Giants at Redskins: Gone, But Never Forgotten

New York Giants (10-1) at Washington Redskins (7-4)
1:00 p.m. FedEx Field
It’s a good thing that I have to keep this short since I’m literally out the door on the way to my Thanksgiving vacation. This is still not an easy subject to talk about. For those not aware, it will be the one-year anniversary of the Sean Taylor shooting on Thanksgiving Day. From helping cover the Redskins as part of my real job, I can assure you that there is still a major hole at Redskins Park. It’s still not the same out there, and it will take a completely new roster of players before the pain that his loss has caused will start going away.

I was there last December for the Buffalo game. It was a very emotional pre-game ceremony that was well done by the Redskins organization. The finale, which was a video tribute they put on the big board, left very few dry eyes. People who I work with who were in the press box with me, some of whom I considered cold and heartless media veterans, were bawling. It was not an easy scene to take in that day and it was not an easy game to watch.

I have a feeling that this game against the Giants won’t be much easier. The Redskins will induct Taylor into the Ring of Honor. I’m sure there will be many pre-game tributes both on the field and on the video board. Even though it is a great honor to see Taylor’s name go up where it belongs, for me personally, it will be very tough to go through this again.

Anyway, I know most of you don’t want to, or most of you don’t care, but you should take a quick moment this Thanksgiving and pray for Sean. Also, think of Sean’s father Pedro (Pete), who I had the good fortune to meet in January. As you can imagine, he’s still heartbroken over the loss of his son, and will be for the remainder of his life. So as depressing as it might be, just remember when you are giving thanks this year, that there are good people out there who aren’t as fortunate as you.

As for the game, it is pretty much meaningless in terms of the NFC East. The Giants will probably lose once more, maybe twice. The division is theirs. The worst they will be is 13-3 unless they have a bunch of injuries to major players in the next couple of weeks. And this game is no longer that important to the Redskins. All they have to do is take their last three games against the Bengals, whatever’s left of the Eagles and 49ers to get 10 wins. And if they split one of the next two, they’ll be 11-5 and almost guaranteed a wild-card spot. I would like to beat the Giants since they are the Giants and I hate losing to division opponents. Plus, the Buffalo game last year did not end well (maybe one of the toughest losses the organization has ever had), and I think the players owe it to Sean to take care of business against the Giants this season.

The rest of the tryptophan addition:
Overall record: 100-64-1 (10-5 last week)
Vs. Spread: 82-78-5 (9-6 last week)
Home teams in bold, please don’t gamble, yada yada yada.

THURSDAY

Titans (10-1)(-11) over Lions (0-11)
Cowboys (7-4)(-12) over Seahawks (2-9)
Eagles (5-5-1)(-3) over Cardinals (7-4)
-Andy Reid’s last stand, plus the Cardinals still stink on the East Coast

SUNDAY

Ravens (7-4)(-7) over Bengals (1-9-1)
Bills (6-5)(-7) over 49ers (3-8)
-another West Coast team on the East Coast, take the Bills
Saints (6-5)(+3.5) over Buccaneers (8-3)
Panthers (8-3)(+3) over Packers (5-6)
Dolphins (6-5)(-7.5) over Rams (2-9)
-no more picking the Rams this season, I swear
Colts (7-4)(-4.5) over Browns (4-7)
Chargers (4-7)(-5) over Falcons (7-4)
-East Coast team on the West Coast, that’s why San Diego’s favored
Steelers (8-3)(+1) over Patriots (7-4)
Jets (8-3) over Broncos (6-5), Broncos cover (+8)
Raiders (3-8)(-3) over Chiefs (1-10)
Vikings (6-5)(-3.5) over Bears (6-5)

MONDAY

Jaguars (4-7)(+3.5) over Texans (4-7)

Maryland Basketball: The Tall And Short Of It

Maryland Terrapins (3-0) vs.
#5/6 Michigan State Spartans (2-0)
The Milk House - Orlando, FL
Old Spice Classic - 1st Rd.

As it seems every season, Maryland basketball season starts just as I’m about go on my annual Thanksgiving vacation. So I usually don’t have the opportunity to fully dedicate a long post to Maryland at the beginning of the season. Let’s see how long I can go here as we take a look at Gary Williams’ 2008-09 Maryland Terrapins.

Backcourt:
This is obviously the strength of the team. Because of the lack of size inside, Maryland will be forced to start three guards this season. That wouldn’t bother me, since I think that three guards is the best way to go in today’s NCAA, except the Terps forwards are so bad, I’m not sure what difference that will make. Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes will once again man the backcourt. Cliff Tucker is currently starting at the “3”. Adrian Bowie and Sean Mosley are excellent complimentary players coming off the bench. Either or both of those two could sneak into the lineup at any time. Likely, you could move Bowie/Mosley to the point, Hayes to the two and Vasquez to the three. Or just sub either Bowie/Mosley to the point for Hayes. There are a lot of options, and all five players are legit major conference guards.

Frontcourt:
As exciting as the guards are for Maryland, the frontcourt is equally scary. As a Maryland fan, it’s not pretty to look at. The losses of James Gist and Boom Osby don’t just leave the Terps with a gaping hole at forward. It might as well be a black hole, out of which no talent escapes. Right now, Landon Milbourne is playing power forward. On a typical Maryland team, or most typical ACC teams, Milbourne is a true three. He also would be a great sixth man. His defense is nowhere near good enough to be an everyday starter. Braxton Dupree is currently the center, but his game is not developed enough on either end. His footwork is poor and despite losing weight, he is still out of shape. The most well-rouned big man may actually be Dino Gregory, but he is too small (both in height and width) to play center in the ACC. Dave Neal and Jin Soo Kim are going to see significant playing time, which tells you how poor the state of the Maryland frontcourt is. There is help coming next season with Jordan Williams and James Padgett, but that won’t help Maryland now.

Bench:
Again, Mosley and Bowie are great options off the bench. I actually think that the Terps would be wise to start Bowie at point, shift Hayes and Vasquez up a position, and have Tucker be the sixth man. As it stands, Mosley and Bowie are good guys to rotate into the lineup. Gregory looks pretty good early on as well. Neal and Kim are good for five minutes a piece, but they are playing way too much right now. The Terps also have Steve Goins, an extremely raw, but intriguing center from Chicago. Not sure how much time he will see. Gary seems to like him, but he doesn’t like playing true freshmen.

What we’ve seen so far:
First the positive. Tucker is quickly becoming one of my favorite players. His ball-handling needs improvement. But he’s excellent on the defensive end. He has a wide range of moves on the offensive side. He is too quick to be guarded by a tradition small forward, but too tall and has too large a reach to be guarded by a two. He is not afraid to drive the hoop. He can shoot pretty well from outside. He is ahead of the curb for a Sophomore.

Vasquez is obviously going to be the go-to-guy for the season. I have no problem with that since he is the easily the most proven scorer on the team. I had a problem with it last season when Gist was still around and there were several games that Vasquez refused to pass him the ball. Vasquez should average anywhere from 16-20 points a game. If he doesn’t Maryland had no chance.

I’ve like the defensive effort so far. I’ve liked the rotation, at least in the backcourt, implemented by Williams. He is clearly trying to figure out what he has in Bowie, Tucker, Mosley, Dupree, Gregory and Kim. Hopefully Neal’s and Kim’s minutes will decrease as the season goes along. I don’t mind the eight-man rotation with an occasional Neal and Kim appearance.

Now the negatives. Let’s start with the Vermont game. If Vasquez didn’t do anything, no one else on the team wanted to do anything. Williams’ teams continue to struggle to move without the ball. This was never a problem until Steve Blake graduated. Since that time, no player seems to want to get open on their own. They’d rather dribble the ball and take a wild shot. This can’t work in the flex offense. In fact, the flex offense is designed so that most players are forced to move without the ball too much. So it’s not a good sign when everyone already wants to stand around and watch Vasquez dribble.

Also, I continue to wonder if Gary should go all-out and start four guards. It worked for Villanova for a few years. I know that most of their guards made their way into the NBA, but Jay Wright someone managed to take a four guard lineup and compete in the physical and tall Big East. You would think that four lesser, but still very talented, guards could compete in the smaller and quicker ACC. Put four guards on the court, hope Dupree can hold his own inside, and bring Milbourne off the bench. This would allow Maryland to be quicker and more agile than any team in the conference other than UNC. And they’re not going to compete with UNC regardless of their lineup.

Overall, Maryland should be able to compete and hold their own against teams their size. They are going to press a lot, and they are going to run a lot. It is going to look an awful lot like Williams’ teams from the mid-90’s. Against teams with young guards, Maryland will have an advantage. However, against teams like UNC and Miami, Maryland won’t have much success. There is no one who can guard Hansbrough. There is also no way teams like Miami and Virginia Tech will let Maryland get out and run. If Maryland is suckered or forced into a game of half-court offense, they’ll lose 90% of the time. No one executes the flex well enough, and there is no reliable scoring option inside if the shots aren’t falling. This looks like a team that will show a lot of glimpses of promise, but a team that is way too one-sided. They will not finish in the bottom third of the conference, like I’ve seen several magazines predict. They won’t finish in the top third of the conference either. This is a 7-win ACC team, and a team that probably won’t make the NCAA tournament unless Dupree becomes Lonny Baxter, or Goins develops really quickly.

Michigan State is one of the best four to seven teams in the nation. Maryland did not luck out by drawing them in the Old Spice Classic first round. They are a physical Big Ten team with a lot of size to rotate against Maryland’s inferior frontcourt. Raymar Morgan is a force inside. He is 6-9 and 225, a prototypical Big Ten power forward. I’m not sure how Maryland plans to match up with him and the 6-10 Goran Suton at the same time. Suton is a bit of a stiff, but he’s still an option that the Terps won’t have an answer for. Kalin Lucas is terrific guard who may challenge for a spot on an All-American team (probably not 1st team, but one of the three). Along with Chris Allen and Durrell Summers, the MSU backcourt is pretty deep as well. They have five legitimate scoring options. If freshman forward Delvon Roe can get over his knee problems, then MSU can be very good, balanced, deep and nearly impossible to stop. A Big Ten team that scores? Who would have thought? On top of all this, they have one of the best in-game coaches in the business in Tom Izzo. His teams are always tenacious defenders and rebounders, and the 08-09 Spartans will be no different. This is the best Big Ten team we’ve seen since Ohio State two seasons ago.

Maryland will probably not win this game. They are not ready to face a team this tall and physical. They are also not ready to face a team of this caliber. The Spartans are simply more talented than Maryland. That’s not going to change by Thursday, or by March. The Terps are going to run into several teams that are simply better than are. It will be interesting to see what Maryland can do against Oklahoma State/Gonzaga or whatever other teams they face in this tournament. I would love to see Maryland get a shot at playing Georgetown in this thing, but I doubt either team will win enough to advance. Either way, I won’t be here to write about, so I’ll see the Maryland basketball fans before the actual ACC/Big Ten game against the other Michigan school. As far as this game goes:

Michigan State 74
Maryland 57

2008-09 College Basketball Preview

Here we go, 2008-09 basketball season preview. I’ll take a look at the six power conferences, a few of the mid-majors I expect to make some noise, and we’ll wrap it all up with the Top 25. Teams with a * next to their names I’ve projected to make the NCAA tournament. The Maryland-Michigan State preview will be along later in the week.

ACC
Projected finish:

1. North Carolina*
2. Wake Forest*
3. Duke*
4. Miami*
5. Virginia Tech*
6. Clemson*
7. Georgia Tech
8. Maryland
9. Boston College
10. Florida State
11. NC State
12. Virginia

Notes: North Carolina is far and away the best team in the conference, and possibly the country. Wake Forest is young, but balanced and talented. Freshman Al-Farouq Aminu will be a household name by the end of the season, even if you don’t know how to pronounce his name. Duke will be good as usual, but they still lack a consistent inside game. Miami could be the only team good enough to beat UNC. They return four starters including Jack McClinton and several big bodies to throw off the bench. Virginia Tech will step back up after barely missing the tournament last season. Clemson lost James Mays and Cliff Hammonds, but should be right on the bubble come March. Georgia Tech and Maryland might as well be the same team. Lots of talent in the backcourt, lots of question marks in the front. Boston College still has Tyrese Rice, who will be good enough for at least 4-5 wins by himself. Problem is there’s nothing else on the BC roster. The final three teams are interchangeable. Virginia and NC State really have a chance to be downright awful in a top-heavy league.

Big East
Projected finish:

1. Louisville*
2. Connecticut*
3. Notre Dame*
4. Marquette*
5. Pittsburgh*
6. Villanova*
7. Syracuse*
8. Georgetown*
9. Seton Hall
10. West Virginia
11. Providence
12. Cincinnati
13. Rutgers
14. DePaul
15. South Florida
16. St. John’s

Notes: This conference will get eight teams in. Not nine. Certainly not ten like I’ve been hearing. Georgetown and West Virginia will both sink because of graduations/roster defections. The top 6 in this conference are really good, but it’s anyone’s guess after that. It’s a toss up between Louisville, UConn and Notre Dame for the conference title. I think Rick Pitino’s superior coaching gives the conference to the Cardinals. UConn and Notre Dame will keep pace with guys like Hasheem Thabeet and Luke Harangody. Marquette could sneak up on a lot of teams if Dominic James and Jerel McNeal can stay healthy. Pittsburgh will do it’s usual no offense, great defense routine and get bounced in the NCAA’s first weekend. Villanova and Syracuse will benefit from WVU and Georgetown’s drop off. Seton Hall is the only legitimate sleeper in the conference. I still think they’re a year away from making the NCAA’s. Providence is getting closer with Keno Davis as head coach, but they’re still a year or two away as well.

Big Ten
Projected finish:

1. Michigan State*
2. Purdue*
3. Ohio State*
4. Minnesota*
5. Wisconsin*
6. Michigan
7. Penn State
8. Illinois
9. Iowa
10. Northwestern
11. Indiana

Notes: The experience of Michigan State, along with the coaching of Tom Izzo, will allow the Spartans to hold off Purdue for the conference title. Ohio State will be competitive with freshman B.J. Mullens, but there are no decent upperclassmen on the roster. Tubby Smith is a great coach who got a raw deal at Kentucky. He has Minnesota ready for a break through season. Wisconsin lost a ton of talent, but should still play enough defense to make the tournament. The rest of the conference is junk. Michigan and Penn State could both make noise, but are still building. Illinois lost it’s two best forwards and will have to replace about 25 points per game. Iowa and Northwestern are bad, Indiana could be historically terrible.

Big XII
Projected finish:

North
Kansas (4)*
Missouri (6)
Kansas State (7)
Iowa State (10)
Nebraska (11)
Colorado (12)

South
Oklahoma (1)*
Texas (2)*
Baylor (3)*
Texas A&M (5)*
Oklahoma State (8)
Texas Tech (9)

Notes: The Big XII South is a beast. Oklahoma, Texas and Baylor could all be contenders in every other conference. I think Texas losing D.J. Augustin and the continuing emergence of Blake Griffin will tip the scales in favor of Oklahoma. Even though I know that Texas returns everyone else. Baylor will be even better than last season, but their defense is still suspect enough for them to finish third. Kansas lost way too much to compete at top tier level this season and repeat as champs. They’ll still comfortably win their division and make the NCAA tournament. Texas A&M is a team in transition this year, but the bottom half of the conference is bad enough that the Aggies should be able to get 7-8 easy wins. Missouri is slowly starting to creep back up the standings now that Quinn Snyder and his bottle of hair mousse is gone. K-State has no Michael Beasley and no real shot at a bid. The other five teams are going to struggle, especially OSU and Texas Tech since they’ll have to play the four other South teams twice.

Pac 10
Projected finish:

1. UCLA*
2. Arizona State*
3. Washington*
4. Southern California*
5. Washington State*
6. Arizona
7. Oregon
8. California
9. Stanford
10. Oregon State

Notes: After a dominant year, the Pac-10 will take a step back. Overall, the conference lost Kevin Love, O.J. Mayo, the Lopez twins and Lute Olsen. So it will be tough to recreate last season. UCLA will still have enough to win the conference. More than enough, in fact. Herb Sendek has done a tremendous job (and a little luck with unheralded prospects doesn’t hurt) building up ASU. Bet he’d look pretty good right now in Raleigh, hey NC State? USC still has Taj Gibson, Daniel Hackett and freshman DeMar DeRozan which should help overcome the loss of Mayo. Washington will be up, Washington State will drop a little, but both are good enough for the NCAA’s. With all the craziness and instability in Tucson, I don’t see Arizona extending their NCAA streak. Mike Montgomery has a large rebuilding project at Cal, as does Johnny Dawkins at Stanford.

SEC
Projected finish:

East
Tennessee (1)*
Florida (2)*
Vanderbilt (4)*
Kentucky (8)
Georgia (9)
South Carolina (11)

West
Alabama (3)*
LSU (5)*
Mississippi (6)*
Mississippi State (7)
Arkansas (10)
Auburn (12)

Notes: Like the Big XII, the divisions in the SEC are the haves and the have nots. The East is much stronger than the West will be. Tennessee and Florida are the best two teams in the conference, by far. Everyone else is at least a couple of tiers below those two schools. Mark Gottfried could be in trouble at Alabama if he doesn’t deliver, but I think he will. Then again, I thought he would have a great season last year as well. Vanderbilt lost Shan Foster, but they still have a true center in A.J. Ogilvy. They’ll still be good while Kentucky struggles. LSU should make the tournament under Trent Johnson. So should Ole Miss. Georgia was a one week wonder in the Tornado Tournament last season. Don’t look for a repeat performance. Mississippi State and Arkansas were tournament teams last season, but both lost way too much of their starting lineup. In fact, Arkansas lost their entire starting lineup.

Mid-majors

The obvious ones:
Memphis
Gonzaga
Xavier
UNLV
Davidson

Notes: Each is far and away the best team in their respective conferences. Memphis returns to a bulked up C-USA, which won’t be as easy to run through as the last couple of seasons. I’d be surprised if they make it through clean, but wouldn’t be surprised if they only have 3 to 4 losses by March. Gonzaga should breeze through a hollow WCC. Xavier with stud forward Derrick Brown has the usual competition from Dayton and St. Joe’s, but should have no problems in the A-10. UNLV returns Wink Adams and several other top scorers. The Mountain West will be theirs for the taking. Only BYU should challenge them. Davidson (technically not a mid-major) will lose a bunch of games outside of conference, but should easily run the SoCon table with Stephen Curry.

The not-so obvious ones:
UAB
San Diego
Creighton
BYU
VCU
Dayton

Notes: UAB could make things somewhat interesting in Conference USA. Mike Davis has done a good job keeping that program competitive. Creighton is the best team in the Missouri Valley, but that conference tends to cannibalize itself. St. Mary’s is drawing a lot of attention again in the WCC, but San Diego returns all five starters. I think the Toreros are the 2nd best team in that conference. BYU is a tournament team, but would have been much better if Trent Plaisted was still there. VCU has Eric Maynor, but will that be enough to hold off challenges from ODU and Mason in the rough CAA? Dayton is the second best team in the A-10, but Brian Roberts is gone. So they probably won’t have enough to unseat Xavier. They’ll be squarely on the bubble.

Under the radar teams to keep an eye on:
Nevada
Tulsa
New Mexico

Notes: Nevada, despite being the favorite in the WAC, is way under the radar after losing Javale McGee. They will win their conference and probably be good enough to spring a first round upset. Tulsa is a very intriguing team. Jerome Jordan is the best big man in C-USA and Ben Uzoh is a reliable second scoring option. They won’t compete with Memphis, but they could climb over UAB and UTEP…two teams picked to finish ahead of them. Then there’s always New Mexico lingering in the ether. J.R. Giddens if finally out of college, but the Lobos return everyone else. They also add highly-rated freshman Phillip McDonald, who spurned just about every Big XII program to come to Albuquerque.


TOP 25:

1. North Carolina
2. Louisville
3. Connecticut
4. Michigan State
5. Oklahoma
6. UCLA
7. Tennessee
8. Texas
9. Gonzaga
10. Memphis
11. Notre Dame
12. Wake Forest
13. Purdue
14. Duke
15. Marquette
16. Arizona State
17. Baylor
18. Miami (FL)
19. Pittsburgh
20. Florida
21. Kansas
22. UNLV
23. Villanova
24. Xavier
25. Ohio State

Redskins at Seahawks: Go West, Young Men...Again

Washington Redskins (6-4) at Seattle Seahawks (2-8)
4:15 p.m. Qwest Field
If nothing else, we know now that the ways of the old Redskins haven’t completely left Ashburn and Landover. If you were like me, you were disgusted by what you saw Sunday night. And it wasn’t because it was against Dallas, although that didn’t help matters. It was because we’ve seen those Redskins before. And by before, I mean for the past 15 or so years.

The Cowboys did everything they could to make sure the Redskins won that game. From not running Marion Barber until the fourth quarter, to keeping a clearly injured Tony Romo in the game despite the fact he couldn’t throw more than 10 yards, to some real stupid offensive line penalties, the Cowboys basically handed the Redskins the game. Then the Redskins handed it back with ineptitude. All Washington had to do was score 17 points. That’s it. Dallas’ offense couldn’t move the ball until very late in the game. Their defense was good, but certainly not special. There was no reason for Dallas to be remotely close by the time the fourth quarter rolled around.

As I said, we’ve seen this before. Letting a wounded team hang around in a game and in the standings. Losing division games at home, despite outplaying the opponent. A November swoon after a promising start. These are the earmarks of the old Redskins. Even the great Joe Gibbs couldn’t stop the old Redskins from popping up every November. It seemed that the unorthodox Jim Zorn was exactly what the Redskins needed to break out of their funk. That may not be the case.

The second half of that game was so predictable. If you were watching the last few drives with me, then you know I called exactly how each drive would end up. I predicted the Cowboys final touchdown drive. I said the Redskins would then get the ball, pick up a couple of first downs, then have their drive stall. Then the Cowboys would take over and whittle the clock against an exhausted defense until it either ran out or came damn close to it. I said all this at the beginning of the fourth quarter. And it happened exactly how I said it would. I’d seen this game before. I’d seen this type of team before.

I discussed it briefly last week, but it’s the offense that is once again letting the team down. In the last two games, both of which were at home, the Redskins offense has scored one touchdown and a total of 16 points. The two field goals against Pittsburgh were set up by the defense. The field goal against Dallas was set up by a great kick return. The only thing the Redskins offense has done the past two weeks was the opening drive touchdown against Dallas. That’s it. One drive in eight quarters. Pathetic. What’s more is that you could blame the loss against Pittsburgh to fatigue and injuries. I’m not sure what the excuse is after the Dallas game. The Skins came off a bye, had most of their big name players in the lineup (although not 100% healthy) and were at home against a team that was trying to help the Redskins win.

Super Bowl caliber teams do not lose back-to-back home games in primetime. They just don’t. One home game? Sure. A primetime game? Ok. But two primetime home games in a row? No way. Not with a west coast trip on the horizon. Not with the 9-1 Giants waiting at home after coming back from Seattle. Great teams win at least one of those games and stay within striking distance of the division lead.

So now the Redskins pile into their charter planes and head to the remote football outpost of Seattle. The last couple of times the Redskins did this, it was in January and they were facing a team that easily won their division. This time, the Redskins will face a Seahawks team that is 2-8 and has a head coach that is on his way to “retirement”. The Seahawks two wins have been convincing (24 and 21 points), but came against the other two lousy teams in the NFC West (St. Louis and San Francisco). This is a far cry from the team the Redskins faced in 10 months ago, and a real far cry from the team the Redskins played in early 2006 and ended up in the Super Bowl.

What’s happened in Seattle? Well, a little bit of everything. The two biggest problems have been defections and injuries. It all started after the Super Bowl with the departure of all-pro guard Steve Hutchinson. He left a gaping hole on the left side of the Seahawks line. At the time, Seattle and Shaun Alexander ran left two-thirds of the time. Without Hutchinson, Seattle’s run game rapidly became ineffective. Alexander took a lot more hits in the following two seasons and went from NFL M-V-P to C-U-T. Seattle went from a power rushing team with a hint of West Coast Offense, to a team that relied solely on the arm of Matt Hasselbeck. And to Mike Holmgren’s credit, he was able to re-invent his team and Seattle didn’t miss a beat. They won two more division crowns. Some of that had to do with the NFC West being terrible. Most of it had to do with Hasselbeck and the offense.

This year, injuries cut down Seattle’s season before it got started. Their offensive line is decimated. Their receiving corps is equally banged up. Worse yet, Hasselbeck has had serious back problems this season. With no real running game, and their starting quarterback injured, the Seahawks offense has fallen to 31st in the NFL. The Seattle defense - which during their run in the West was always good, but never great – has not been able to carry the load. Bad offense, average defense and injuries all over the place equal a 2-8 start to the season. Even Hasselbeck’s return can’t pick this team up. His back injury is so bad that he can’t practice during the week. A injured Hasselbeck is much better than Charlie Frye or Seneca Wallace, but he still won’t win you a lot of football games.

So easy win for the Redskins, right? You think so? Then you obviously haven’t been following the team that closely. First off, a 3,000-mile trip across country never helps. The Redskins recent record on the West Coast is pretty abysmal. As a whole, eastern teams that have to travel to the Pacific are well under .500 this season. Secondly, the Seahawks defense still rushes the quarterback pretty well. The Redskins offensive line has given up 10 sacks in the past two weeks and 18 sacks in the last five. Finally, the Redskins offense hasn’t been good enough to drive on anybody. They could only manage 17 on winless Detroit. They simply can’t score enough points. So every team, no matter how bad or how injured they might be, will always be in games with the Redskins.

The one benefit the Redskins have is Zorn. If anyone knows what Seattle is trying to do under Holmgren, it’s Zorn. As everyone knows by now, he was an assistant coach in Seattle from 2001-07. He was the main reason that Hasselbeck, and the Seahawks, had so much success for the past five seasons. The Redskins should be able to go into this game with a superior strategic advantage. They also have the advantage in terms of shear talent. But as we’ve seen recently, if the Redskins can’t score more than twice, they won’t stand much of a chance.

NFL Week 12: All Tied Up

Following the incorrect Thursday pick, I was 8-5-1 last week. That puts the overall record at 90-59-1 for the season. By the way, what’s the deal with all these prediction websites giving themselves a win despite the fact the Eagles and Bengals tied? If it’s a tie for them, it’s a tie for you. Anyway, I another bad week against the spread (4-11…yes, 4-11) and the spread record is now strictly average at 73-72-5. Because the NFL can’t figure out which touchdowns are legal, the following should not be used for gambling purposes.

THURSDAY

Cincinnati Bengals (1-8-1) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3)(-11)
8:15 p.m. Heinz Field
Would someone like to enlighten me as to why these Thursday night games are a good idea? Denver-Cleveland wasn’t bad enough? Now we have to sit through Cincinnati-Pittsburgh and Oakland-San Diego for the next two Thursday nighters. The only Thursday NFL games should be played on Thanksgiving.
Pick: Steelers

SUNDAY

Houston Texans (3-7) vs. Cleveland Browns (4-6)(-3)
1:00 p.m. Cleveland Browns Stadium
What, this wasn’t good enough to be the Thursday night game? I don’t think I’ve seen enough of the Browns this season. They’re only scheduled for five primetime games this season. Not bad for a team that’s 4-6 and had .500 written all over them before the season began.
Pick: Browns

Buffalo Bills (5-5)(-3) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (1-9)
1:00 p.m. Arrowhead Stadium
It didn’t take long for the Bills to hit the skids. I was a bit surprised because I was drinking the cool-aid back in October. The AFC East looked to be theirs for the taking. However, last Monday’s game showed the true coaching genius of Dick Jauron. With plenty of time left in the game Jauron decided to play it safe, run the clock and attempt a 47-yard field goal. Since when has a 47-yard field goal been a sure thing? You want to do that from 30 yards away, be my guest. But 47? That’s terrible coaching. Kind of happy to see Buffalo lose based on that type of decision.
Pick: Bills

New York Jets (7-3) vs. Tennessee Titans (10-0)(-4.5)
1:00 p.m. LP Field
The Jets have been tip-toeing their way to some victories in recent weeks. They’ve taken advantage of a middle-heavy division, a soft schedule and have had just about every break go their way. This reminds me a lot of their 2006 season, when they won 10 games (most of them close), made the playoffs and played one of the easiest schedules in NFL history. That set up high expectations for 2007, when all the breaks evened out and the Jets were terrible. Looking ahead, it could be a rough 2009 for New York.
Pick: Titans

New England Patriots (6-4) vs. Miami Dolphins (6-4)(-1.5)
1:00 p.m. Dolphin Stadium
Something tells me that the Dolphins won’t rack up 400 yards using the Wildcat formation again. I can’t see the Hooded Bum letting that happen twice.
Pick: Patriots

San Francisco 49ers (3-7) vs. Dallas Cowboys (6-4)(-10)
1:00 p.m. Texas Stadium
Well, the Cowboys got their “season-saving victory” last week. Now they’ll rack up two easy home wins before losing three of their last four and plunging into chaos.
Pick: Cowboys

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-3)(-8.5) vs. Detroit Lions (0-10)
1:00 p.m. Ford Field
Just remember, when the Lions go 0-16, who was the first person to tell you it could happen? That would be me back in late September. It doesn’t get any easier with Tennessee in town next week.
Pick: Buccaneers

Philadelphia Eagles (5-4-1) vs. Baltimore Ravens (6-4)(-1.5)
1:00 p.m. M&T Bank Stadium
Even though it was enjoyable to see the Eagles squander an easy game in Cincinnati, you can’t convince me that a tie is actually worse or more embarrassing than a loss. If the Eagles make the playoffs by a half-a-game, that tie will be looking awfully good. Meanwhile, it was good to see the Ravens come back to Earth a little bit. Sure it’s nice playing Cincinnati and Cleveland twice a season, but welcome to the NFC East kids. You got to put on your big boy pants to play this division.
Pick: Ravens

Chicago Bears (5-5)(-8) vs. St. Louis Rams (2-8)
1:00 p.m. Soldier Field
I don’t know why I keep thinking the Rams are going to pull upsets, but I could easily see the Bears blowing this game. Chicago is running out of easy games to help keep pace with Green Bay and Minnesota. A loss here could have the Bears staring at a 7-9 finish.
Pick: Bears, Rams cover

Minnesota Vikings (5-5) vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-6)(-2)
1:00 p.m. Alltel Stadium
I took a shot last week with Jacksonville, and it looked pretty good for about three quarters. While the Jags have been running the ball much better recently, they still can’t stop the run with all of their injuries on defense. Not a good problem to have with Adrian Peterson in town.
Pick: Vikings

Oakland Raiders (2-8) vs. Denver Broncos (6-4)(-9)
4:05 p.m. Mile High Stadium
Oh, to be Denver! It must be nice to be 6-4 and be comfortably ahead in your division. I wouldn’t know what that’s like since 6-4 in the NFC East is almost good enough for last place.
Pick: Broncos

Carolina Panthers (8-2) vs. Atlanta Falcons (6-4)(-1)
4:15 p.m. Georgia Dome
Ok, if the Falcons want to prove they are legitimate, this is their chance. I don’t see this team getting a wild card spot, so they are going to have to take down the two teams ahead of them in the division and hope for a little bit of help. It’s hard to believe that this could be the game for supremacy in the NFC South. It’s also hard to believe the Falcons are favored.
Pick: Panthers

New York Giants (9-1)(-3.5) vs. Arizona Cardinals (7-3)
4:15 p.m. University of Phoenix Stadium
While I realize that this game means practically nothing for Arizona since they already have their division wrapped up, it is an important game from their physiological standpoint. They haven’t beaten a whole lot of good teams this season. In their one showcase game two Monday’s ago, they needed help from a terrible team to win at home. This is chance for Arizona to make a statement to the rest of the league. Considering Kurt Warner is a statue in the pocket, and the Giants blitz pretty darn well, there is no reason for me to make this pick. But I’ll do it anyway.
Pick: Cardinals

Indianapolis Colts (6-4) vs. San Diego Chargers (4-6)(-2.5)
8:15 p.m. Qualcomm Stadium
Very quietly, the Colts are getting healthy and starting to sneak up the standings in the AFC. They won’t win their division, and they won’t have a home playoff game, but I would never bet against a healthy Colts team. This is a big one for Indy. They need to keep pace in the conference, and they can pretty much eliminate San Diego from all postseason discussions with a win.
Pick: Colts

MONDAY

Green Bay Packers (5-5) vs. New Orleans Saints (5-5)(-2.5)
8:30 p.m. Louisiana Superdome
Last chance to dance for the Saints. A loss here to another 5-5 team, at home, would basically end any chance they have at a wildcard spot. If Drew Brees is truly the MVP this season, then he needs to help his team win this game.
Pick: Saints

Later in the week we’ll painfully relive the Redskins game from Sunday night. It was nice to see the old Redskins back, handing wins over to the other team. Wait, did I say nice? It meant groin-kickingly painful.

Cowboys at Redskins: Insult to Injury

Dallas Cowboys (5-4) at Washington Redskins (6-3)
8:15 p.m. FedEx Field
Timing is everything. As of right now, the Redskins timing is awful. A few weeks ago, everything was clicking. This game looked like it would be the Redskins easiest remaining home game and a chance to step on the throats of the hated Cowboys. Then Chris Samuels got hurt. Then Santana Moss got hurt. Then Clinton Portis got hurt. Then the Redskins got dominated at home by a good, but not great, Steelers team. Then the Cowboys conveniently got healthy right before coming to town. All of a sudden, the Redskins appear to be a 6-3 team on the verge of having the rug swept out from under their feet.

The next three games will determine the Redskins season. Home games against the Cowboys and Giants with a cross-country road trip to Seattle sandwiched in between. The Redskins need to take two of the next three, and preferably, one of the wins has to be against New York. They have to do this with injuries across the board and an offense that already began to stall before the injuries hit.

The Redskins only managed 17 points against the Rams, 14 against the Browns, 17 against the Lions (one touchdown came on a punt return) and six against the Steelers. That’s only 13.5 offensive points per game over the past four games. Three of those games featured a healthy Moss and Portis. Only one of the four teams will be in the playoffs. Yet, the Redskins couldn’t even manage two touchdowns and two extra points offensively over that span. That’s a major red flag.

Aside from the game against Pittsburgh, it’s not as if the offense has been terrible. They’ve moved the ball, controlled the clock and kept the opponents off the field. However, the Redskins continue their many-season struggle once they get inside the opponents 40. Earlier in the season, the Redskins were having problems getting touchdowns inside the redzone. Now they’re struggling to get field goals after they cross midfield. The opening half against the Steelers proved as much. Three times, the Redskins started their drive inside Pittsburgh territory. They scored six points on two field goals. Both field goals were over 40 yards. So if it hadn’t been for a failed onside kick, turnover and bad punt on behalf of the Steelers, the Redskins would have been shutout. So what’s gone wrong in opposition territory? It’s a good question, and one that’s not that easy to answer. The shortest explanation is that a little bit of everything has gone wrong. Poor play-calling, poor execution and penalties. That will do it. There have been a lot of mistakes. It’s hard to pinpoint one when it seems to be a new problem each weekend.

As well as the defense has played this season, the defense is not good enough to dominate a game. This is not a 2000 Ravens situation. The Redskins can not get away, at least not most of the time, with scoring 14 points a game. Especially not in the NFC East. If the defense gives up 21-24 points against a NFC East team, you have to consider that a decent job. The offense needs to bail them out. In the last four games, it hasn’t happened and the Redskins are only 2-2 as a result.

So now we get to see Dallas for the second time this season. Tony Romo will play, although how healthy he is remains to be seen. Jason Witten will play with a busted rib. The only weapon the Cowboys will miss is Felix Jones, who didn’t play in the September meeting anyway. The Redskins will likely be without Portis and Ladell Betts, which means that Shaun Alexander will get the start. Eesh. Moss should play, but as we’ve seen the past couple of seasons, if he isn’t 100% healthy, he isn’t all that effective. Anthony Montgomery is out. Marcus Washington is out. Shawn Soft Springs may or may not play. At this point, who cares? The Redskins have actually been doing better without him as of late. It’s not a pretty scenario for the Redskins, but more on that in a moment.

For those who think that Romo returning to the starting lineup will be the solution to the Cowboys woes, you are sorely mistaken. Dallas has themselves a lot of problems, and not all of them come from the quarterback position. Defensively, as I said would be the case all the way back in August, the Cowboys are a mess. They can’t stop the run at all. They can’t stop the deep pass. No Roy Williams (the safety, not the receiver), no Terrence Newman and no Pacman have left a lot of holes in the secondary. Jason Campbell has had great games against Dallas in his last two chances. Without his weapons, who knows what Campbell will be able to do on Sunday. But, for the rest of the season, the Cowboys are in deep, deep trouble on the defensive side of the ball. If the Redskins can’t take advantage of it, several other teams will. The offense, if healthy, is still dangerous. However, the addition of the other Roy Williams probably won’t pay any dividends until next season. Plus, he is now another mouth to feed. Romo and dead-man-walking Wade Phillips now have to figure out a way to keep Williams, Witten and Marion Barber all happy. Oh, they also have to figure out how to get the ball to Terrell Owens enough to avoid an apocalyptic meltdown. Too many big name players, only one football on each and every play. Not to mention Williams and Owens aren’t exactly happy unless they’re the center of the offense. Not a formula for success.

The Cowboys check in at 5-4 and they’ve already lost two division games. They still have losses upcoming in Philadelphia, in Pittsburgh and at home against the Giants. That would put them at seven losses. Let’s assume that they beat Seattle and San Francisco, two teams that have given up on 2008. That means that Dallas would have to beat both Washington and Baltimore just to make it to 9-7. 10-6 seems out of their reach, and so does the playoffs in the NFC. Romo is not a cure-all. Even if Dallas somehow reaches the playoffs, they won’t be able to win the East. Which means they’ll hit the road as a wild card and most likely have to play in bad conditions in front of a hostile environment…which are two things that Romo hasn’t proven he can handle. That’s making the large assumption the Cowboys have enough to reach the postseason. Without a doubt, if Dallas is to lose in the first round of the postseason, or fail to make it, they will be one of the most disappointing teams in recent memory. Well, disappointing for their fans, certainly not for me.

So can the Redskins make it a clean sweep over Dallas? Not likely. I know that the Redskins beat Dallas, in Dallas, with a completely healthy Romo in the lineup. In fact, the Cowboys are much worse now than they were in late September. Unfortunately, the Redskins have too many injuries to key players to keep up. I know that Portis had truck-size holes to run through in Dallas, and you’d have to figure that even Alexander would be able to run through those holes if they were to appear again, but I don’t see it happening. Without Portis, the Redskins can’t control the clock like they did in Irving. Without a healthy Moss, the Redskins can’t stretch the field and keep the pressure off the running game. Without the two of them, the Redskins offense can’t function and can’t keep a dangerous Cowboys offense off the field. That’s how the Redskins won the first game, but I doubt they’d be able to do it again. Plus, the Cowboys are not a very happy team right now. They’ve been hearing about how bad and embarrassing they’ve played for the past month, and they’re looking for revenge over the Redskins. Add in the rivalry factor, and they are going to be really fired up to play this one. Something tells me they are going to take out their frustrations this week. Like the Redskins, they’ve had two weeks to prepare. They’ve gotten a good, long look at Jim Zorn’s offense. Unlike the Redskins, they are relatively healthy. It doesn’t look promising.

The Redskins don’t have to win this game to make the playoffs. They’ve got enough winnable games left on their schedule to get to 10. However, a loss here would pretty much end the Skins chances of winning the division. Then it’s back on the road in the playoffs…again. This time, with a quarterback who has never seen a single second of action of postseason play. The goal should still be to win the division. If the Skins let the Giants get too far ahead of them, that game on the 30th won’t mean a thing. I don’t know how the Redskins can pull this one off, but here’s hoping they do.


As for the rest of my picks, I’m mailing it in this week. I’m already 0-1 (thank you hooded bum), but with my 10-3 performance last week, the overall record is up to 82-54. The spread record is 69-61-4 after a poor 6-7 week. Sorry for the straight picks and no commentary this week. I’m working on some college basketball stuff which will be on here by the end of the month. As always, don’t use the following picks for gambling purposes. Home team in bold.

Falcons (6-3)(-6) over Broncos (5-4)
Dolphins (5-4) over Raiders (2-7), Raiders cover (+10)
Giants (8-1) over Ravens (6-3), Ravens cover (+7.5)
Colts (5-4)(-7.5) over Texans (3-6)
Packers (4-5)(-3) over Bears (5-4)
Eagles (5-4)(-9) over Bengals (1-8)
Saints (4-5)(-5) over Chiefs
Panthers (7-2)(-14) over Lions (0-9)
Vikings (5-4)(+4) over Buccaneers (6-3)
Rams (2-7)(+7) over 49ers (2-7)
Cardinals (6-3)(-3) over Seahawks (2-7)
Jaguars (4-5)(+3) over Titans (9-0)
-yep, got a good feeling about this one
Steelers (6-3)(-4) over Chargers (4-5)
Bills (5-4)(-5) over Browns

NFL Week 10: Keep Your Pants On

I honestly didn’t realize that the NFL was going to continue this silly Thursday night game junk this season until it was too late. I probably would have picked Cleveland, but I’ll happily take the no pick for the titanic Broncos-Browns game. I’ll try to remember the Thursday night game in time for next week. I had another 8-5 week with a 7-6 record against the spread. That takes me up to 71-50 and 63-54-4 on the season. As always, don’t use the following picks for gambling purposes.

SUNDAY

Baltimore Ravens (5-3) vs. Houston Texans (3-5)(PK)
1:00 p.m. Reliant Stadium
After a rather impressive win against Cleveland, the Ravens hit the road again for their make-up game from Hurricane Ike with Houston. What was impressive for Baltimore was the way they came back after appearing dead in the water midway through the third quarter. Then the offense put 24 straight points on the board. Where did that come from? I believe it was partly due to Cleveland’s crappy defense and partly because Baltimore’s offensive line is starting to click. Either way, I still have trouble taking Baltimore seriously. They still have all four of their games remaining against the NFC East, and a game against Pittsburgh after the Steelers have time to get healthy. They’re still looking at a minimum of four more losses. Still, in the suddenly weakened AFC, that could be enough for the sixth spot. I doubt it, but it’s possible. A loss here wouldn’t help.
Pick: Ravens

New Orleans Saints (4-4) vs. Atlanta Falcons (5-3)(-1.5)
1:00 p.m. Georgia Dome
Still not sold on the Falcons, sorry. Saints should take advantage of the bye week and catch the Falcons after a cross-country trip. Plus, the Saints offense should have a field day.
Pick: Saints

Jacksonville Jaguars (3-5)(-7) vs. Detroit Lions (0-8)
1:00 p.m. Alltel Stadium
You could make the case for Minnesota, New Orleans, San Diego, Dallas or Cleveland being the most disappointing teams of the year thus far. I’d like to nominate Jacksonville. Minnesota is still only one game out of first in the terrible NFC North. If they can get average play from Gus Frerotte the rest of the way, they could sneak on top of the division with 9 wins. New Orleans is getting healthy and has a soft schedule. They probably won’t win the South, but they could still get to 10 wins and have a playoff opportunity. San Diego’s collapse should have been obvious to see, considering Norv Turner is the head coach. And on this page, I told you that Dallas and Cleveland were both massively overrated back in August. Jacksonville was supposed to be a 10-11 win team with one of the best running games and one of the NFL’s best defenses. Turns out we were in the right division, but talking about the wrong team. Tennessee has become what everyone expected from Jacksonville. Meanwhile, David Garrard has come back down to Earth a little bit and the offensive line has been decimated by injuires. I can’t tell you why other teams have been able to run all over the Jaguars formerly superior defense, but it probably wouldn’t have mattered much. One team that hasn’t been a disappointment is Detroit. We expected them to be terrible, and they haven’t let us down.
Pick: Jaguars

Tennessee Titans (8-0)(-3) vs. Chicago Bears (5-3)
1:00 p.m. Soldier Field
At this time last week, I was planning to pick Chicago to upset Tennessee. However, the injury to Kyle Orton will either mean Orton plays hurt against a great defense…or Rex Grossman plays healthy against a great defense. Neither scenario excites me much.
Pick: Titans

Buffalo Bills (5-3) vs. New England Patriots (5-3)(-4)
1:00 p.m. Gillette Stadium
Twice now I’ve come close to picking upsets against the Bills by division opponents. Twice I backed down at the last minute. This won’t be an upset, but I’m not going to be fooled by Buffalo again.
Pick: Patriots

St. Louis Rams (2-6) vs. New York Jets (5-3)(-8.5)
1:00 p.m. Giants Stadium
Something tells me this won’t be an easy game for the Jets. Teams have been able to run on them, and assuming Steven Jackson is healthy, the Rams should be able to do the same. Plus, the Jets are coming off a big road win last week in Buffalo, and could be in for a trap game.
Pick: Jets, Rams cover

Seattle Seahawks (2-6) vs. Miami Dolphins (4-4)(-8)
1:00 p.m. Dolphin Stadium
This will be road trip #4 to the East Coast for Seattle. So far they are 0-3 and have been outscored 98-26. I don’t see any reason to think they’re going to fare better against Miami.
Pick: Dolphins

Green Bay Packers (4-4) vs. Minnesota Vikings (4-4)(-2.5)
1:00 p.m. Metrodome
Look at it this way, one of these average teams is going to have to jump over .500. So for at least one week, the NFC North will have a grand total of two teams with winning records. Brett Favre had nightmare games in the Metrodome throughout his career. I think Aaron Rodgers is doomed to a similar fate.
Pick: Vikings

Carolina Panthers (6-2)(-9) vs. Oakland Raiders (2-6)
4:05 p.m. Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Very quietly, the Panthers have built themselves a solid resume in the NFC. Since the East teams are probably going to beat up on each other for the rest of the season, the Panthers just have to stay healthy and beat Tampa Bay for a solid 12, or even 13, win season. This could easily be the number one seed in the NFC in January.
Pick: Panthers

Kansas City Chiefs (1-7) vs. San Diego Chargers (3-5)(-15.5)
4:15 p.m. Qualcomm Stadium
It’s not everyday you see a 3-5 team as more than a two touchdown favorite. And there’s probably good reason for that. San Diego may be the best 3-5 in the NFL, but they are 3-5 for a reason. Their defense can’t stop anybody. Denver and Detroit may have the only other two defensive units that are worse. Kansas City is bad, but they’ve played some respectable games the past few weeks. I think this will closer than the spread.
Pick: Chargers, Chiefs cover

Indianapolis Colts (4-4) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2)(-3)
4:15 p.m. Heinz Field
It would probably be better if Ben Roethlisberger didn’t play in this one. He injured his throwing shoulder. How good can a quarterback be with a bad throwing shoulder? And it’s not like Byron Leftwich would have to face a great defense in this one. I’ve finally come to grips with the Colts being nothing more than a .500 team. They have a slight chance in this one because of all the players that Pittsburgh will or may be missing.
Pick: Steelers

New York Giants (7-1) vs. Philadelphia Eagles (5-3)(-2.5)
8:15 p.m. Lincoln Financial Field
This will be the 2nd tough test for the Giants in the last couple of weeks. They impressed me in Pittsburgh (despite all their injuries). The win against Dallas…eh, not so much. Something about beating a team quarterbacked by 50-year-old Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger doesn’t really scream quality win. After a rough first six games or so, the Eagles may actually be the healthiest team in football, and I think that Brian Westbrook will have a huge day.
Pick: Eagles

MONDAY

San Francisco 49ers (2-6) vs. Arizona Cardinals (5-3)(-9)
8:30 p.m. University of Phoenix Stadium
This is the best they can do for Monday Night? Really? There are several decent games this week…they couldn’t slide one up? Anyway, I agreed with Mike Singletary’s decision to send Vernon Davis off the field. It’s been a long time coming with Vernon, who was spoiled at Maryland but never disciplined by Ralph Friedgen. But as far as dropping his pants in the lockerroom? I gotta tell you, I’m not a fan of it.
Pick: Cardinals

Bye Week: Cincinnati, Dallas, Tampa Bay, Washington

I’m as off this week as the Redskins offensive line was last week. Redskins return next Sunday. Come back at the same bat time and the same bat channel.

Steelers at Redskins: Maddening Mondays

Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2) at Washington Redskins (6-2)
8:30 p.m. FedEx Field
I said I was going to keep last week’s Redskins post short and sweet. That didn’t happen. I’ll try to take it easy this week. We’ll see how well I do.

Through five games against teams that are now 23-14, the Redskins looked pretty good. A 4-1 record against good competition that included two division wins on the road was reason for excitement. Since then, the Redskins have gone 2-1 against teams that are currently 5-16. And they didn’t look good doing it.

Now halfway through the season, Redskins fans have a team that’s 6-2 and is loaded with 17 seasons of disappointments and expectations. This could be the team. The Redskins have everything that a Super Bowl caliber team should have. They have a solid offensive line and a great power rushing attack. In fact, though eight games, they have the best running game in the league. They have a quarterback that isn’t making mistakes and an offense that doesn’t turn the ball over. Defensively, no team has been able to consistently run against them. And with a few exceptions, the defense hasn’t given up the “big play”. The special teams have been sketchy, but they have a reliable field goal kicker who is nearly flawless inside of 40 yards. The coaching staff is fresh and the players seem to like playing for them. Jim Zorn is not afraid to take a shot or two down the field and he is not afraid to let his team make plays in the 4th quarter to seal wins.

At the same time, the team is 6-2 and has yet to win a game by more than one score. Injuries are starting to hit the team hard. 16 Redskins were listed on the injury report this week. That includes the two main cogs in the Redskins offense: Clinton Portis and Santana Moss. That also includes Chris Samuels, who the Redskins were lost without against Detroit. The defensive unit has more players on the injury report than not on it. The Redskins are not exceptionally deep, especially among the front seven. Along with injuries, other problems have started to show. The Redskins have still not established another top flight receiver to line up next to Moss. Antwaan Randle El and Chris Cooley are great compliments, but they can not carry this team if Moss is covered or if his hamstring injury gets worse. Washington has still not established any sort of reliable pass rush. That’s mostly because Greg Blache refuses to blitz more than a couple of times a game. It’s also because the Redskins front four is either too slow or playing hurt. The Redskins also have had many problems with their punting game. Ryan Plackemeier is no better than Durant Brooks. He’s been consistent the last two weeks, but his punts aren’t going over 40 yards. The Redskins also have no reliable punt returner. Randle El has completely lost his ability to return punts. I’m not sure what happened between his time in Pittsburgh and his signing here in D.C. He refuses to run straight and he can no longer shake defenders. And while a lot of Redskins fans want Moss to return punts full time, that would open Moss up to more hits than he should be taking. As important as a big punt return can be (and was last week), I’d rather have Moss healthy for 7 to 8 receptions per game for the rest of the season.

So all is not perfect in Redskins land. Still, 6-2 is 6-2. It beats the 4-4 or 3-5 records Redskins fans have been used to seeing. However, this is historically where the Redskins season has gone south. After a strong start in last season’s first half, the Redskins lost their next four games. After a 5-3 start in 2005, the Redskins lost their next three games. Two of those were at home and two were against bad teams. Now, the Redskins recovered both times and made the playoffs. But instead of possibly winning the division, the Redskins made it as a wild-card and spent the postseason on the road.

The last time the Redskins started 6-2 was in 2000. Of all the bad seasons and disappointing seasons in the last 17 years, 2000 was the worst. The Redskins had Super Bowl talent and started the season strong. Then they suffered a terrible and strange defeat in the desert to Arizona. They followed that by losing five of their last seven games. That disaster of an ending cost Norv Turner his job and sent the Redskins into a mini-downward spiral that Joe Gibbs was able to pull the team out of four years later.

So now it is up to Jim Zorn and the Redskins to finish what they started. The Redskins don’t need to be perfect. A 5-3 finish would put them in good position in the division and the playoffs. But the Redskins can’t keep having these mid-season losing streaks. One loss doesn’t worry me. It’s when you string together a few that it becomes a real problem. The Redskins closing schedule doesn’t appear to be too hard, at least compared to the rest of the division. However, there are a lot of road games from mid-November to the end of the season. That includes two West Coast trips. With two tough home games coming up, a couple of bad plays and bad bounces here and there could easily send the Skins on another one of these November slides.

The other problem for the Redskins is their recent lack of success at home on Monday Night. The Redskins have not won at FedEx Field on a Monday since it was called Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in 1997. The Skins are 0-6 since. Which is another slight against the Skins. Only 6 home MNF games since 1997? Really? For a team that has made the playoffs three times and has been competitive a number of other seasons in that time frame? I’m not sure what scares the NFL away from Landover. It is the league’s largest stadium, and I think the NFL would be dying to get as many primetime games there as possible. It’s a great showcase for the league and the Redskins always deliver a great crowd on Monday. It’s unfathomable that it took a presidential election for ESPN to agree to have the Redskins on MNF at home. They should want to be there at least once a season assuming that the team is somewhat competitive.

Anyway, I said I’d try to keep it somewhat short and it seems like I failed again. Let’s move on to the Steelers, who will be making their first appearance in the Washington area since 1988. Somehow the schedule makers allowed Bill Cowher to avoid D.C. his entire career. Is that why he didn’t want to coach here? Did he even know that Washington had a team?

The Steelers are led by typing-unfriendly Ben Roethlisberger and 2nd year coach Mike Tomlin (I will spare you the Omar Epps look-a-like jokes…I believe enough of them have been made). After a successful first season for Tomlin, it looks like he has the Steelers on track for the playoffs again. This season they may even be the team to beat in the AFC. However, Roethlisberger hasn’t really been able to enjoy the 5-2 start. He has been beat up in the Steelers first seven games. He’s been sacked a total of 23 times. Last week against the Giants, he was hit on seemingly every passing play. The Giants forced him into four interceptions, which is four more than Jason Campbell has thrown all season. His stats are way down from 2007, and with Willie Parker missing most of the season thus far, the Steelers offense has struggled despite the hot start. In fact, the Steelers have really struggled protecting Roethlisberger and scoring points against the NFC East. They are 0-2 against the Eagles and Giants and 5-0 against AFC competition. The Eagles and Giants spent most of their afternoons against Pittsburgh battering Roethlisberger and only allowed the Steelers to score a combined 20 points.

However, in what will be a recurring theme the next few weeks, the Steelers are getting healthy just in time to play the Redskins. Parker will most likely be back for this game and the Steelers also get back receiver Santonio “How High” Holmes from his team-imposed suspension. The Cowboys will most likely have Tony Romo and a healthy Jason Witten in two weeks when they come to town. And the Seahawks will probably get back Matt Hasselbeck by the time the Redskins visit the Pacific Northwest. So there will be no cheap wins like the Giants’ victory over a mysterious Dallas team yesterday. The Redskins will have to go through good teams with their best players.

Despite Pittsburgh’s struggles against the NFC East, this will not be a pushover for the Redskins. The Eagles and Giants won by blitzing the injured Pittsburgh offensive line and sacking Roethlisberger, who refuses to get rid of the football this season. Those teams had success against the Pittsburgh line only because they blitzed the crap out of the Steelers. That is something the Redskins don’t do. I’m not sure how effective Washington’s four man pass rush is against any offense line, even an injured one. If Roethlisberger is going to get on track, this might be the game he does it in. When he’s had time, he’s been accurate.

The Redskins have also had most of their success offensively from the ground game. I’m not sure how the Skins manage to duplicate what they’ve done on the ground the past five weeks. This will be the best defense they’ve faced since opening night, and probably the best defense they’ll face the rest of the season (other than the Giants again). The Steelers barely allow 70 yards a game on the ground. Without the running game, Campbell will probably struggle. Since defenses will probably rule the day, and the Redskins certainly don’t seem to have the ability to pull away from opponents, I would expect a low-scoring game that comes down to the fourth quarter. Other than playing at home on Monday Night, what else is new?