Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Reflecting on the Detroit Meltdown...Looking Forward

Fail to the Redskins

So I figured I'd let the dust settle for a few days before really reflecting on the Lions game. The D.C. media has had a field day with this thing and it seems almost like half of our fan base was rooting for this type of a shit-the-bed game to illustrate the futility of the entire organization. No true Redskins fan could say they were surprised or caught off guard by what happened in Detroit. Everyone knew Detroit had improved this year and the Redskins didn't hide the fact that they have apparently forgotten how to put the ball into the end zone. Obviously there is no excuse for being the first victim to lose to the Lions in their last 20 games but it couldn't have happened to a more hapless group that the Redskins. I found myself so frustrated during the first half of the game that I began writing down my thoughts in an attempt to prevent my self from spitting on the television whenever they showed Zorn looking clueless. Here are those notes unedited from when I wrote them:

1st half

-It all starts with the coach…this team lacks discipline and motivation

- WR fumbles and D-Hall literally stood over the ball and watched a Lion slide in and cover it. Neat.

-The coaching decisions have been atrocious, even if it had worked out you never give a team another chance. 4th and 3 or 3rd and 13? Make them attempt the FG. You haven’t stopped them all day and then you call a Time out on 3rd down to save them time and then they go down and lay another score on you. Well done Zorn. Maybe you should have asked Tom Cruise (Stefen Djordjovic) to talk to the defense because his game in 'All the Right Moves' looks tougher than Blache's D right now.

-Defense jumping offsides multiple times...way to help out their rookie QB. Discipline. Where in the F is our pressure? Why aren't we blitzing?

-Guys hanging their heads right and left on the sideline. It's only 10-0 but it feels like 30.

-Only person I ever see Zorn interact with is Campbell

-No on is held accountable for their mistakes

-Is LaRon Landry still on the team, haven't seen him make a form tackle all year. Take out that damn lip ring bro! Please.

-Haynesworth collapses after first sack of season – like we didn’t see that one coming. See ya in 2010. (He came back into the game in the 3rd quarter).

-Have to feel bad for Portis he is a victim of a terribly predictable playcalling system, 4th and goal from the one, shocker that you are not going to run to the side without 2 backups on it. Not to mention we lined up for the play, they called timeout, and we came out in the same formation and ran the play anyways. Why run wide?! If you can't get one yard when you need it from your offensive line things need to change.

-Playcalling is always predictable. Nothing is ever set up, the Lions have been setting up Calvin Johnson’s reverse from the beginning of the game and the Skins D has to respect that while Kevin Jones rips off nice runs up the middle. (Lions then went on to finally hand the ball to Johnson on the reverse late in the 4th quarter to help run out the clock).

-Ive seen 4 people show any emotion in this game, Rocky McIntosh, Reed Doughty, Cooley and London Fletcher (as usual). 13-0 at the half. Lifeless. God please take my life.

2nd half

-Moss scores, somehow this doesn't feel like the start of a comeback but more like a lone highlight for Sportscenter.

-Randle El is telling Campbell to hurry up and snap the ball. Delay of game.

-JC is missing open guys high again, got WRs coming back to the huddle telling JC they were open.

-Obviously the refs should not be a factor in the games but calls like waving off a facemask after a ref saw it and called it from the best possible angle is egregious and obviously a product of some error. Questionable interference call on Horton but I almost find myself rooting for the Lions, they have dominated this game and are in 'Holy shit we are going to win, let's run out the next 15 minutes mode.'

-Skins gave the game away, refs finished them off. Two biggest plays of the second half for the Lions were a waved off facemask call and a pass interference on a desperation heave on third down to give them the ball inside the 10.

-One complement to Campbell is that his play-calling is better than Zorn we seem to move the ball better in a two-minute offense than we do throughout the game. Take the leash off him Zorn, there is nothing left to lose!!!

-I take that back Campbell, checking the ball down to a RB for a 3-yard gain with under a minute left is worse than throwing the ball away. This isn't news.

-Matt Stafford, put your fucking tongue away in this league if you want to keep it.

-In the NFL it boils down to this, either you are a playoff team or you aren’t. As a Redskins fan would you really want to be led to believe this is a playoff team with a weak schedule early in the year only to be let down this winter? Not me. I’ll take a consistently awful team, which we are. A team who may have the chance to ruin some teams playoff runs down the line but will in no way deserve to be involved ourselves. Our opening schedule is extremely weak but it will get much tougher should be a 6-10 season at best if changes aren't made.


End of notes.

A couple days later I have settled down but I don't really have anything to retract from my in-game comments. We show no passion out there and our potential is not even close to being represented on the field. The question then becomes, why? Who is to blame? Players? Coaches? Front office? LaVar Arrigton and John Riggins think it is the owner, the media think it's the coach (probably because they can't say anything negative about the owner or they will find themselves bound and gagged and thrown in the Anacostia River because he owns pretty much every media device in the area), and the players seem to be blaming themselves. It's only week 3 and we are on the heels of a full-scale implosion. Luckily for Zorn's job security he is a "yes-man" to Snyder and will likely hold onto his job more than someone who actual had testicles would.

Strangely my feelings about this game have gone from depression, to apathy to a weird sort of pseudo-optimism. Maybe I just hate the majority that much. Right now people are pissing on us for losing to the Lions because it ended their futility streak. Fair-weather Skins fans are jumping off the bandwagon (good riddance) and generally people in the District are overreacting (typical). Granted the Lions suck but you'll see them win 4-6 games this season and then this loss will just look like another blown opportunity to win a game away from home. It's no worse than any other loss we've given away over the past 10 years, and this in no way approaches the feelings durring the Spurrier era, it's just that this gives fodder to Redskins haters to say "haha...you all are a joke" which currently is dead on. The good thing is that losses like this usually inspire change, whether it be people getting fired, the team fighting each other and finding out who really wants it OR it could just lead to the wheels falling off: people not showing up to games, the team quitting on each other and generally finishing the season 3-13, which I don't think can or will happen with our potential.

Don't get me wrong we suck, 8-8 at best, but at least now we can play spoiler to legit teams and not have the false hope of actually making the playoffs like we do most years.

On a more depressing note the Terps are absolute do-do. I would love to incorporate some college football into this blog but they have made the thought of covering games less appealing than bathing with a toaster. I may just start betting against them every week to pay back my student loans. They couldn't get worse and until they prove otherwise I don't think they are worthy of taking the field against another D-1 school. They could conceivably only win 3-4 games this year and that is AT BEST. We've come a long way since Fridge led Vanderlinden's players to the Orange Bowl haven't we? Too bad he'd have to literally take his pants off, eat nachos and crap on the 50 yard line during a game in which the Terps are losing by 100 to be fired because Debbie Yow is a two-timing bull dyke (just speculating) and best friends with a coach who would rather see players graduate than win football games. I love having a woman for an Athletic Directior. Long live Title 9. Idiots.

In a rare attempt to end on a positive note the Caps season starts tomorrow and expectations have never been higher. The rest of the Washington area sports world has let us down royally and all our hopes and dreams will be riding on #8 this season. I'm trying not to get too excited because apparently the sports gods don't like to see me happy and they will spitefully tear his ACL in November if I start talking about the C-U-P potential of the Caps. I'll hold off on that for now and leave you with another D.C. area bright spot. The Nats locked up the #1 pick in next years draft last night and they are looking to draft Superman AKA the LeBron of Baseball (this kid is 16) and tonight Sherwood-UMD product Justin Maxwell hit a sweet walk-off grand slam to end the game, which I would enjoy even more if the Nats didn't have the worst play-by-play guys in baseball history. Smile while you can children, smile while you can. Happy Hockey Season.

And for your moment of Zen, I've figured out how to get the Redskins to perform better...more monkeys in Gucci bags!!!





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