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.