Week 1: Bayou Beatdown

It's the most lovely time of year people! Football is back, the temperatures are dropping, leaves are changing, things are beginning anew....unless of course you are a Redskins fan, in which case it's that time of the year where you renew the never-ending cycle of abuse that is your relationship to the Skins. Every Spring they find a new way to lure you in with promises of grandeur only to be reduced to tears by October. This Spring's trophy however is oh so much more shiny than all of the years before. The man, the myth, the numerical fixation, RGIII. Unfortunately, the entire Washington area is going to be brought back down to Earth in about 36 hours when RGIII faces his first live action as an NFL player. I only say this because if he does anything short of flying from end zone to end zone the entire game on  Buick-Reebok-Gatorade-Old Spice sponsored wings he will fall short of "git r' done" expectations. The reality is Robert Griffin III has all the tools to be a successful NFL QB and, in all probability, he will be someday, the problem is that it is going to take time. This is a tried and true NFL truth only rebuked by recent flashes of greatness by Cam Newton. People quickly forget that the success rate for highly touted rookie QBs in the NFL is about 0% their first season, even Peyton Manning lost 14 games his first year, and Cam Newton wasn't getting 1/10 of the adoration that has been given to Griffin. The one thing I hope for this year, as a Redskins fan, is health and patience. I'll be shocked if I get either from the QB or the hepatitis-C laden fans who still promulgate "Skins Nation" but a boy can dream.

As for the short-term, the Skins drew the Brees straw week 1, in the Dome, against a team with something to prove and a vendetta to use scoreboards as their primary means of showing Roger Goodell what they think of his totalitarian state. With that said, its not the worst match-up for the Skins; they will get their yards on the ground against a beat up defense. The same vulnerabilities can not be said for the Saints offense which is formidable, if not criminally-loaded. With Washington's top two safeties out for the foreseeable future, sadly I see this game as a first glimpse at a painful first half of the season. The Who Dats will air it out relentlessly while the Skins will be happy to see their offense matching the Saints in the early part of the game before inevitably falling prey to the dangers of getting in a shootout with the sharpest gun in the South.

Hopeless predictions:

Current line: Saints -7.5 U/O 49.5

Saints 40, Skins 27

• Brees throws for 325 and 4 TDs
• The game is within a FG at halftime
• RG3 throws for 250 and 2 TDs with 2 turnovers
• The forgotten Santana Moss scores a touchdown and is the Skins receiver of the game
• Alfred Morris runs for 105 yards and takes the lead on the depth chart (doesn't start week 2)
• SHANIHANIGANS!
• We are painfully reminded how good Jimmy Graham is
• We are also reminded that Fred Davis is not Jimmy Graham
• Saints pull away late in the 3rd, never look back
• People begin calling D.C. radio stations demanding that Kirk Cousins gets a chance at QB1, these people will primarily be from LaPlata.
• Everyone calms down by Wednesday realizing that playoff baseball is only 4 weeks away. 
• Thursday, Strasburg is shut down and we are once again only thankful to not be Cleveland fans.