that San Francisco and Houston did not...an X-factor rookie quarterback (Yes, I know that Alex Smith started for the 49ers last year, but you can't consider him an X-factor of any kind). The Redskins will be facing former Texas leader Vince Young, who will be making his third career start.

I don't talk much about college players on this site. But what little space I've devoted to Young has not exactly been flattering. In my 2006 Rose Bowl preview I slammed him (Whoops!). In my draft preview, I slammed him and said he had no business being drafted about the #7 overall pick (Whoops again!). So, at risk of being wrong three times, I'm going to slam Young again.

Even when I took shots at Young last season, I stated that he was still an outstanding college quarterback. I don't think there's any doubt there. However, his game is not fit for the pro game. Tennessee took him to be their Michael Vick. The problem is that he can't run like Vick. Sure he can beat a bunch of college players at Baylor to the endzone. But his speed does not translate to the NFL. He can't run much faster than his fullback. I watched some of his runs against Dallas, and it looked like he was stuck in neutral. Some of Dallas' defensive linemen were chasing him down. It's this simple, if you can't run like Michael Vick, then you can't model your game like Michael Vick.
Personally, I don't think that Young models his game off of Vick. That's just another myth that the sports media created, mostly because the media is lazy and maybe even a little bit racist. ESPN sees another black quarterback and says "Oh, another black quarterback, let's call him another Michael Vick." You never see a black quarterback called "Another Dan Marino" or "Another Peyton Manning". Young's style is more similar to Tom Brady than it is Mike Vick. So to expect him to play like Michael Vick is probably an unfair standard that the sports media has thrust upon him.

In college, Young had pretty good speed for a quarterback. But he was a smart runner more than he was an electrifying one. He hasn't yet figured out how to be smart runner in the NFL. And that takes time. He'll probably figure it out. He's only made two starts. But the fact remains that he hasn't yet. Which means that he has to beat other teams by being a pocket passer. Even in college, he was an average pocket passer. He's got a strong arm, but a wildly inaccurate one. He is also way to slow in releasing the ball. These are problems I don't know if he'll ever overcome. I don't need to tell you how much quicker the pro game is from the college game. Young got away with being a good runner with a strong arm in college. You need more than that in the pros. I don't think Young has the talent to simply correct the mistakes he's been making his entire career as a quarterback. Young will get better than he is right now, but I don’t see him being a franchise quarterback with his poor throws and the reliance on a running game that isn’t going to scare a defense in the NFL.

Any way you slice it, whether you think he's the next Joe Montana, Michael Vick or Akili Smith, he's still a rookie making his third NFL start. In other words, the Redskins should eat him alive. Shawn Springs may make his long awaited return to the defense this week, but even without him, Young should not be able to carve up this secondary. If he does, then the problem is even more serious then we currently think it is.

It doesn’t make sense to analyze this game. The Redskins have an overwhelming advantage across the board. The only question is whether or not the Redskins will decide to show up. Tennessee isn’t as bad as Oakland or Detroit, so if they play well (like they did against Indy last week), and the Redskins play poorly, the Titans will win. If the Skins bring their A or even their B game, it shouldn’t be close.

NFL Week 6: Ravens Fans Are Pussies

Ain't no way they can stop me now
Cause I'm on my way, I can feel my ring comin’
It's the blood of a champion pumpin’
Deep inside my veins, too much pride to be runnin’
-Nelly

Sure, Nelly came up with the lyrics, but I’m sure they’re about me. More specifically about my picks. I had another dominating week. I check in once again with an 11-2 mark, and I was only a couple of points away from being perfect. And as impressive as the overall record is at this point, the record against the spread could be considered even better. After an 11-1-1 week, Vegas is growing scared of predicting skills. Just check out the season records for yourself:
Overall: 49-20 (71%)
Vs. Spread: 42-23-4
Let’s look at it this way. If I put 50 dollars on every game this season, it would cost me $3450. Figuring in the upsets I’ve picked and the pushes, I would be up somewhere in the vicinity of $1200. And that’s if I just wagered $50 a game. If I (or you) were high rollers, we’d be sitting on a pretty nice pile of cash. I’m sure that somewhere out there, someone is doing better against the spread than I am. But I checked ESPN, CBS Sportsline and other well-known sites and I don’t see anyone close to me. Anyway, I got a lot to get to this week, and there are only 12 games to talk about. This is usually where I warn you not to bet on the information below. This week I say go for it.

SUNDAY
Cincinnati Bengals (3-1)(-5.5) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-4)
1:00 p.m. Raymond James Stadium
Look, Tampa is going to win at least 6 games this season. They aren’t going to be winless for long. But how can you not like Cincinnati coming off a terrible loss and a bye week?
Pick: Bengals

Houston Texans (1-3) vs. Dallas Cowboys (2-2)(-12.5)
1:00 p.m. Texas Stadium
For all the hype surrounding Dallas the last couple of weeks, you’d think they’d be better than a .500 team. Or at least more than one game better than the other Texas team. The hype machine rolls on.
Pick: Cowboys

Buffalo Bills (2-3)(-1) vs. Detroit Lions (0-5)
1:00 p.m. Ford Field
There is so much not to like in this game. The quarterbacks are bad. The offensive lines are worse. Does either team still field a secondary? My advice to you is not to bet on this game. Stay away from it. If you have to, then use my long-standing piece of advice. When in doubt, go against the Lions.
Pick: Bills

Seattle Seahawks (3-1)(-3) vs. St. Louis Rams (4-1)
1:00 p.m. Edward Jones Dome
Ok, I know the St. Louis bandwagon is filling up. We’ll see how long it stays that way. This is a must win game for St. Louis. If they can’t beat the Seahawks, at home, without Shaun Alexander, then they’ll finally be exposed for the frauds they are. A win here makes the conversation about the Rams a little more interesting. What I said above for the Bengals relates to this game as well. The Hawks are coming off a bad loss and a bye week. Even without Alexander, I love their chances to put up at least 28 points.
Pick: Seahawks

New York Giants (2-2) vs. Atlanta Falcons (3-1)(-3)
1:00 p.m. Georgia Dome
Lavar Arrington, by my count, had a one tackle and one deflected pass in the Giants win last week. You listen to him speak and you’d be led to believe he scored a couple of touchdowns and played quarterback in the second half. Easy Lavar. Let’s see how many times Mike Vick makes him look foolish in this one.
Pick: Falcons

Philadelphia Eagles (4-1)(-4) vs. New Orleans Saints (4-1)
1:00 p.m. Louisiana Superdome
At this point, I believe the Saints are in for an extraordinary year. There is no reason to think otherwise. They’re a team with a mission. They’re deep, they have chemistry and they’re playing with a purpose. The defensive backfield is a little beat up, and that could hurt them this week with Philly in town, but I don’t think New Orleans is going to lose a home game all season. The countdown to the Eagles collapse is only three weeks away (just look at their second half schedule). So please, no more McNabb is back articles until after Thanksgiving.
Pick: Saints

Carolina Panthers (3-2) vs. Baltimore Ravens (4-1)(-3)
1:00 p.m. M&T Bank Stadium
Then there is this article from the Baltimore Sun. I don’t know where to start. What a little bitch. This bandleader is like the obnoxious ten-year-old kid in elementary school who would rat on anyone for any little thing. Oh, no! I received a piece of mail from the Redskins…my life is inevitably changed. How will I go on living? I know, let me turn them in to the NFL. What a pussy.

Here’s a fact: I receive Ravens mail and catalogues ALL THE TIME. Not just once or twice. And I live well within Montgomery County, which is located in the so-called Burgundy Zone. You know what I do with Ravens propaganda…I throw it out! I know that’s a novel concept Ravens fans, but if I don’t want the mail, I don’t keep it. I certainly don’t go making a federal case out of it either. That won’t be the procedure anymore, because you can bet your ass the next time I see that hideous shade of purple in my mail stack, it’s going right to the Redskins and NFL.

This is just another reason to hate Baltimore and Baltimorons. Little things like this non-story. They are so arrogant, and for what? They live in one of the worst cities in the country. If it wasn’t for Detroit, Baltimore would be the butt of every joke in the country. The city is falling apart everywhere you look. Even the Inner Harbor, about the only safe place in the entire city, is becoming a piece of trash. The Harbor itself smells like rotting fish. The market stores there are very overpriced. If it wasn’t for Fells Point and the occasional trip to the ESPN Zone, Baltimore could be wiped off the map for all I care (like in Sum of All Fears where Baltimore gets nuked…that’s a pleasant thought). Also, Baltimore has the highest crime rate for a major city in the entire country. Worse than New York. Much worse than D.C. Even worse than usual murder capital New Orleans, and they had rioting and looting for a good two weeks in 2005. And now I’m supposed to vote for the mayor of this disgusting town for Governor of the great state of Maryland? Tell me it isn’t so (And I’ll probably end up voting for him since the alternative is Republican incumbent Robert “The Governing You Want, The Hairpiece You Need” Ehrlich, who raised my tuition about 5 million percent while I was at Maryland…better higher learning my ass.)

Is it any surprise that people are a bit embarrassed to tell you they’re from Baltimore. You ask me where I’m from and I’ll say D.C. Although technically I’m not from D.C., I’m not ashamed to admit that I consider that city my home. You ask someone from New York where they’re from, they’ll tell you New York. Same thing with people from Philly. You ask someone from Baltimore where they’re from, you’ll get a variety of answers. Catonsville, Cockeysville, Towson, etc…All these unknown suburbs. This is the only city I know where residents identify themselves more with their suburb than their metropolitan area. People don’t want to admit they’re from Baltimore. And I don’t blame them.

Maybe the worst part about this whole “mailgate” is the Baltimore Sun’s decision to publish it on the front of their sports page. What’s the story here? Someone opened their mailbox and received…mail? Is that news? Cause I got to tell you, the Washington Post should be covering me every time I go to my mailbox because I get mail too.

If any team should be pissed here, it should be the Redskins. The Ravens have no business eating into the Redskins market. Forty years ago, the Redskins had a huge market and controlled almost the entire Southeast. Then Atlanta got a team. Then Charlotte. Then Nashville. Little by little, the Redskins market was stolen from them. Then the league decided it would be a great idea to let the greedy-eyed Art Modell move his team to Baltimore. The Redskins should have protested this move vehemently. Baltimore already had a team, and lost it. They had the Colts until 1983, and they blew it. Their fans were terrible and didn’t support the team. They shouldn’t be rewarded with another team. Once they lost the Colts that should have been it. Once the Colts left, the Redskins had the rights to Baltimore and it should never have been taken away. The Skins have been in this area since 1937, the Ravens have been here about 10 minutes. Why are the Ravens getting this massive area to advertise in?

Now, because of this intruder to the North, the Redskins have lost almost 75% of their market from 1960. 75%! This includes most of Maryland, which is the state the Redskins happen to play in. What other team faces these kinds of restrictions? What other team can’t even advertise in the majority of their own state? Even with the massive loss of most of their market and fan base, the Redskins still manage to be the most profitable team in the entire country in any sport. That’s pretty damn impressive.

Now to these preposterous zones. If there is an actual Burgundy Zone and Purple Zone, why do we have Ravens billboards in Montgomery County? Why am I getting Ravens mail? And why, for the love of God, do we get every Ravens game on television? If Montgomery and Prince George’s County are part of Redskins territory, why are we subjected to Ravens games every week? I have a cousin who is a Redskins fan in Baltimore and she complains all the time about not being able to see the Skins. I know for a fact that the Baltimore affiliates are not required to carry Redskins games. Why are Washington affiliates forced to carry almost every Ratbirds games?

If I was running the Redskins, and it was up to me, I’d send people down to the Inner Harbor to hand out Redskins pamphlets. I would rent an advertising billboard at Camden Yards (even though no one shows up anymore). I would put a banner up on the Bromo-Seltzer Tower. But since the league doesn’t allow this because of the Ravens being in town, then there’s got to be another way.

The solution to this Baltimore problem is simple. Los Angeles still needs a team, right? Then let me introduce you to the Los Angeles Ravens. Ship these fuckers out West. Then you can turn Pissy Net Stadium or M&T Bank Stadium or whatever it’s being called into M&T Bank Baltimore Prison. Baltimore needs somewhere to house all their criminals. I think Ray Lewis would make a great first prisoner. The Redskins then get the rights to advertise freely in Baltimore and almost anywhere else in the state of Maryland while the Eagles get the rights to the Northeastern part of the state. Think of how much more money the Redskins could generate for themselves, and most importantly, the league, if they were to have the access they deserve to the Baltimore market. If nothing else, it would give this tattletale bandleader something to really bitch about.
Pick: Panthers

Miami Dolphins (1-4) vs. New York Jets (2-3)(-2.5)
4:15 p.m. Giants Stadium
Joey Harrington is not the answer. He is never the answer. There is no worthwhile question that would ever end with Joey Harrington being the answer.
Pick: Jets

San Diego Chargers (3-1)(-10) vs. San Francisco 49ers (2-3)
4:15 p.m. Monster Park
How is it possible that the 49ers have a better record than the Dolphins, Cardinals and Buccaneers? Hell, they have a better record than the Steelers. How bad is the NFL this season?
Pick: Chargers

Kansas City Chiefs (2-2) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-3)(-7)
4:15 p.m. Heinz Field
What ever happened to Tony Gonzalez? Didn’t this guy used to be an elite tight end? Did he retire? And for all the hype I keep hearing about Larry Johnson, he’s having a strictly average season. But I could have told you that would happen.
Pick: Steelers

Oakland Raiders (0-5) vs. Denver Broncos (3-1)(-15)
8:15 p.m. Invesco Field at Mile High
As it is with every Raiders game, the question is not whether or not their opponent can win, it’s if their opponent can cover the large spread.
Pick: Broncos, Raiders cover

MONDAY
Chicago Bears (5-0)(-10) vs. Arizona Cardinals (1-4)
8:30 p.m. University of Phoenix Stadium
So the Cardinals find themselves at 1-4, which is about par for the course for this franchise. It’s still too early for the Cards to pull off those weird late-season upsets that they’re known for. They’re certainly not going to do it with a rookie quarterback against this defense.
Pick: Bears

Bye Week: Cleveland, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Minnesota (Warm up the boats!), New England

The Skins once again try and salvage their season from going under before November. So it’s a good thing that the Titans are coming to town. Right? Come back tomorrow.

Redskins at Giants: Melancholy And The Infinite Discord

Washington Redskins (2-2) at New York Giants (1-2)
1:00 p.m. Giants Stadium
I love how Redskin-haters have tried to lessen last week's victory over the Jaguars. They went against the best defense in the NFL and put up 36 points. And that's not good enough for some people. Oh, we here in the D.C. area have heard everything. The Jaguars defense isn't really that good. Jacksonville had injury problems going into the game. The Jaguars were suffering the so-called "hangover" from their game the previous week against the Colts. The Redskins defense surrendered 30 points and caught a break. On and on and on...

For starters, the Jaguars defense is the best in the league. I said it BEFORE the game and I continue to say it now. The Redskins just happened to have the perfect gameplan, execution and personnel to beat Jacksonville. The Jaguars came in relatively healthy. 10 of their 11 projected opening day starters played. 10 of 11 starters is pretty good for the NFL now-a-days. And as for this hangover thing...didn't the Jaguars lose to the Colts? When was the last time a team had a "hangover" after losing a game? Yes, they played well against Indianapolis. Probably better than they're capable of playing most Sundays. But they still lost. This Jacksonville team went 11-5 last season, so they're not in the mood for moral victories. I doubt their close loss to Indy had any effect on this game.

As for the complaint that the Redskins defense gave up 30 and were bailed out by their offense...well, you won't get any argument here. The defense, especially the pass defense, stunk. But when does a NFL team go 16 games with both their offense and defense playing well each week? It doesn't happen. Bad defensive performances happen. Even for good defenses like Washington. Even for great defenses like Jacksonville.

If you've read any of what I've written in other Redskins game previews, then you know I've been critical of the defense over the first quarter of the season. They rarely blitzed the first three weeks, and then probably did too much blitzing last Sunday. Without Shawn Springs, the secondary is a mess. Carlos Rogers will be a number one corner one day. He is not at this point. He is a number two corner. With Springs out, he has to keep lining up against the oppositions best wideout. And he's simply not good enough yet. And we all know that Kenny Wright and Mike Rumph cannot hang with any team's number two receiver. When (or if) Springs comes back, the secondary can shift back to more favorable matchups. Until then, the corners are going to get beat. It's that simple. And as I've said before, without Springs, Gregg Williams is clearly not comfortable rushing more than five guys at a time while leaving those less than stellar corners on an island. So the pass rush, as well as the pass coverage, suffers.

The 30 points and the hundreds of yards the Redskins gave up can be attributed to Springs' injury. The Redskins allowed only 33 yards on the ground. Yet they gave up well over 300 yards in the air. Since Springs has little to do with run stopping, the run defense from last season hasn't dropped off. But obviously the pass defense has. Springs' absence has led to not only Carlos Rogers going against Terrell Owens, Andre Johnson and Reggie Williams, it has led to Adam Archuleta trying to keep up with number two receivers one-on-one. It has led to Sean Taylor being less aggressive. It has led to Warrick Holdman failing to cover whatever tight end he lines up against. On the first Reggie Williams touchdown, Holdman was actually the first defense on Williams and missed him completely. Maurice Jones-Drew was Holdman's man when he scampered 51-yards for a score on a dump pass. And Holdman allowed numerous key completions late in the game. Where is Rocky McIntosh? Can someone please find him?

In other words, I'm done criticizing the defense. I can't keep making excuses for them. The secondary is obviously missing Springs. Even without him, there is no excuse for the missed tackles, the wide-open receivers and the surrendering of leads that took place last week.

On the flip side, how about that offense! Where are all those critics now? I told you the reason the Redskins were losing the first couple of weeks was the defense, not the offense like everyone else was saying. Why don't you listen? Why doesn't anyone listen?
The offense was missing Clinton Portis. Enough said. What Springs is to the defense, multiply by 10, then multiply by 50, and then maybe you get somewhere close to Portis' importance to the offense. Does Ladell Betts really scare anyone? No. So defenses were able to key in on Mark Brunell and Santana Moss the first two weeks. Since Portis came back, the offense's performance the last two weeks may lead to me launching a Brunell for MVP campaign. No? Too soon? Agreed.

If Brunell has a third straight great week then it will be hard to keep the campaign under wraps. At 2-2, and still in search for a statement win in their own conference, the Skins travel to the New Jersey pig farms and swamplands to take on the Detroit Lions. No, wait...not the Lions. The Vikings? No, not them either. Oh, it's that other dysfunctional team, the Giants.

Ok, so the Giants didn't take a hooker-laden cruise captained by Fred Smoot. Nor did one of their coaches run a naked bootleg around town in his car. But the Giants have seen their fair share of problems the last few seasons. Most of their problems center around "old-school coach Tom Coughlin". Sorry for the quotation marks there. I'm obligated by NFL rules to precede any reference of Tom Coughlin with old-school coach. Coughlin really doesn't put the "old-school" in "old-school coach". Nor does he put the "coach" in "old-school coach". Basically, all Coughlin is bringing is the "old". That's not good.

Let's run down the encounters with Ol' Coughlin since he set foot in the Armpit of America. First, there was that whole Coughlin Time fiasco. That's when he fined players for showing up ON TIME to meetings because they weren't on time enough. Last season, despite the Giants going 11-5 and winning the division, there were several player complaints directed in the media towards Coughlin. First it was Gap-Tooth Strahan. Then it was a couple of offensive linemen. Nothing major really. Just typical complaints that practices were too hard or that Coughlin had too many rules. If only one player complained, then it wouldn't have been an issue. But all these gripes add up over the course of a season and indicate a larger problem.

Of course, the real problem started after the Giants got embarrassed at home in the first round of the playoffs against Carolina. Tiki Barber said the team was out coached in every way. Yikes. Barber is supposed to be a nice guy. He's in all those United Way commercials and whatnot. He pays his taxes on time. Keeps to himself usually. So for Barber to say that after a playoff loss, in front of plenty of media members, is a damning insult.

Then there’s this season. With the exception of their miraculous fourth quarter and overtime against the Eagles, the Giants have looked terrible. They commit too many penalties. Barber is regressing, which I called on this very website at the beginning of the season. Osi Umenyiora has all the makings of a one-year wonder, which I called on this very website at the beginning of the season (Umenyiora and Gap Tooth have combined for a total of one sack. Impressive.). And despite all the defensive additions, the Giants defensive back seven look utterly lost, which, oh yes, I predicted at the beginning of the season. Lavar Arrington is playing the same role for the Giants as he was last season for the Redskins. The problem is New York is paying a boatload of money for him to sit on the bench most of the game. At this point, Antonio Pierce is the only player doing anything for the Giants defense.

On top of all these problems, the discord against Coughlin is once again making news. Now it’s Jeremy Shockey’s turn to call out his coach. And like last season, you don’t see many players rallying in support of Coughlin. In fact, they seem to be rallying around Shockey. Not that I can blame them. When Seattle has a 42-3 lead in a game that Shaun Alexander did nearly nothing in, then there is a serious coaching problem.

So, as with almost every problem facing NFL teams, there are two ways this whole episode can end. One, the Giants use the embarrassment from the Seattle game that carried over to their bye week and turn their season around. They’ve been stewing over that loss for two weeks. And you know the Giants have been hearing about it in the New York media. They should be pissed. The other ending results in the Giants realizing that they’re not capable of another 11-5 season, the league isn’t going to bail them out with 14 home games, and collapsing even more than I predicted they would.

Which one will it be? Well, usually when a team first encounters adversity, it is able to use that adversity to energize a comeback or a turn around. They use the negative to fuel the positive. An example would be the Detroit Tigers. They had their problems in April, Jim Leyland called all his players out, and they used that to launch their comeback season.

However, like in the case with the Giants, when a team faces adversity on numerous occasions under the same coaching staff, using anger to turn the season around becomes less and less effective. It can only work so many times. Eventually teams will turn a deaf ear to their coaching staff. And I think the Giants have about exhausted the adversity rallying cry.

Don’t get me wrong. The Giants could easily win this game. The talent they have on offense is much better right now than the talent the Redskins possess on defense. The Giants D could finally wake up and start pressuring the quarterback again. The G-men could use that home field advantage and ride it to a win. The Redskins may be the better team, but they’re not that much better. But you have to feel that if anything goes wrong for New York early in the game, then this team is just going to fold up into the fetal position and roll over.

Which is why it is so important for the Redskins to get on the board first. The Giants are teetering on the edge, and all the Skins need to do is give them a little shove and let gravity do the rest. Let’s see more of the outside running game against Gap-Tooth, who no longer has the spry legs to run down Clinton Portis. Let’s see more screens and quick passes. There is no one in the Giants secondary that can hang with Moss. And whichever linebacker decides to cover Chris Cooley should be victimized time and time again. Basically, the offensive gameplan from last week should work against the Giants. If the Skins offense gets on track, look for Antwaan Randle El to have a big game.

What should the Redskins not do? Exactly what they did last season in the Swamplands. Use predictable running plays on first down that forces Brunell into long second and third down situations. And for goodness sakes, if you have a chance to tackle Tiki Barber, please do it. The Giants are going to put up enough yards and points, we don’t need to help them out with more missed tackles this season.

Moss should have another big week, and with a smart gameplan, so should Portis (Who by the way, is back in costume. This week it’s Napoleon Dynamite rip-off Dynamite Jenkins. Not one of his more creative appearances.). The Skins need to blitz Eli Manning the exact same way they blitzed Byron Leftwich last week. All the Redskins need to do is limit big plays for the Giants, commit no first half turnovers, get some momentum early and let the Giants implode on their own. With either Philly or Dallas losing this weekend, this is an opportunity the Skins have to seize to get back on track in the NFC East.

NFL Week 5: Say No To St. Louis

Ok, so my 8-5 record for week 4 wasn’t great. No excuses really. However, on my behalf, when I made these picks last Thursday, I didn’t know that Vince Young would be starting. Or that Shawne Merriman would forget how to tackle. Or that Matt Hasselbeck would forget to throw to his own team. The 8-5 mark, and the 6-6-1 tally against the spread still keep both of my records well above the .500 mark.
Overall: 38-18 (68%)
Vs. Spread: 31-22-3
I’ll try and pick it up this week, but as always, don’t use the following as the basis for any wagering what so ever.

SUNDAY
Tennessee Titans (0-4) vs. Indianapolis Colts (4-0)(-18)
1:00 p.m. RCA Dome
If Kerry Collins were still playing, this would be an easy pick. Since Vince Young is starting, I can actually see the Colts carrying the 18-point spread.
Pick: Colts

Detroit Lions (0-4) vs. Minnesota Vikings (2-2)(-6.5)
1:00 p.m. H.H.H. Metrodome
Hey, I didn’t get 20 games above .500 by picking the Lions. Why start now?
Pick: Vikings

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-3) vs. New Orleans Saints (3-1)(-7)
1:00 p.m. Louisiana Superdome
Coming off their bye week, you have to figure that the Bucs are due to get off the mat and finally get a win. This team, even without Chris Simms, is too good to go 0-4. And here’s another thing about Simms. I spend all last season blasting him and saying that he would never amount to anything in the NFL. Then, after playing well most of 2005, I finally start coming around on Simms, and I end up predicting that the Bucs will have another season above .500 mainly because of the play of Simms. And then what does he do? He plays like crap for two games and then gets hurt. Chris, couldn’t you have done all this last season? It would have saved me a lot of time.
Pick: Saints, Buccaneers cover

St. Louis Rams (3-1)(-3) vs. Green Bay Packers (1-3)
1:00 p.m. Lambeau Field
We all know the Rams aren’t good enough to be a dangerous 3-1 team. Or even a dangerous 4-1 team. They’re not better than Seattle, San Diego, Kansas City, Carolina, Chicago or Washington. Why those teams, you ask? Because those are just some of the opponents they are going to lose to after this weekend.
Pick: Packers

Miami Dolphins (1-3) vs. New England Patriots (3-1)(-9.5)
1:00 p.m. Gillette Stadium
I really don’t know what to say about Miami. They should be 3-1 at least at this point. Daunte Culpepper is clearly not healthy and he’s afraid to throw the ball. I don’t think it has registered with Culpepper that he’s no longer able to lob the ball up 40 yards downfield for Randy Moss. He looked terrible against Houston. Now that I’m going to pick New England, it wouldn’t surprise me if this was the game that Culpepper turns it around.
Pick: Patriots

Buffalo Bills (2-2) vs. Chicago Bears (4-0)(-10)
1:00 p.m. Soldier Field
J.P. Losman against the Bears defense. Hmmm…who could I possibly pick here.
Pick: Bears

Cleveland Browns (1-3) vs. Carolina Panthers (2-2)(-7)
1:00 p.m. Bank of America Stadium
The Carolina defense is finally starting to solidify. They looked great for three quarters against New Orleans. Then, like so many teams, they got soft in the fourth quarter and almost lost the game. Still, when the Panthers are playing their normal sets, their defense is almost unbeatable. And Cleveland’s offense isn’t close to the talent level that the Saints have.
Pick: Panthers

New York Jets (2-2) vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-2)(-7)
4:05 p.m. Alltel Stadium
This is a huge game for the Jets. The next three games are against Miami, Detroit and Cleveland. A win here almost guarantees them a 6-2 record. Or no worse than 5-3. But after giving up 36 points last week, how pissed do you think that good Jaguars defense is going to be?
Pick: Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs (1-2)(-4) vs. Arizona Cardinals (1-3)
4:05 p.m. University of Phoenix Stadium
How much confidence do I have in Matt Leinart? Not that much. However, I think Denny Green starting Leinart over Kurt Warner will force Green to use a more run-oriented attack. And even with Arizona’s terrible line, I like Edgerrin James against the Kansas City front seven. And I don’t know how many times I can make fun of him, but I don’t like Damon Huard in a shootout.
Pick: Cardinals

Oakland Raiders (0-4) vs. San Francisco 49ers (1-3)(-3)
4:05 p.m. Monster Park
If a game is played in the Bay Area, and no one is there to watch it, did it really occur?
Pick: 49ers

Dallas Terrells (2-1) vs. Philadelphia McNabbs (3-1)(-2)
4:15 p.m. Lincoln Financial Field
I refuse to talk about this game. Sorry. If you want to hear more about it, just turn on ESPN at any given time this week and I’m sure they’ll be discussing it as only ESPN can.
Pick: McNabbs

Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2) vs. San Diego Chargers (2-1)(-3)
8:15 p.m. Qualcomm Stadium
Oh, please tell me the Steelers are on their way to 1-3. That would be so sweet. I know a 1-3 record wouldn’t be enough to shut up Joey Porter, but it’s a start.
Pick: Chargers

MONDAY
Baltimore Ravens (4-0) vs. Denver Broncos (2-1)(-3.5)
4:15 p.m. Invesco Field at Mile High
If I pick the Ravens, Jake Plummer will go off. If I pick the Broncos, Plummer will have a minimum of three interceptions. Dammed if you do…
Pick: Broncos

Bye Week: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Houston, Seattle

So the Redskins scored 36 points last week. You know what other team scored 36 points? The Giants did, the last time the Redskins went to the Meadowlands. Can the Redskins avoid another embarrassment to New Jersey’s favorite squad, or will Team Disharmony rally around the NFL’s most liked coach? I’ll tell you tomorrow.

Redskins Gameday: My Live (Sorta) Blog from FedEx Field

Recently I was talking with my dad when he mentioned that he’d never been to a Redskins game his entire life. He’s been a lifelong D.C. resident and Redskins fan and I was stunned when I heard that. So when I had the chance to grab a couple of cheap tickets for the Skins-Jaguars game, I figured it would be a great chance to surprise him and get him out to a game. I also figured that it would be a great chance to do kind of a running blog of my Sunday afternoon in Landover. Now obviously the posting of this is a little late, and the times might be a little off, but the mental notes I took occurred in live time during October 1st. So enjoy…

11:00 a.m. – After leaving my apartment for the weekend, I wake up at home with a massive headache from the night before. It seemed after years of being home to the most boring town in America, Olney, Maryland was finally jumping this past Saturday with not one, not two, but three keggers in one evening. Now, I like to make fun of people who go home and party with high schoolers, so I refrain from ever doing that. I met some old friends and it was mostly 20-something year olds having a good time. I’m pleased to say, I don’t think I hit on one girl who was under the legal age. I think. I hope.

1:00 p.m.– The journey with Dad begins. I can tell he’s excited because he disappears for like 15 minutes after telling me he doesn’t think he has any Redskins shirts to wear. When he comes back, he has about five t-shirts, three sweatshirts and two hats in his hands that all bear the Redskins insignia. He doesn’t know which one to wear. Yeah, he doesn’t own any Redskins clothes.

1:30 – We arrive at the Metro for what will be an hour long journey to Landover using public transportation (Sidenote: I realize that there are many people I met in New England and elsewhere who read this blog and have never been in this area. The Metro is D.C.’s public transportation system. We do not call it a subway system. The Subway is where you go for sandwiches. The Metro is the underground train that goes all over the D.C. area.). The train is relatively empty…where are all the Redskins fans?

1:45 – Ahh, all the Redskins fans get on at the Silver Spring stop.

1:50 – Twenty minutes into the trip and we meet our first homeless guy. He brings his shopping cart onto the Metro and camps out in the middle of the aisle.

1:53 – The homeless guy notices that everyone on the train is wearing Redskins jerseys. So he starts engaging random people in Redskins talk. Even though he was convinced the Skins were playing Tennessee, the rest of his scouting report was pretty good considering he was drunk and homeless. He knew that Mark Brunell set an NFL record last week. He knew that Clinton Portis was injured. He knew that Vince Young was making his first start…unfortunately not against the Redskins. He detailed everything the Skins defense would have to do to stop Young. In fact, when I do my Skins-Titans preview in a couple of weeks, I’m probably just going to steal most of his material.

2:15 – Jesus, this guy is still going on about the Skins. This is an impressive performance. I’ll say this about the bums in D.C. They may be a bit crazy, but they can talk forever and intelligently about two things: the Washington Redskins and how much they hate the President. I like D.C. bums. You go to New York and their bums try too hard. They wash your window, offer you free flowers, offer to buff your shoes…I don’t need all that. You go to Baltimore and their homeless are nasty. If you don’t give them money, they’ll chase after you screaming. And they ask you for all kinds of other things. I went with a friend of mine to Camden Yards recently to see the terrible Orioles. We ate outside at the California Tortilla before the game, and a homeless guy came by and asked for our tortilla chips. Initially we ignored him. I have no problem giving a guy money in passing, but I wanted to enjoy my meal without being harassed. I think that’s reasonable. He wouldn’t leave us alone so eventually I told him no. He left, but came back soon after asking for our chips again. Eventually my friend gave him the chips. I’m sure he did it because he wanted the guy to leave us alone, but I bet he also did it to show me up a little too. Anyway, D.C. bums are cool. They’re lazy, so they don’t try to wash your windshield without you asking. And they don’t move or say much, so they don’t go chasing you down the street. You can just give them money and be on your way or give them some change and talk Redskins or politics.

2:45 – Time to be bused from the Metro station to the stadium. For $5 more. Danny Boy is making a killing. Why the hell did Jack Kent Cooke decide to build a stadium in the middle of nowhere and then not leave the team to his son when he died?

3:15 – After eating a hot dog and walking around the stadium for a bit, we reach our seats. Section 219, fourth row. Not bad. It’s on the lower level right around the 15-yard line. Far enough up that you can see most of the action. And it’s not the upper levels so you feel like you are a part of the crowd.

3:35 – We start to see the people we’ll be sitting around. To my left is a mother and her pre-teen son. The kid is wearing a black Byron Leftwich jersey. The 40-something mother is wearing this tight-ass Redskins halter-top that she is basically busting out of. And she was not a MILF by any means. Nice body, but it’s definitely a paper bag on the head situation. I instantly feel sorry for the kid. To our right was this crazy black woman who came to the game by herself and seemed to be talking to herself for the majority of the time. She would leave in the third quarter. In front of us was a middle-aged couple that seemed disinterested in the game and a father/son combination that must have gone to the bathroom at least eight times during the game. Behind us were an elderly couple, and elderly black man and a couple of 20-something girls. One was really hot, one was strictly average.

3:40 – Now’s a great time to have hot dog number two.

3:50 – Redskins marching band performs. I love these guys. Best part about the game-day atmosphere at Redskins games. Their routine is ended with a rousing rendition of Hail to the Redskins. The Redskins are the only team to have an official fight that doesn’t sound like crap (Namely talking about the Eagles here. What is this Fly Eagles Fly bullcrap. Did some drunken Eagle fan make that up 15 years ago on a whim? It’s terrible.) and the only team with a marching band. I’ve been told the Ravens have a marching band now as well, but it’s clearly a Redskins rip-off. The Skins fight song and marching band have been around almost as long as the team itself. The Ravens have barely been around at all. Screw the Ravens. No one counts them for anything.

4:05 – Here come the Skins. Rather dull and routine entrance. Fireworks, a giant inflatable helmet and some song from Jock Jams: Volume 23. They need to work on that. Every other team in the league does the same thing.

4:10 – National anthem and coin toss. Jaguars go with tails and win. They elect to receive.

1st Quarter

14:54 – On first and 10, the Redskins blitz? Where has that been all year? Leftwich seems shocked and just lobs a pass straight up in the air. Reggie Williams somehow grabs it for five yards.

13:45 – On third and 3, the Redskins blitz again. Did the real Gregg Williams finally show up to a game this season? Skins force Jacksonville to go three and out.

12:49 – On their second play from scrimmage, the Skins call a flea-flicker. Good play call, terrible execution. By the time Brunell gets the ball back the pocket collapses around him and he forces his throw right into the chest of Jags corner Rashean Mathis who returns it to the Washington 28. Ugh, this could be a long game.

10:41 – After the Skins hold the Jaguars, Josh Scobee bangs though a 46-yard field goal. Right down the middle with plenty of distance. If this game comes down to field goal kicking, we’re going to be in lots of trouble.

9:20 – The Skins try two runs to the outside with Portis who gets 17 yards. They then run up the middle and Portis runs into the Great Wall of John Henderson for no gain. Running up the middle today will clearly be out of the question.

8:39 – Let me introduce you to Santana Moss. He takes a simple eight-yard buttonhook and turns it into a 55-yard touchdown pass. On his way to the endzone, he encounters Deon Grant at the Jaguars 10. Moss puts on a Madden video game type spin move that leaves Grant grasping for air and launching himself five yards out-of-bounds. Moss walks in as FedEx Field erupts. During Moss’ celebration, Brandon Lloyd decides to give Moss a big hug and pick him up off the ground. Apparently this is enough to draw a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration. Give me a break. In any case, the Redskins can cue up the band for the first time.

4:43 – Thanks to the penalty and the terrific field position, Jacksonville marches down the field. Leftwich completes a short pass over the middle to Williams, who the Redskins defenders are afraid to tackle. A five-yard pass turns into a 33-yard touchdown. 10-7, Jacksonville.


Reggie Williams breaks four tackles on the way to the endzone. Mike Rumph (29), Adam Archuleta (40), Carlos Rogers (22) and Warrick Holdman (not pictured) get abused.

4:30 – A Christian Fauria sighting! Is that his first catch in three years?

2:02 – Hot dog guy comes around again. Time for number three.

2nd Quarter

13:08 – On third and 4 at the Jacksonville 26, the Redskins throw one of the most predictable screen passes in NFL history. Four Jaguars knew it was coming. The Skins are really lucky that it wasn’t picked off. They’re also lucky that John Hall hits a 43-yard field goal to tie the game.

12:08 – The Redskins get to Leftwich for the second time and bring him down for a loss of five, setting up 3rd and 15. Boy the Skins defensive line is really getting pressure on Leftwich, who hasn’t looked comfortable all game. My Dad says the same thing, and I reply that Leftwich has “happy feet” and has yet to set his feet on any throw.

11:30 – Leftwich apparently hears us talking and throws for a 51-yard touchdown on 3rd and 15. He throws a dump off pass to Maurice Jones-Drew in stride and Jones-Drew moves at a speed that the Redskins defense doesn’t possess for a touchdown. Another quick score for Jacksonville.

11:20 – Brunell hits Chris Cooley right between the 4 and the 7 and Cooley drops it. Probably would have been a 25-yard gain.

9:07 – On third down, Brunell overthrows Moss by 10 yards…which is probably a good thing considering that Moss was triple-covered. The first Jason Campbell chant starts. Not from me…but from the hot girl behind me.

8:51 – Derrick Frost has a beautiful 24-yard punt. Now I start to boo. When are they going to get rid of this guy? Despite Frost costing us more field position than Brunell, the fans don’t seem too upset by the short kick.

6:45 – Hot dog number three combines with the previous two hot dogs and last night’s beer. Hot dog number three was probably not the best idea. How long can I hold this in?

2:49 – The Jaguars start playing conservative and can’t move the ball. Jacksonville just can't get the run going at all. The Redskins have looked flat since the last Jaguars score. The game is slowing down considerably.


The Redskins defense swarm around Maurice Jones-Drew. The Jags were only able to gain 33 yards on the ground.

2:32 – Jacksonville punter Chris Hanson has not stopped warming up the entire game. If he hasn’t been on the field, he’s been punting into his net nonstop. I don’t know whether to be impressed by this or whether to hate Hanson for trying too hard to be a real football player. I’m leaning towards the latter.

1:13 – Jacksonville fumbles another short Frost punt and give the Skins the ball near midfield. This is an absolute gift that the Redskins will surely squander.

:11 – The Redskins play more predictable football and can’t get any closer than the Jaguars 19. Hall somehow comes through again and gives the Skins a little bit of a pickup going into halftime. 17-13, Jags.

Halftime

The Redskins decide to have the junior cheerleaders perform during halftime. You know, a bunch of 10-year-old girls from local youth groups. Is anyone other than Mark Foley into this? Does anyone really want to see 10-year-old girls prance around in short skirts? Who came up with this idea? Just imaging the planning stages of this idea. “Hey, you know what a bunch of drunk men watching a football game would enjoy…little girl cheerleaders!”

Plus, there are two 10-year-old boys among the 100 or so girl cheerleaders. C’mon, you know the parents of these kids are embarrassed. They have to be. All the parents of the kids stand on the sidelines during the performance. You know that one of the other parents had to ask the parents of the boys out there “Oh, which one is yours.” The question is do the boys’ parents lie and point to some random girl? Do they wonder where they went wrong? If they do admit the boy is theirs, do they do it sheepishly? I’d think it would be pretty embarrassing.

Dad is clearly thrilled to be at the stadium, but keeps complaining that he wants the yellow first down line to appear on the field. And he’s not happy with the way the Redskins look. Then again, he wasn’t happy with how the Redskins looked during their five-game winning streak at the end of last season. If it isn’t 35-0 in the Redskins favor at the end of the first half, he doesn’t seem to be happy.

Despite my stomach feeling like crap, I weigh the pros and cons of having hot dog number four. I go against it…for the time being.

3rd Quarter

11:20 – The Redskins continue to move the ball 20 to 30 yards at a time. They don’t have many three and outs, but they can’t seem to sustain a drive past midfield. Another 28-yard punt helps Jacksonville with field position. I’m one more bad punt away from going Tom Gamboa on Frost.

9:07 – After looking uncomfortable in the first quarter, and fairly comfortable in the second, Leftwich reverts back to his first quarter play. He scrambles twice before the Redskins four man rush even gets close to him. He then commits one of the ugliest QB slides I’ve ever seen. It was unfair to even call it a slide. It was more like he got shot in the ankle and collapsed.


Byron Leftwich under pressure. It was not the easiest day for Jacksonville's quarterback.

8:30 – During a stoppage in play, the real cheerleaders come on the field. I’m completely uninterested. I understand the reason for cheerleaders. I’m sure there are plenty of 30-year old perverts who stare at them for half the game. But I come to the game to watch football, not incredibly hot women who I have no chance with dance around in skimpy clothes. I personally think cheerleading is demeaning to all women. I never really enjoy watching them perform. Sort of the same reason I never really go to strip clubs with the rest of my friends. I’m used to putting in the time and the effort at parties or at bars to see a girl dance around in almost nothing later in the evening. The cheerleaders and strip clubs make it seem too easy. I feel once I start watching the cheerleaders, or visiting strip clubs, it will warp my views of women at parties and bars. I’m afraid I’ll start going to bars expecting near-naked women to suddenly start shaking it on the tables. It doesn’t work that way.

8:00 – Brunell hooks up with Cooley for a perfect 34-yard screen pass. Cooley has three blockers in front of him and plows over two Jaguars on the way to midfield. Now the Skins seem to have some spring in their step, and FedEx Field starts to wake up.

4:49 – Brunell completes his first deep ball of the game with a perfect 33-yard pass down the sideline to Lloyd. On 3rd and 6 no less. This marks the first time Joe Gibbs has been aggressive since 1991.

2:57 – Portis pounds through Marcus Stroud for a one-yard touchdown plunge. FedEx Field starts shaking as Hail to the Redskins fills the air. The entire stadium sings along. Is there anything better, and more intimidating, then 90,000 people screaming and even singing in unison? Other than maybe Neyland Stadium during a version of Rocky Top, there can be no more spine-tingling moment in football when the Skins fans celebrate a touchdown with Hail to the Redskins.


Clinton Portis celebrates his third quarter touchdown.

2:50 – Jacksonville’s bench seems down and concerned. Except for Hanson…who’s still punting into his net.

1:19 – Oh, momentum! Old Uncle Moe forces Leftwich to make a bad pass that is tipped and picked off by Phillip Daniels. Skins have the ball at the Jacksonville 29. Since Jacksonville hasn’t done anything offensively since the early 2nd quarter, it seems as if the Skins are in position to go for the kill shot.

4th Quarter

13:12 - The Redskins go with five straight running plays that gets them a first and goal at the six. Jacksonville finally catches on and stuffs two more running plays to create third down at the seven. Predictable Redskins…

12:29 - …Joe Gibbs, you genius, you! Three receivers flood the back right side of the endzone while Moss goes over the middle towards the left side. He catches the ball at the two and there is only on Jaguar defender within spitting distance as Moss somersaults over the goal line. FedEx field shakes even more. Now it’s starting to feel like RFK again. And this isn’t even a division game. 27-17 Redskins! Cue the band, baby!

12:29 – Literally 10 seconds after the band stops playing, my dad and I come up with hundreds of ways the Redskins are going to blow this game. But Jacksonville’s offense hasn’t moved in two quarters. The Skins are blitzing and getting pressure on Leftwich. The Jags sideline seems out of it. The situation is so dire that Hanson finally gives up punting into his net to join the rest of his team watching the game. They can’t possibly blow this one…

11:38 – After pinning Jacksonville back at their own 18, the Redskins give up a large pass play to midfield, but then sack Leftwich on the next play. Ok, calm down Mark, the defense just had a momentary lapse. No big deal

10:24 – Ok, time to panic. Two plays later, Reggie Williams is dancing in the endzone after surviving a nasty hit from Sean Taylor. Williams instantly becomes one of my favorite players after somehow hanging on to the football and then getting up quickly and celebrating. The guy almost lost his head and he still has time to dance. Impressive. The lead goes from 10 to 3 in the matter of two minutes. The Jaguars drove 82 yards in only four plays…and one of those plays was a Leftwich sack. Here comes the collapse.

9:05 – This cannot be happening. Lloyd fumbles at the Skins 18. Grant recovers the fumble. Luckily for the Redskins, Stroud decides to do a little dance with Grant on the sideline and gets flagged for excessive celebration. These excessive celebration penalties are really getting to be a joke.

6:45 – The penalty and the Redskins defense hold Jacksonville to a field goal. Still, in less than six minutes, the Redskins met my prior expectations and blew their 10-point lead. The Redskins are going to get the ball back, and I’m already telling my dad they’re going to go three and out.

2:30 – Well, the Redskins don’t go three and out. In fact, they drive to the Jaguars 19 to set up a third and one. The drive is set up by a great kickoff return by Rock Cartwright. He may be the best kick returner in the league right now. You see so many players dance around on kickoffs. Cartwright just hits his wedge and busts through at full speed. You can’t keep him from getting to at least the 30. Anyway, Ladell Betts tries to run over the middle and gets nothing on third down. It’s the two-minute warning, and Gibbs has a decision to make. Clearly, in a tie game with two minutes, the smart call is to kick the field goal and take the lead. It seems the FedEx Field crowd is split 50-50 on whether or not to go for it on fourth and one.

2:00 – Gibbs makes the right decision and Hall drills a 37-yard field goal. Skins 30-27. There’s no doubt in my mind that Jacksonville is going to get into field goal range…I’m just hoping the defense can stop them from getting into the endzone.

:44 – Facing third and eight at midfield, Leftwich throws to Ernest Wilford. Wilford is only five yards from the line of scrimmage, but there isn’t a Redskins defender within 20 yards of him. He could easily get all the way down to the at least the Skins 30 and get out of bounds. Wilford plays perfect defense on himself and drops the ball. I’m sure Gregg Williams planned it that way.

:39 – Fourth and eight. FedEx Field is deafening. Literally. My ears are hurting from all the noise. Leftwich makes like Joe Montana and calmly completes an 11-yard pass to Wilford at the sideline. First down.

:27 – On second and ten, Leftwich throws over the middle towards the endzone for Reggie Williams. Williams has badly beaten Mike Rumph, but Leftwich under throws him by a lot. Otherwise, Williams is celebrating his third touchdown.

:11 – Scobee hits another field goal to tie the game. Overtime. Great, how will the Redskins blow this game.

Overtime

15:00 – The Jaguars again select tails for the coin flip. This time they lose and the Skins get the ball first in overtime. If you’re a Jaguar captain, why would you select tails again? You already got tails at the beginning. It’s simple math. If you flip a coin twice, there is a 50% chance that you’ll get either tails and heads or heads and tails, a 25% for two heads and a 25% chance for two tails. I know you math wizards will tell me that on any one random coin flip there is always a 50-50 chance you’ll be right. But you have to take into account the first flip. You have to. Jack Del Rio should have told his captains to take heads. This is bad coaching. Sadly, I’m actually being half-serious.

13:45 – Brunell scrambles for his life towards the left side on second and eight. He waits until the last possible second to complete a 19-yard pass to Cooley all the way down to the Jaguars 44. What a play! Here come the Redskins! Only about 20 more yards for a field goal shot. Wait…the refs are discussing. Did Cooley not come down in bounds? Worse. Cooley stepped out before the pass and is flagged for illegal touching. It’s now second and 13 back at the Skins 37. DAMMIT. My dad says that’s the end of our mini-drive and probably the end of the game right there. We’re only a couple of plays away from punting the ball back to Jacksonville. With the way things are going, I concur.

13:25 – Skins line-up with two receivers and send Sellers out in motion. It looks like they’re actually going to throw and not play conservative for field position. The only thing I can think is “NO INTERCEPTION!!!!” Actually, I was screaming it more than I was thinking it quietly to myself.

13:23 – Brunell gets the snap and drops back. He’s holding the ball too long. GET RID OF IT!!!!

13:20 – NO YOU IDIOT…NOT INTO DOUBLE COVERAGE!!!!

13:18 – Wait…did Moss just catch that. Yes he did! And now he’s RUNINNG DOWN THE SIDELINE AND THERE ARE NO JAGUARS IN FRONT OF HIM. HE’S GOING TO SCORE! IT’S OVER, IT’S OVER…YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! SANTANA MOSS IS A GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!





The Anatomy of a Touchdown. (From Top to Bottom) Santana Moss makes the catch inbetween Deon Grant (37) and Brian Williams (29). Grant ends up tackling his own coach on the Jaguars sideline and Williams gets all kinds of turned around. All Moss has to do after that is turn on the after burners and gets to celebrate with 90,000 of his closest friends.

I believe at this point I was probably jumping up and down like a complete buffoon. I don’t quite remember. I do remember that I ended up in a group hug with my dad, the two girls, the old black guy and some other random guy who was missing several teeth. It would have been very, very awkward if the two girls didn’t join in. Thank God for them.

Anyway, FedEx Field is absolutely erupting. It’s sort of like watching the nerds at Cameron Indoor jump around in unison, but just multiply the amount of people by 20 and add in the fact that most Redskins fans can actually get dates on Saturdays. Hail to the Redskins is blaring and everyone feels great. Better than great. Fantastic. My dad and I are swept down the stairs to the tunnel as the mass exodus begins. Then the booing starts. I look at my dad and he looks similarly confused. Why are the fans booing?

As we’re swept underneath the stadium bowl we go to one of the TV monitors and see that referee Jeff Tripplett has decided to review the play to see if Moss stepped out-of-bounds. OH, YOU’VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME! I’ve never seen 90,000 people go from instant jubilation to raving, cursing lunatics in three seconds flat. The problem with the stadium monitors is that they’re hooked up to the scoreboards screen. They don’t show replays of plays under review. Needless to say, that was one of the longest minutes I’ve ever suffered through.

Tripplett comes away from the monitor smiling. That can mean only one of two things. One, he’s smiling because he doesn’t have to reverse his call and is kind of ticked that the replay booth would even ask to take a look at the game-ending touchdown. Or, it means he’s smiling nervously because he knows that he’s going to have to reverse the call and 90,000 fans are going to be – what’s the word I’m looking for – pissed. Not just regularly pissed. Lynch mob forming pissed. As soon as he starts talking, the stadium becomes silent. Again, it was funny to see the attitude in the stadium switch from anger to nervous anticipation in an instant. Because the speakers at the stadium were bad, no one could hear a word he said. Then he raises two hands up in the air. Touchdown counts. Game over. The stadium goes nuts again.

Walking through the stadium back to the bus and the Metro, I must have given thousands of high fives to random people and countless awkward hugs to old guys, hot girls and everyone in between. But I didn’t care then and I don’t care now. It was just unbelievable. I witnessed one of the most entertaining Redskins regular season games in recent memory. Dad had a great time. The Redskins won. I would have celebrated with anyone. Heck, I kind of hoped the homeless guy would be on the Metro on the way back. Cue up the band!