Oh It's THAT Game Again

The Coming Out, The Torching, The Trial By Fire, pick your aphorism

Takeaway Drill: A pretty weak performance; down two scores before the first pee break; overwhelmed by an overwhelmed rookie; taking out their best player is supposed to slow them down; we've seen this bit before.

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Quick jump to

Monday Walkthrough :: Soapbox :: Chattering Class :: Omnibus Spotlights :: Recaps and Stats

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Monday Walkthrough: The Redskins play timid, look like a team afraid to win, make lots of individual mistakes and fail to capitalize when the Rams' best player is off the field, lose 30-16 in Saint Louis, Washington drops to 1-2. Sam Bradford certainly looks like a quarterback capable of throwing to open receivers. A frustrating and predictable letdown game.

The Rams elect to receive to start the first quarter, Saint Louis' first possession starts at their 40 yard line when Graham Gano's kick goes out of bounds, riding tailback Steven Jackson and including the Rams going for it on fourth and one, Kareem Moore whiffs on Steven on a run off right tackle, Steven darts 42 yards through open field to score, extra point good and the Rams take an early 7-0 lead. The Redskins get the ball for the first time, first two plays are passes, a crackback penalty on Santana Moss leads to a first and 25, on the next play Santana fumbles, the ball is recovered and returned almost to the goal line. Saint Louis gets the ball for the second time, inside the Redskins five yard line, on second down Sam Bradford rolls right and finds tight end Daniel Fells in the back of the end zone for a score, extra point is good and the Rams push their early lead to 14-0. Washington gets the ball for the second time, a run for nowhere on first down, a false start on Stephon Heyer on second down, false start on Artis Hicks on third down, Graham Gano's punt is blocked and the Rams take over near the Redskins 25 yard line. Graham Gano punting, wait what? The Rams' third possession is one play as Kareem Moore tips and then intercepts Sam Bradford's pass intended for Daniel Fells, there was a penalty on that play though it was against the Rams and the Redskins get a do over. The Redskins third possession starts at their own fifteen, Clinton Portis finally gets two good runs, 34 yards on two plays, two incompletes on solid defense and the Redskins drive is killed and they are punting. Saint Louis gets the ball for the fourth time, a three and out with good Redskins defense. Washington's fourth possession starts with another good Clinton Portis run, Donovan McNabb is forced to use a timeout to prevent a delay of game, back from the timeout cornerback Bradley Fletcher badly interferes with tight end Fred Davis way downfield and the Redskins have the ball at the Rams fourteen, two more plays and that is where the quarter ends with the Rams leading 14-0.

The Redskins continue their fourth possession into the second quarter, Oshiomogho Atogwe nearly intercepts Donovan's pass, a holding penalty on Jammal Brown stalls this drive, Graham Gano sets up for a 29 yard field goal, it is good and the Redskins cut the Rams lead to 14-3. The Rams' fifth possession never happens, on the kickoff following the field goal Reed Doughty hits rookie receiver Mardy Gilyard, fumble and Lorenzo Alexander collects the ball, Redskins have it back. Washington's fifth possession is a one play drive as Donovan McNabb finds Santana Moss 21 yards into the end zone, rolling right and throwing across his body off his back foot, extra point is good and the Redskins cut the Rams lead to to 14-10. The Rams get another chance at a fifth possession, Saint Louis struggles to get any momentum going, Kedric Golston and Brian Orakpo team up on consecutive downs to end this possession, punt. The Redskins get the ball for the sixth time, tailback Ryan Torain busts a run for 36 yards on first down, then three yards on the next play… then minus one on the next, Donovan McNabb breaks the pocket and scrambles for 26 yards, Ryan Torain has another good run, the offense then commits a delay of game to push back to third and nine from the Rams thirteen, Chris Cooley cannot get the first down, Graham Gano sets up for a 24 yard field goal and it is good, the Redskins have now pulled to within one point, 14-13 Rams. Saint Louis gets the ball for the sixth time, a questionable pass interference penalty on Carlos Rogers gets things going for the Rams, this is a long drive that features a number of small but steady gains, a Redskins fumble recovery is overturned on review, the Rams use fifteen plays and more than seven minutes of the clock to get to the Redskins one yard line, four attempts inside the Washington five yard line and Saint Louis gets nothing, they set up for a 21 yard field goal, barely an extra point, on the snap in comes Phillip Daniels through the line and BLOCKS the kick, the Rams get nothing. Washington gets the ball back at their twenty, the Redskins seventh possession is a one play kneel down by Donovan McNabb, and the half ends to boos from the home crowd as the Rams lead 14-13.

The Redskins get the ball to start the third quarter, Washington's eighth possession, Donovan McNabb goes long to Santana Moss for 56 yards down the right sideline, tack on a fifteen yard horse collar and the Redskins have the ball inside the Rams ten, two runs later they stall and Graham Gano kicks a 21 yard field goal to put the Redskins ahead for the first time, 16-14. The Rams' seventh possession is a struggle to midfield, another long Rams drive in drips and drabs, eleven plays and 74 yards later Kenneth Darby runs through a big hole in the middle for twelve yards and the touchdown, extra point good and the Rams retake the lead 21-16. Washington's ninth possession features one good pass to Clinton Portis, the rest is pretty much weak as the Redskins five and out, punt. Saint Louis gets the ball for the eighth time, a hard fought drive that goes down to fourth and short, the Rams end up with a three and out and punt. The Redskins' tenth possession is a return to the all passing offense, three incompletes and the Redskins are punting, this drive looks like Washington is trying to get back to what worked against Houston and it did not work. The Rams get the ball for the ninth time, Sam Bradford manages to find as he has all day an open receiver, a final running play and the quarter ends with the Rams leading 21-16.

Saint Louis continues their ninth possession into the fourth quarter, Kenneth Darby continues his best Steven Jackson impression and bulls for a first down, then seven more to Darby, this guy can run consistently against Washington, finally the Rams stall at the Redskins nineteen, Josh Brown sets up for a 37 yard field goal, it is good and the Rams extend their lead to 24-16, an eight point lead with less then twelve minutes left in the game. Washington's eleventh possession starts with a first down crossing pattern to Santana Moss nullified by a holding on left tackle Stephon Heyer, Santana gets some of that back then Donovan is sacked by defensive end James Hall, Santana is short on his third down catch and the Redskins are punting. Danny Amendola puts the Rams at midfield to start Saint Louis' tenth possession, three runs to fourth and inches, the Rams go for it, get it, then DeAngelo Hall falls down on the next play to give up a 30 yard run, finally Washington's defense stiffens inside the Redskins fifteen and the Rams stall, Josh Brown sets up for a 29 yard field goal, it is good and the Rams extend their lead to 27-16. The Redskins get the ball for the twelfth time, Chris Cooley gets things started with a sixteen yard gain, a non fumble is challenged and upheld, then left guard Kory Lichtensteiger gets called for a false start, now we are at first and fifteen with under four minutes left in the game, cornerback Bradley Fletcher pulls in the next pass on an interception intended for Santana Moss on the left sideline, Rams ball. On the turnover the Rams get the ball for the eleventh and final time with under four minutes left in the game and leading by eleven, Mark Clayton moves the chains, the Rams stall there but are already in field goal range, Josh Brown sets up for a 36 yard attempt, up and good and the Rams extend their lead to fourteen points, 30-16, with less than two minutes left in the game. Washington starts their thirteenth and final drive with no timeouts and down two touchdowns, Roydell Williams and Chris Cooley catch passes and make good gains but it is too little too late time runs out and the game is over, the Rams win 30-16 to drop the Redskins to 1-2, and they looked pretty bad today.

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Soapbox: Death by a thousand cuts and a bad defensive plan. The Rams capitalized on some individual mistakes, safety Kareem Moore whiffing on tailback Steven Jackson for the 42 yard touchdown run in the first quarter, a rare Santana Moss fumble that led directly to another score.

While attempting to play the base 3-4 defense, the Redskins gave up short and intermediate yardage plays when the Rams showed the only long plays they could manage were when Redskins players made mistakes. Third down continues to be a big problem for the Redskins defense.

Where is the phyiscal play? Sam Bradford may have a huge upside, for right now he proved he can hit wide open receivers ten to fifteen yards downfield; there was no jam at the line. And why the hell is Andre Carter out following anyone in pass coverage? Know your freaking personnel.

The Redskins played not to give up the big play against a team that had not previously showed it was capable of making big plays. Poor planning.

On offense, I was left with the feeling that the team abandoned the run too soon, after rolling up 115 yards on the ground in the first half the team managed one yards on five rushes in the second half. And what is up with Clinton Portis taking a dive? Since when doe any player except a quarterback fall on purpose?

Adding injury to insult, punter Josh Bidwell injured himself in warmups and was not available to punt, instead kicker Graham Gano did the job, he was ok, here we go again with the sea of punters coming through Ashburn. Could we possibly see punter Hunter the Punter Smith?

Department of Boasting: After falling down and letting backup tailback Kenneth Darby go 33 yards, cornerback DeAngelo Hall proved why I want to cover their best receiver kinds of comments are best kept in the locker room as he appeared to cover the sideline instead of the receiver, letting Mark Clayton, the Rams top pass catcher make a first down on third and twenty when a tackle at the point of the catch would have put Saint Louis five yards short. Mark is a plenty good receiver to be sure, let ye remember that Mark was cast off from the Ravens when they acquired Anquan Boldin and TJ Houshmandzadeh.

The Redskins always seem open to these types of games, maybe it is from overlooking a team, maybe these things just happen, let us go ahead and add today's game to the following list of right game wrong execution games:

2006 game six (link one / two): The Tennessee Titans were 0-5, could not stop anyone on the ground and their running game did not have enough power to pull a greased string through a rat's ass. Verdict? Travis Henry has 178 yards rushing, Clinton Portis less than 60, Titans win in 25-22 in Washington.

(We forgive about everything in 2007, including the game eleven double timeout debacle against the Bills)

In 2008 there were two of these games, game six against the Rams, it was head coach and current Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett's first game as interim head coach, coming in 0-4 to Washington the Rams beat the 4-1 Redskins 19-17 as Washington turned the ball over for the first, second and third times of the season and left guard Pete Kendall picked up a fumble and thought he was a fucking tailback. Later in the season my road trip to Cincinnati was ruined when the Redskins, still clinging to slim playoff hopes, lost to the 1-11-1 Bengals in a game fourteen marked by Clinton Portis insulting head coach Jim Zorn in the week leading up to the game, a complete inability to execute any kind of offense and a goal line fumble by fullback Mike Sellers, the Bengals were already up 17-0 in that game before Washington even managed a first down.

Last season in 2009, in game three same this week's game, Washington gave the gift of hope to a Lions team that had not won a game since the 2007 season, a span of nineteen games, when Matthew Stafford, another rookie quarterback exploited a Redskins team that seemed unprepared for even the worst team in the league, like this game the opponent's top rusher, Kevin Smith, was knocked from the game, a series of game management errors, poor planning and individual errors, led the Lions to a 19-14 victory in Detroit.

But I'm not bitter about any of this.

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Chattering Class: Tracee Hamilton at the Washington Post writes about the Redskins sad humiliation by team they should have beaten easily and wonders why the offense is still a work in progress after all this genius time since January. One converted third down and oh for three in the red zone will not cut it in Washington.

Tom Boswell, also at the Post, notes that all the bad teams seem to have a good day against the Redskins, no matter the year and wonders if the all the years of unearned media attention have made this team structurally soft.

Rounding out the Post coverage, Sally Jenkins just thinks the Redskins are soft, that whatever the team has to work with this season that nothing will fix getting pushed around in the short term, notable is the trend that the Redskins lose fight in second halves.

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Omnibus: Broadcasters: Dick Stockton, Charles Davis and Jim Mora the Younger, Charles and Jim are practically amateur, how did this game get such lousy broadcasters? It was really amateur hour up in here when the booth lost Jim Mora's mic and could not get it back until 8:48 left first quarter.

Uniform watch: A one game return to a more traditional look, the white jersey paired with the burgundy pants, my favorite home combination since I was in high school.

Almost was: Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo nearly became the Redskins head coach in 2008, unless you believe coach Spagnuolo was simply gaming the Giants for a bigger contract, it was coach Spagnuolo that first set shadow general manager Vinny Cerrato and owner Dan Snyder down the path to promoting Jim Zorn to head coach. Thanks a lot Spags.

Pregame stats: Redskins have lost ten of last eleven road games; Rams have lost 27 of their past 28 games period.

Albert Haynesworth did not start, Maake Kemoeatu did; safety Kareem Moore is back in the lineup with his first start of the season. Albert was in by the fifth play of the game.

Plus Internets list: LaRon Landry with a big hit for a loss in the Rams first possession; Reed Doughty atoning for his give up of a touchdown to Andre Johnson last week by causing a special teams fumble, Washington recovered and scored on the next play; Kedric Golston for pressuring Sam Bradford on second down in the Rams fifth possession, then to Brian Orakpo on the next play, chasing down Bradford from the back side for a sack to end that possession; Ryan Torain and Mike Sellers for teaming up on the Redskins sixth possession, Mike for a lane opening block and Ryan for taking it 36 yards; Kareem Moore in the Rams seventh possession, Sam Bradford's pass to Brandon Gibson is broken up by a flying Kareem who lays the hit and knocks out the ball.

Gaffes list: Kareem Moore, whiffing on Steven Jackson in the Rams first possession, Steven was free and clear for a TD on that play; Santana Moss in the Redskins first possession, a crackback block that put the Redskins at first and 25 in their own territory, Santana then fumbled on the next play and gave the Rams the ball inside the Redskins five; Phillip Buchanon on the punt return to start the Redskins tenth possession, a weak muff that is only saved by the proximity of the sideline; Stephon Heyer in the Redskins eleventh possession, fourth quarter, for committing a holding penalty to put Washington in first and twenty when the penalty nullified a fourteen yard Santana Moss gain; DeAngelo Hall falling on his ass in front of Mark Clayton in the Rams tenth possession, fourth quarter, that gave up a 30 yard run to the Redskins eleven.

Advertising notes: Great new tagline for Budweiser, Grab Some Buds, drug humor lol.

Stephon Heyer came out at left tackle, Trent Williams could not make the start with his knee and toe, hoping to learn more about this. Kory Lichtensteiger came in at left guard in the Redskins second possession.

8:48 left first quarter and the Redskins are already down 14-0. Awesome. That Redskins second possession is an epic disaster with two false starts and a blocked punt, this was also where we learned punter Josh Bidwell was injured in pregame warmups so kicker Graham Gano, a college punter, was in on emergency duty.

The football gods obviously were angered by the Rams pummeling of the Redskins in that second possession for on the first play of the next Saint Louis drive Kareem Moore intercepted the pass and the ball went back to Washington, I love it when the football gods reverse fortunes on consecutive plays.

Through a quarter and a half the Redskins are winning the time of possession battle by over six minutes, 115 total rushing yards by the Redskins on eleven carries.

Steven Jackson came out of the game and was seen on a trainer's table during the Rams sixth drive, second quarter, later reported that Steven has a groin injury and his return is questionable.

This is important: The Rams had the ball over a minute inside the Redskins one yard line, six plays before the field goal try, thanks to Phillip Daniels crashing the line, Saint Louis gets NAHTHING.

Working titles for this gamewrap: Welcome Back Kareem Moore; Return of the One Play Drive; Ten Points Thirteen Seconds Apart; It WAS the Fumble; Seriously? The Rams?; Oh It's THAT Game Again.

Second half opens with Steven Jackson still in uniform but not in the game.

Nice shot in the Rams' seventh possession, third quarter, of head coach Steve Spagnuolo wiping his nose on his shirt sleeve.

The Rams score on their seventh possession, third quarter, was only Saint Louis' second third quarter touchdown in the last nineteen games. Pretty bad and the Redskins have a tendency to play their way into these milestones don't they?

At the start of the fourth quarter it seems as though the Redskins cannot stop the Rams, Washington is not giving up long plays but they cannot stop this offense, tick tock in the running game as Saint Louis seems to be getting four or five yards consistently off the run.

Nice work bringing in Mike Pereira, the former NFL head of officiating, on the Chris Cooley non fumble challenge in the Redskins twelfth possession, fourth quarter, he lends some credibility to FOX on these matters.

How depressing to see the Redskins get picked apart one play at a time, the Rams had few big plays but were able consistently to move the chains. After last week thinking the Texans pass offense was simply better than the Redskins pass defense, I need to re think all this, Washington's defense was weak overall in this game.

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The Mastermind: Some yelling by head coach Mike Shanahan, now 1-2 as Redskins head coach, interesting story about multiple and or inaccurate submissions of the inactives list, leaving the team normally inactive linebacker Perry Riley active and utility offensive line substitute Will Montgomery inactive. Whose fault is that?

Number Five: Quarterback Donovan McNabb was respectable, nineteen of 32 for 236 yards, a touchdown and his first interception as a Redskin, seven Redskins players caught passes though the reliance on receiver Santana Moss and tight end Chris Cooley is going to limit this team in the long run. Dono did have a great 26 yard scramble on third and eight to preserve the drive that ultimately led to Washington getting back within a point after surrendering two touchdowns early.

Silver and Back: Rookie left tackle Trent Williams was inactive for the game, his knee and toe still not ready to get back to action, this left Stephon Heyer to start at left tackle, for all the knocks on Stephon, he anchored the left side in the Redskins best first half of rushing so far this season.

Albert the Butthurt: Defensive nose end Albert Haynesworth did not start... but he did play right? His in the list of substitutions (PDF), though his name does not appear in the play by play and was not credited with a tackle. Anyone?

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Washington Post recap, photo gallery. NFL recap, box score, full play by play, Gamebook (PDF), photos, video highlights.


Next up, The Streak continues as lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery and I travel to Philadelphia for our 22nd of the past 23 Redskins-Eagles games, this will be my twentieth straight rivalry game played in any venue and my eleventh trip to the City of Brotherly Love to see the Redskins play since 1999. Oh and Donovan McNabb returns to play the team he led to seven playoff appearances, five NFC Beast Division titles, five NFC Championships and a Super Bowl appearance in eleven years. Yeah this ought to be good.



Sam Bradford: Getty Images from here. Donovan McNabb in his last game against the Redskins as an Eagle: Reuters Pictures from here.

Houston's Explosive Johnson

OMG HE'S SO HUGE

Takeaway Drill: No problems in the passing game, Donovan McNabb can still sling it and there are receivers on this team; a ground game still absent; a secondary gassed; a loss to a legitimate team.

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Quick jump to

Monday Walkthrough :: Soapbox :: Chattering Class :: Omnibus Spotlights :: Recaps and Stats

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Monday Walkthrough: A strange paradox as the Redskins easily and often get to quarterback Matt Schaub yet he effortlessly completes pass after pass and the Redskins lose a seventeen point lead then the game, losing 30-27 to the Houston Texans to drop Washington to 1-1. We will take the two sides to the coin approach in the Soapbox.

Redskins get the ball to start the first quarter, Donovan McNabb is six for six on Washington's first possession, Clinton Portis carries twice, there is little room, Graham Gano sets up for a 41 yard field goal, it is good and the Redskins take an early 3-0 lead. The Texans get the ball for the first time, the kickoff lands in the end zone but return man Steve Slaton stutter steps out of the end zone in a huge gaffe and Houston's offense starts inside its own one yard line, Matt Schaub works out of that jam on first down, two plays later LaRon Landry rushes Matt Schaub who tosses to tight end Owen Daniels, Calos Rogers steps in, bobbles the catch (of course) and intercepts that pass, Redskins ball. Washington gets the ball for the second time, Dono finds Chris Cooley for 35 yards to put Washington in scoring position, the running game goes nowhere and Graham Gano kicks a 27 yard field goal, it is good and the Redskins take a 6-0 lead. Houston's second possession moves to midfield in just three plays, the Texans move fairly easily to the Redskins five and that is where the quarter ends with the Redskins leading 6-0.

The second quarter opens with Houston continuing their second possession, on the first play of the quarter Matt Schaub connects with Jacobi Jones for a touchdown, and Houston takes the lead, 7-6. The Redskins' third possession starts with a deeeeeep 62 yard pass to Joey Galloway on a playaction with reverse fake, Mike Sellers and Santana Moss figure in near the goal line, on second and goal from the one, Clinton Portis takes it in for the score and the Redskins retake the lead 13-7. The Texans get the ball for the third time, Vonnie Holliday and Adam Carriker sack Matt Schaub on first down, two plays later Matt is rushing out of the pocket and the Texans are punting. Washington gets the ball for the fourth time, Santana makes a first down but three and out after that, Redskins punt. The Texans' fourth possession is a methodical movement down the field, LaRon rushes on a blitz third and nine from the Redskins 23, he and Lorenzo Alexander meet for the sack and Neil Rackers sets up for a 47 yard field goal which is wide right and the Redskins take over at their own 37 yard line. The Redskins get the all for the fifth time, Mike Sellers drops a long pass then on the next play tight end Fred Davis catches a long pass in stride for 62 yards to the Houston one yard line, two plays later Clinton Portis takes it in and the Redskins extend the lead to 20-7. Houston gets the ball for the fifth time with less than a minute and a half left in the half, they scramble and dodge for yards but get no serious gains, this drive essentially ends when LaRon Landry sacks Matt Schaub on second and six at midfield, with nine seconds left in the half Matt tosses a complete and the clock expires with the Redskins leading 20-7.

The Texans get the ball to start the third quarter, Houston's sixth drive starts on the Houston fifteen yard line, pretty methodical including Andre Johnson and a QB sneak, the Texans stall in Redskins territory, Neil Rackers kicks a 47 yard field goal and Houston draws to 20-10 Washington. Washington gets the ball for the sixth time, a block in the back on the return sets the Redskins back more than twenty yards, Joey Galloway catches a ball then Artis Hicks sends the team back five yards on a false start, Santana Moss bails the team out with a first down, Dono is sacked on the next play, Anthony Armstrong pulls in twenty yard catch on third and ten, two plays later Dono hooks up with Roydell Williams for 36 yards, Chris Cooley goes in for the score on the Redskins next play, a toss under pressure of Dono's back foot, extra point good and the Redskins stretch their lead to 27-10 on a nine play, 92 yard drive. Houston's seventh possession starts like most others, with good gains through the air, a Houston penalty and a Matt Schaub sack put the Texans in third and fifteen, a screen to Arian Foster gets the first down plus on a fifty yard play, Kevin Walter scores on the next play, extra point good to bring the Texans back to 27-17 Redskins, that is also the end of the third quarter. The Redskins seventh possession starts to open the fourth quarter, Larry Johnson loses ten yards, this drive is a three and out and looks bad. The Texans gets the ball for the eighth time, Kevin Walter catches one for 35 yards, not much more from there but they are in field goal range, Neil Rackers makes a 43 yard field goal and the Redskins lead is cut to 27-20. Washington gets the ball for the eighth time, Clinton Portis finds some room to run, then again, a false start ruins a third and one in scoring position, the third and six is almost picked off, Graham Gano lines up for a 29 yard attempt… and it's blocked! Score remains 27-20 and the Texans get the ball at their own sixteen yard line. Houston's ninth possession starts with a sack of Matt Schaub by London Fletcher, it gets no better from there as the Texans punt, a short one at that. The Redskins get the ball for the ninth time with just under five minutes left in regualtion, five yards to Mike Sellers, an eight yard loss on an end around to Santana Moss, a long incomplete in the end zone to Joey Galloway and the Redskins are punting. Houston gets the ball for the tenth time, a holding penalty takes Houston back nine yards to their 29 with just over three minutes in regulation, LaRon Landry and Reed Doughty collide going for the INT, London Fletcher in pass coverage on the next play, an incomplete, Andre Johnson catches his tenth pass of the day next, two plays later Matt Schaub's pass is broken up at the goal line and it is fourth and ten for the Texans, Matt scrambles, steps up in the pocket and slings it 34 yards to Andre Johnson who leaps to grab it, extra point good and the game is tied at 27-27. Washington gets the ball for the eleventh time with just over two minutes left in regualtion, two minute drill time for Donovan McNabb, a short gain then a sack by Mario Williams through Trent Williams who gets hurt, when play resumes, Santana Moss catches a twenty yard catch but it comes back on a holding call on Trent Williams' replacement Stephon Heyer, on third and thirty the Redskins toss a little screen to Santana and it is a three and out, punting a disastrous possession. The Texans eleventh possession starts with one minute left in regulation, non sense of urgency on the part of Houston, the Texans three and out, lining up to punt with three second left in regulation, former Redskins punter Matt Turk runs around and downs himself with no time on the clock as regulation expires with the game tied 27-27.

Texans win the toss and elect to receive to start overtime, their twelfth possession, great kick coverage as Houston starts at their own twelve yard line, Kevin Walter comes up big on first down, and second down, two run plays, Matt Schaub is almost sacked, Matt throws an incomplete on third and four at the Redskins 34 yard line, Houston takes an intentional delay of game penalty to give their punter some more room to kick and the Texans are punting. Washington's twelfth possession begins on their own twenty yard line, Donovan McNabb is sacked on first down, a late hit on Antonio Smith helps out Washington, Chris Cooley and Santana Moss have great catches, an incomplete to Santana Moss puts the Redskins at a 52 yard field goal attempt, Graham Gano lines up… and Gary Kubiak calls timeout an instant before the snap, icing the kicker, Graham misses the re do and the Texans get the ball at their own 42 yard line. Houston gets the ball for the thirteenth time, it starts with LaRon Landry knocking down Matt Schaub as he throws, with Chris Horton in for LaRon Landry, Chris commits an offsides penalty, a questionable Jacobi Jones catch sets up another 28 yard catch to some other guy, a little more stalling and Neil Rackers sets up and kicks a 35 yard field goal to win the game 30-27 Texans, the Redskins gave up a seventeen point lead.

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Soapbox: Two sides to this coin as the Redskins drop to 1-1: Heads the Redskins go toe to toe with an elite AFC team, beat them down with solid defense and aggressive passing, and simply wear out at the end. Tails the Redskins catch a better team by surprise, fail to establish a clock eating run game then lose on a combination of exhaustion and individual mistakes.

Take your pick.

First let us look at the dark side, I always prefer bad news first: No running game. The Redskins managed eighteen yards on seventeen runs, the blockers do not seem to be breaking holes, Clinton Portis had one drive where he delivered and Larry Johnson, well I think we have seen enough of that (op. cit.). The closest thing the Redskins had in this game to a ground attack was the now ubiquitous receiver screen to Santana Moss then he darts around in traffic.

Also on the topic of offense, despite all that passing, all those yards and all those awesome catches, the Redskins were two for ten on third down, in two games that makes the Redskins five for 23 overall on third down. Average third down distance in this game: 11.5 yards, that is called moving backwards.

Continuing, a pass defense that just looked like swiss cheese, Matt Schaub was 38 of 52 for 497 yards, two Houston players caught eleven or more passes and each had 140 yards or more receiving, the Washington secondary was really exposed in this game, the Redskins could not gameplan for that passing offense and once safety LaRon Landry's body had finally had enough at the end of the game and Chris Horton came in and made two crucial mistakes to help end the game, revealing a problem with depth. At the free safety position, Reed Doughty is just a placeholder, here is to hoping free safety Kareem Moore lives up to billing once he returns from his knee injury. It was so bad that cornerback DeAngelo Hall announced after the game without prior clearance that he will be covering all opposing teams top wideouts from here on out, of course this is more of an aspirational goal.

Finally, special teams got a bloody nose today, tight end Fred Davis' lazy block on the Redskins third field goal attempt led directly to a block, of course the difference between overtime and a Redskins win was you guessed it, three points. Later in overtime kicker Graham Gano let himself get iced on a re kick of a 52 yard attempt, as others have told me a 52 yard field goal outdoors is not a chip shot so I should not be too hard on Graham, the way he lined up and knocked it through on the first attempt, it looks like mister I never get nervous was not actually too relaxed on the re kick (op. cit.), he was freaking out and pulled it right.

Now let us look at the bright side, Donovan McNabb can still light it up! At 28 of 38 for 426 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions the guy still has it and can carry a team, this was Dono's third most yards in a game in his entire career, a game that included two 62 yard completions and two others over fifty that were just off. And there are receivers on this team! Dono spread the ball to eight different players, four of them wearing receiver numbers. Santana Moss is still the workhorse with ten catches.

If the secondary is troublesome then at least the front seven are solid, six different players registered a half sack or more and the problem did not seem to be penetration, it was the goddamn Matt Schaub always had an option, man that is a well run offense. On the ground after gaining 231 yards against the Colts in week one, tailback Arian Foster ran nineteen times for 69 yards, under 3.7 yards per carry, Washington kept him in check.

And welcome back to the land of the living cornerback Carlos Rogers with your first interception since Jim Zorn's first season way back in 2008, a span of sixteen starts in seventeen possible games, of course Carlos had to deflect the pass, bobble it in the air and almost drop it before pulling it in.

All in all a very disappointing game if for no other reason than because it was so close to a win, a totally different and productive type of disappointment compared to that felt following a blowout loss.

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Chattering Class: At the Washington Post, columnist Tracee Hamilton reminds us that the Redskins will be entertaining by their unpredictability alone, as a long suffering Redskins fan finally hopeful the adults are finally in charge I like to think the game experiences like this week and last week are the prep cooking for a feast eventually to come.

Also at the Post, Tom Boswell goes high enough in altitude to make a meta point: This is the type of loss that would have damaged the season of previous Redskins teams, and by that I do not spare Jim Zorn or Joe Gibbs. Tom also draws a parallel that I am sure we will hear more about as the months of this season wear on: Donovan McNabb is the closest thing to the second coming of Sonny Jurgenson this town will see in a long time.

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Omnibus: Broadcasters: Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts, the CBS guys usually get at least one thing wrong when they cover an NFC team. One was Dan Fouts calling Santana Moss Santon- before catching himself.

Uniform Watch: The new established home uniform of burgundy jersey and gold pants, instant classic (new tradition?)

Albert Haynesworth, inactive, ankle (*kaff* *doggingit* *kaff*)

Plus internets list: LaRon Landry for rushing Matt Schaub into the bad pass, then Carlos Rogers for his first INT since 2008, of course Carlos had to bobble it and catch it twice; LaRon and Lorenzo Alexander for sacking Matt Schaub to end Houston's fourth drive, the Redskins would score on the next possession; LaRon for sacking Matt Schaub at midfield at the end of the half to help keep the Texans out of field goal range; Anthony Armstrong in the Redskins sixth possession, third quarter, bailing the team out on third and ten; Brian Orakpo in the Texans seventh possession, third quarter, coming around from the backside of the play and sacking Matt Schaub as Matt was running the other way toward the sideline, good ground speed by Brian.

Gaffes list: LaRon failed to cover his man on Houston's TD pass, second possession, second quarter, that left Carlos Rogers blocked and unable to make the play; Redskins sixth possession, third quarter, Mario Williams came through right tackle Jammal Brown to sack Dono; Larry Johnson losing ten yards reversing himself on the first play of the Redskins seventh drive, fourth quarter; Redskins eleventh possession, fourth quarter, Trent Williams gave up a huuuuge sack of Donovan by Mario Williams, Trent was injured and lay on the field; Fred Davis for a nonblock that led to the blocked field goal; Chris Horton getting sucked in on a hard count for an offsides, then two plays later getting burned over the middle for the pass that put the Texans in final scoring position.

Three plus possessions for the Redskins and this is an all passing affair, Washington scored its first positive rushing yard in the second quarter. Looks like it was not Andy Reid after all.

353 sellouts in Washington, the stat the broadcasters laid on us in the second quarter, 352 games, if we assume that is regular season games, works out to 44 years, taking us back to the late 1960s which sounds about right. Note there were non sellouts in the 1987 strike season, those are not counted by the league.

Nice stat: Donovan McNabb two passes of more than sixty yards in the first half.

Houston's first penalty came in the third quarter, when Andre Johnson stepped out of bounds then came back to catch the ball. Matt Schaub was sacked on the next play.

Andre Johnson leaving the field for the second time, this time in the fourth quarter. No reason given. Kevin Walter stepped up in Andre's place.

337 yards total offense through seven Washington possessions, 334 yards in the air, that means only three yards rushing to this point.

Working titles for gamewrap: Eagles Kind of Loss; The Passing Game Seems All Right; How Did They Go From Their End Zone to Us Losing in Five Minutes? And Then Things Fell Apart; Houston's Explosive Johnson.

Reed Doughty and LaRon Landry colliding in the Texans tenth possession, fourth quarter, both trying to go for the interception, they both come out of the game, the team is then forced to call the first of its three timeouts to get LaRon back in the game.

Interesting stat heading into overtime: The Texans were 0-6 overall in overtime. The Redskins were 19-12-1.

In overtime Dan Fouts referred to Houston's explosive Johnson.

In summary: The Redskins gave up a seventeen point lead in the second half, had a field goal blocked which would come back to haunt them, let the kicker get iced on a potential game winning field goal then with LaRon Landry out for the final drive the Texans drove down the field for the final score.

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The Mastermind: Lots of great shots of head coach Mike Shanahan speaking sharply into his headset, gesturing authoritatively to assistants and simply seething. I like this guy.

Number Five: A career day, 28 of 38 for 426 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions for quarterback Donovan McNabb, in the aftermath of the Eagles trade of Dono to Washington and the pickle the Eagles are in right now with Michael Vick and Kevin Kolb, Andy Reid must feel pretty stupid about now.

Silver and Back: Rookie left tackle Trent Williams had a rough day against Pro Bowl defensive end Mario Williams, Mario had three sacks though only two of them were through Trent, then at the end of regulation Trent injured his knee and had to come out of the game, the sideline test showed no torn ligaments as did an MRI, we will know more about Trent's injury this week.

Albert the Butthurt: Defensive nose end Albert Haynesworth did not play, was not active, he hurt his widdle ankle and could not go, I think the team is trying to keep him off the field as they work a trade by the 19 October trading deadline.

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Washington Post recap, photo gallery. NFL recap, box score, full play by play, Gamebook (PDF), photos, video highlights.


Next up, the Redskins play their second straight 4pm game, in Saint Louis against the Rams, London Fletcher's former team, the home of prized rookie quarterback Sam Bradford and ultimate destination of almost Redskins head coach Steve Spagnuolo, the Redskins have played the Rams three of the past four seasons, including last season's boo inducing home win and 2006's overtime road debacle.



Matt Schaub: Screencap of CBS broadcast by neighbor Scott; Steve Spagnuolo AP photo from here.

Cowboys Hold On To Lose

Seriously? With four seconds left in the half?

Takeaway Drill: Quadruple witching in Landover: new coach, new QB, a satisfying win over a division rival, all on national TV; one of these teams was supposed to struggle on offense.

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Quick jump to

Monday Walkthrough :: Soapbox :: Chattering Class :: Omnibus Spotlights :: Recaps and Stats

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Monday Walkthrough: The new look Redskins fail to score an offensive touchdown, take points off the board and get nothing for it, fail to get a hundred yards rushing and still win 13-7 over the hated Dallas Cowboys to come out of the 2010 gate 1-0, there is a rule that says never do a homicide on an opponent committing a suicide, and that was the story of the Cowboys on national television last night.

The Redskins kick off to start the first quarter, Dallas looks very tight on their first possession, DeAngelo Hall basically ends this drive single handedly and the Cowboys are punting. Washington takes possession for the first time with Donovan McNabb at quarterback, Clinton Portis and Chris Cooley figure early, Santana Moss saves on third down plus a personal foul on Jay Ratliff, a busted play seventeen yard rush by Donovan McNabb, that drive stalls at the Dallas twelve yard line and Graham Gano is kicking a 29 yard field goal and the Redskins take an early 3-0 lead. Dallas gets the ball for the second time, they are executing well, move the ball to the Redskins twelve when the first quarter ends with the Redskins leading 3-0.

The second quarter begins with Dallas continuing their second possession and in scoring position, the Redskins hold on defense and Dallas kicker David Ferris Buehler misses a 34 yard field wide right goal try to keep the game at 3-0 Redskins. Washington takes over at their own 24 yard line, Washington's second possession, a three and out that features a sack of Donovan by DeMarcus Ware through Trent Williams, punt. The Cowboys get the ball for the third time, they look good through four plays and then three and out thereafter, features a holding penalty Dallas center Andre Gurode against Rocky McIntosh who still gets to Tony Romo and there is some good pass defense, the Cowboys punt. The Redskins get the ball for the third time, Santana Moss bails Donovan out two plays in a row, Washington stalls though and punt, Byron Westbrook downs Josh Bidwell's punt inside the five yard line so there's that. Dallas gets the ball for the fourth time in terrible field position, the Cowboys get out of that jam, they move well in the middle of the field and stall at midfield, Dallas punt. Washington gets the ball for the fourth time with under two minutes left in the half, they get out of the terrible field position jam but stall thereafter and punt. Dallas gets the ball for the fifth possession with 27 seconds left in the half, seventy yards from the end zone, Alex Barron gets called for holding against Brian Orakpo, that sets up first and twenty, on the final play of the half Tony Romo inexplicably swings a pass out to Tashard Choice, DeAngelo Hall, Lorenzo Alexander and Andre Carter converge immediately and make the hit, Tashard fumbles, DeAngelo scoops it up and takes it 25 yards for the touchdown, extra point good and the Redskins take a 10-0 lead into the half. Yowza.

The Redskins get the ball to start the third quarter, Washington's fifth possession goes more than sixty yards in nine plays over six minutes, they score a field goal but an offsides penalty on Dallas gives the Redskins another opportunity and they take the points off the board, Washington moves another thirteen yards, stalls and set up for a 24 yard field goal, punter slash holder Josh Bidwell fumbles the snap and the ball goes over to Dallas, nothing to show on that drive. The Cowboys get the ball for the sixth time, they move easily but stall at midfield and punt the ball. Washington gets the ball for the sixth time, a weak three and out deep in their own territory, punt. Dallas' seventh possession starts at the Washington 34 thanks to a bad punt, the Cowboys basically push their way into the end zone, scoring on a four yard pass to Miles Austin, Dallas now trails 10-7. The Redskins get the ball for the seventh time at midfield, two plays and a first down and the quarter ends with the Redskins leading 10-7.

The fourth quarter starts with the Redskins continuing their seventh possession, a penalty and a sack to get things going and the Redskins punt. The Cowboys get the ball for the eighth time, Dallas commits three penalties that move them back, on third and 26 from the Dallas 29 Tony Romo hits Jason Witten for fourteen yards, Dallas punts. Washington gets the ball for the eighth time, a five and out with one good play to Anthony Armstrong and the Redskins are punting. Dallas gets the ball for the ninth time, a pathetic three and out featuring a London Fletcher hit of Tashard Choice for a loss, the Cowboys punt. The Redskins get the ball for the ninth time, biggest play of that drive is Donovan McNabb to Santana Moss for the first down, Larry Johnson nails DeMarcus Ware in the head with his kneepad on the next play, Chris Cooley catches the next pass, tick tock, Clinton, there is some more win on this drive before stalling at the Dallas 31 yard line, after first lining up to punt the team then lined up to kick a 49 yard field goal, dead straight and the Redskins now lead 13-7. Dallas gets the ball for the tenth time, it is very stressful as the Cowboys are increasingly desperate, Carlos Rogers misses an interception, Miles Austin catches a ball to keep the game alive with twelve seconds, timeout Dallas, two more incompletes by Tony Romo and Dallas is taking its last timeout, with three seconds left in the game and Dallas on Washington's thirteen yard line Tony scrambles for time before finding Roy Williams in the right corner of the end zone, touchdown Dallas to make the game -- wait is that a flag? Yep, replacement right tackle Alex Barron was called for holding Brian Orakpo... again, that is Alex's third holding call against Brian and Dallas' fourth overall holding penalty, time had expired and game over, the Redskins win their season opener, Mike Shanahan's first game in Washington and Donovan McNabb's first game in burgundy and gold, 13-7, over Dallas and on national TV to boot. Welcome to 2010, the year football came back to Washington.

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Soapbox: The moments that make the game: Cowboys kicker David Ferris Buehler missing a 34 yard field goal in the second quarter. Dallas offensive coordinator and former Cowboys quarterback Jason Garrett inexplicably allowing quarterback Tony Romo a swing pass option out of field goal and hail mary range in his own territory with four seconds left in the half, putting tailback Tashard Choice in position to give up a defensive touchdown.

Dallas replacement right tackle Alex Barron being called for three holding plays, all against Brian Orakpo including the fateful last play of the game. The Redskins taking three points off the board in the third quarter then getting nothing for it, Dallas cornerback intercepting quarterback Donovan McNabb in the end zone on that same drive, the play nullified by a chuck penalty on safety Gerald Sensabaugh, three plays later Josh Bidwell would mishandle the field goal snap and what was a 13-0 game is now back to 10-0. Two possession later with an intervening Redskins three and out and the Cowboys would score their only points, a touchdown.

The Redskins sticking to the running game, 51 of Clinton Portis' 63 yards on the ground came in the second half with the game close, if this had been Jim Zorn or Al Saunders in charge of the offense the team would have come out in the second half with that slim lead and started chucking it all over the place and the Redskins would have made mistakes on offense and lost the game.

Cornerback Carlos Rogers missing his first surefire interception of the year, the more things change the more they stay the same. Carlos played well in coverage, he will never be the ball hawk this defense needs him to be, therefore the coaches will be looking to replace him as soon as they can find someone with eighty percent of his coverage skills and the ability to catch a ball.

As a fan I can only say this was one of the more rewarding moments as a Redskins fan in some time. Plenty of room for improvement, yes. The curve is pointing upwards though.

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Chattering Class: The Washington Post front page section A page one story is back with a vengeance, Mark Maske delivers the game recap for the everyman, sandwiched on the front page between a stories on tax cuts consuming Congress' energy and how president Hamid Karzai is not really an ally in the war on Afghan corruption.

Also over at the Washington Post, Tom Boswell writes about a good start for the Redskins and reminds Redskins fans that other coaches have come into Washington and started hot before struggling.

Curly R favorite Tracee Hamilton writes about tailback Clinton Portis' obvious transformation from owner-brownnosing, teammate throwing under the busing malcontent to quiet contributor and reminds us there may be no other ball carrier in the league that can block like Clinton.

Michael Wilbon has mostly dropped off the pages of Curly R, I have outgrown his work, or he has been on cruise control for half a decade, pick one, he gets it right today, this is a game the Redskins would have lost in years past, a solid but mediocre performance, the difference this time is that it was the other team making the mistakes.

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Omnibus: Broadcasters: Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, Cris has really grown on me, he is a quick wit and knows his shit, NBC knew what they were doing.

Uniform watch: Worst kept secret in Washington: The Redskins were going to bring back the gold pants from the Sonny Jurgenson days and they did with the Redskins taking the field in burgundy jerseys and yellow pants, with a new era of Redskins football upon us and I need to rethink my well known prejudices on uniform combinations.

Miscue roll call: Reed Doughty with a missed tackle on the first play of the game, Carlos Rogers with a missed tackle in the Cowboys fourth drive, Rocky McIntosh on same drive, hits Felix Jones in backfield and can't bring him down, Brian Orakpo on same drive had a chance to take down Marion Barber in the backfield and whiffed, Carlos Rogers missing the interception in the Dallas tenth drive, Carlos has hands of stone.

Plus internets roll call: Rocky McIntosh with a nice strip attempt in Dallas' first drive, DeAngelo Hall figured into three plays on that drive. Dallas second drive Felix Jones got a good run ended by a big LaRon Landry hit. Dallas fifth possession, Brian Orakpo makes mincemeat of guard Doug Free, Andre Gurode called for holding Ricky McIntosh and Rocky still gets through for the hit. Clinton Portis can black just about anyone in the backfield.

Starting defensive line: Adam Carriker, Maake Kemoeatu and Kedric Golston, no Albert Haynesworth to be found to start the game. He was in on that first drive on third down and was at the nickel.

Just. A. Little. Weird. to see Donovan McNabb taking the field in burgundy and gold.

Shot of Dan Snyder whooping on Dono's big run in Redskins first drive.

Total bullshit personal foul call on London Fletcher in Dallas' second drive, the receiver's knee was not even down.

End of Dallas second possession, second quarter, Albert Haynesworth was pulled from the game and was not happy about it, the cameras saw him stomping around after being pulled, he is a total bitch.

Second quarter, Redskins third possession, Stephon Heyer is in the game at right tackle in place of Jammal Brown, what is up with that? Later I saw Kory Lichtensteiger in at left guard in place of Derrick Dockery, are these related to performance, injury or are they part of a new standard rotation?

Game management problems: Washington called two of their three timeouts of the second half in the first possession of the half. Does everyone that coaches Donovan become Andy Reid?

Washington's fifth possession illustrated an age old football truism: Do not take points off the board, after dodging a Terrence Newman interception and two left corner fade incompletes to Anthony Armstrong, Josh Bidwell fumbled the field goal snap and the Redskins get nothing. See more about that here.

1:33 left in third quarter, NBC shows us a replay of Miles Austin's touchdown catch, they somehow reverse out the field and the grass is black, it was weird.

Great stat: London Fletcher has played 99.2 percent of the Redskins defensive snaps. Missed the time frame, whether it is last season or in all four seasons he has been here it is a great stat.

MIKE SELLERS YOU SUCK!!

Gamewrap headline workup: The Boys Aren't Back In Town, It Just Hit Me, Cowboys Super Bowl Plans On Hold, Cowboys Hold on to Lose.

Nice to see the other team score a let down in the final seconds, it seems like the Redskins have been the team that cannot shoot for about four seasons now.

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The Mastermind: Head coach Mike Shanahan was mostly in place for this game, a departure from the preseason where he prowled like a big cat, at the end of the game though he was in full pace mode, getting used to seeing that guy on the sideline is going to take a while. For a good look at coach Shanahan at work on the sideline, check this out.

Number Five: Quarterback Donovan McNabb did not have a stellar night, fifteen of 32 for 171 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions and a 63 passer rating. One INT was called back on a penalty in the third quarter. Dono found connections to receiver Santana Moss and tight end Chris Cooley so let us look at this game as the beginning of the beginning.

Silver and Back: Rookie left tackle Trent Williams held his own against Cowboys Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware, Trent gave up one sack which about the least any left tackle in the league is going to give up, a solid performance in his first regular season game after tangling with Terrell Suggs and Calvin Pace in the preseason.

Albert the Butthurt: Oh Albert. He was not in the game to start though he did play in that first drive and was in for most of the game at nose tackle, the highlight of the Albert Experience was near the end of the second quarter, the Cowboys were driving and Albert was pulled on a third down, the cameras captured him in all his petulant glory standing by himself on the sidelines with hands out, clearly wondering to anyone that wold pay attention, why o why cruel woild would coach evar take me out? Albert is going to be a lol all season.

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Washington Post recap, photo gallery. NFL recap, box score, full play by play, Gamebook (PDF), photos, video highlights.


Next up, the Houston Texans, Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan's old team, and their high powered offense come to town, last week the Texans snookered the Colts, a team accustomed to playing with a lead, therefore Indianapolis' defense would be more comfortable playing against the pass, instead of unleashing Matt Schaub (Wahoowa!) and Andre Johnson in the passing game, Houston kept it on the ground with undrafted Arian Foster, the Colts could never compensate and now the Texans are 2-17-0 against the Colts. Sunday's game figures to be a real test.



DeAngelo Hall: Jonathan Newton / Washington Post from here. Matt Schaub: Getty Images from here.

A Game Too Far

The last time?

Takeaway Drill: Why bother, no one played and nothing happened, it was all the way across the country and the goddamn game did not end until 1:30 in the morning, for the love of god let the preseason be over.

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Quick jump to

Monday Walkthrough :: Soapbox :: Chattering Class :: Omnibus Spotlights :: Recaps and Stats

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Monday Friday Walkthrough: All 22 projected starters sit and there is little interesting that happens as the Redskins lose 20-10 to the Cardinals in Arizona, Washington finishes the preseason 2-2, the games matter from now on and the outlook is murky.

Redskins kickoff to start the first quarter, the Cardinals start their first drive with Derek Anderson at quarterback not Matt Leinart, on second down cornerback Justin Tryon overruns the play and gives up a first down, there is nothing for the Cardinals on the ground and Jay Feely sets up for a 41 yard field goal, it is good and the Cardinals take an early 3-0 lead. Washington gets the ball for the first time, Richard Bartel at quarterback, on third down a fumble is nullified by an Arizona offsides penalty, Willie Parker gets a first down on the ensuing play, then five more on first down, kicker Graham Gano eventually sets up for a 38 yard field goal, a Redskins penalty moves it back to 50 yards and it is good, game is tied 3-3. Arizona gets the ball for the second time, Matt Leinart in the game for maybe the last time in a Cardinals uniform, Robert Henson sacks Matt, a three and out and the Cardinals are punting. The Redskins get the ball for the second time, John Beck in at quarterback, ho hum and three and out, Redskins punt. The Cardinals third possession is blah blah and that is the end of the first quarter with the game tied 3-3.

Arizona continues its third possession into the second quarter, I guess it is ok but punt on a six and out. Washington's third possession, Richard Bartel in the game, the Redskins actually go backwards, mainly on a sack and a false start and the Redskins punt. The Cardinals get the ball for the fourth time, new quarterback in the game, Max Hall, kind of lost track of this drive, the Cardinals go 56 yards into Redskins territory at the two minute warning, the Cardinals go in for the score on short run to move the game to 10-3 Cardinals. The Redskins get the ball for the fourth time, John Beck in the game, they look good on six plays, Graham Gano lines up for a 58 yard field goal, it is short and wide and the half is over with the Jets leading 10-3.

Washington gets the ball to start the third quarter, their fifth possession, Richard Bartel in at quarterback, Willie Parker disappoints then a sack and the Redskins are punting. Arizona's fifth possession is a long drive, all tailback Alfonso Smith, the Cardinals move 48 yards in nine plays and kick a 22 yard field goal, the Cardinals now lead 13-3. The Redskins get the ball for the sixth time, Richard Bartel in the game, an unremarkable three and out and the Redskins are punting. The Cardinals get the ball for the sixth time, the drive starts in Washington territory, Max Hall and Alfonso Smith go 43 yards to score on a quarterback scramble, Arizona now leads 20-3. Washington's seventh drive, Richard Bartel at quarterback, Richard is is four for four on this drive, Ryan Torain in at tailback, the quarter ends with the Redskins at the Cardinals 23 yard line with Arizona leading 20-3.

The Redskins continue their seventh possession into the fourth quarter, on the first play Richard Bartel tosses a 21 yard touchdown pass to receiver Terrence Austin, the Cardinals now lead 20-10. Arizona gets the ball for the seventh time, it is a long nine yard drive and the Cardinals are punting. Washington's eighth possession, John Beck in at quarterback, the highlight of this drive is a 38 yard pass to Terrence Austin, but it's still a punt. The Cardinals get the ball for the eighth time, new quarterback in the game, Jake Skelton, blah bah three and out., Redskins ball. The Redskins ninth possession, John Beck at quarterback, the game is getting hard for me to follow, Devin Thomas still in the game, it is fifteen yards on seven plays and Washington turns it over on downs, Cardinals ball. Arizona's ninth possession is hard to keep track of but all is good as cornerback Justin Tryon intercepts disposable Cardinals quarterback in the end zone then runs it out 25 yards, may have saved his career. Washington's tenth possession is a three and out with John Beck still in the game, Arizona punt returner Justin Miller muffs the catch on a hit by Ryan Torain and Ramzee Robinson recovers, Redskins ball. Washington moves right into its eleventh and final possession with less than a minute in the game, they move with some alacrity, two first downs in a row, John Beck hooks up for one more pass to Devin Thomas and that is the end, the Cardinals win 20-10 to end the preseason, next time we talk the games count.

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Soapbox: A pretty much worthless experience, a lousy game played too far away for the occasion and too late for Washington audiences. No projected starters played and while there were a few moments with the reserves and future ex Redskins that were memorable, like Brandon Banks' 40 yard kickoff return and Terrence Austin making another strong statement for the roster with five catches for 94 yards and touchdown and Robert Henson tackling everything in sight until he hurt his knee and sure to be cut Richard Bartel outplaying newly extended John Beck at quarterback, all in all this was a waste of a game.

Note to the NFL, I understand the Phoenix market never gets to have a game on at 7:00 pm locally, even when the Cardinals play on Sunday or Monday nights, so it was nice for them to have a prime time game, I really do get that. A 10:00 pm ET weeknight game however is completely uncalled for, if you really must oblige the west coast market then do east coast fans the courtesy of scheduling the game on Friday so we do not have to drag our asses out of bed for work the next day.

As far as football, the only factor in this game that will bleed into the regular season is Albert Haynesworth, he started or very close to it and must have played the entire game, with less than four minutes left to go in the fourth quarter he was still in the game, Albert is either very psyched to play (not likely) or very pissed (very likely). It looks like head coach Mike Shanahan may be willing to take the pissing contest into the regular season.

So let us get it the fuck on, the 2010 NFL season starts next week sports fans, get ready.

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Chattering Class: With Washington Post columnist Mike Wise on a bullshit thirty day suspension for an admittedly bonehead move, I mean seriously the Post should give Mike a bonus for all the eyeballs he has generated in the past week, we are robbed of our regular postgame column, and nothing from Tracee Hamilton either. There was plenty of high quality commentary about this game that happened outside the realm of the Washington Post and sumday I will be back to a place where I can take a leisurely jaunt around the internets to find all the best takes on a game, for now I am lucky to get these gamewraps out between games and the WaPo is still my default start for Redskins tastemaking.

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Omnibus: Watching the pregame show on Comcast SportsNet, notes I am picking up:

Twenty-nine players not expected to play, this includes all projected starters and tailback Larry Johnson, presumably that means Larry is on board and Willie Parker, Ryan Torain and Keiland Williams are battling for the third spot.

Trevor Matich, former Redskins long snapper on the CSN pregame said he thought the Redskins might keep four tailbacks but that the fourth tailback would not be competing with other tailbacks but instead would be competing with all other position players for a spot as a special teams contributor. Trevor is not beloved as a Redskin though is very knowledgeable.

Broadcasters: Kenny Albert and Joe Theismann, ugh, hoping the Redskins are good in the regular season meaning we do not see Kenny often. Rick Doc Walker on the sideline, ho hum.

Uniform watch: The preferred home uniform of white jersey and burgundy pants, that is four for four in the preseason. Guessing I will be disappointed in the regular season. The Cardinals come out in some awful looking black jerseys.

Bubble watch: Cornerback Justin Tryon gave up a first down on an overrun in the Cardinals first possession. Linebacker HB Blades was beat in coverage on the same drive. Cornerback Kevin Barnes missed a tackle on a run in that drive. Brandon Banks has a great kickoff return to open the Redskins first possession, Willie Parker had two strong runs in this possession. in the crossover between the Cardinals second possession and the Redskins possession Brandon Banks muffed the punt, that makes three return fumbles vice one 77 yard return for a touchdown. Redskins second drive, Logan Paulsen gets a good catch, same drive Willie Parker hits for a loss. Cardinals third possession, second quarter, linebacker Robert Henson blows through the line to nail the ball carrier. Cardinals fourth possession, second quarter, cornerback Byron Westbrook whiffed on a tackle. Fourth quarter: TERRENCE AUSTIN! Justin Tryon with an interception in the end zone with two minutes left in the game. Does he make the team?

New term: Sideline pajamas, a player in his jersey with no pads, as Chris Cooley was in this game, credit to Tony Almeida for this one.

New real actual general manager Bruce Allen appeared in the teeny tiny media booth with Kenny and Joe in the second quarter and let it slip that the Redskins have six open roster spots.

Ouch, linebacker Robert Henson sprained his knee in the third quarter, he was having a great game.

Albert in the fourth quarter? Awesome. Was still in the game with three minutes left. HA HA! I'M USING THE SHAVING FOAMS!

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The Mastermind: Head coach Mike Shanahan does a lot of pacing on the sidelines doesn't he? Dude has some serious, career making or breaking decisions to make in the next 24 hours.

Number Five: Quarterback Donovan McNabb did not play, in fact I was surprised he made the trip, there he was on the sidelines in a t-shirt with his radio earpiece in, Dono should be good to go for week one, now it is all about keeping him upright.

Silver and Back: Rookie left tackle Trent Williams also did not play, in his place started Stephon Heyer, the rising fourth year undrafted tackle, Stephon will be Trent's top replacement at left tackle.

Albert the Butthurt: Defensive nose end Albert Haynesworth basically started, he may have missed the very first play on defense, and then proceeded to play the entire game, after Albert's meltdown following preseason game two then hearing before this game that Albert actually wanted to play, the better to ensure his place on the team and prove his commitment, I am seriously confused. I cannot imagine a guy with such a gigantic ego would actually want to play so far into the final preseason game, playing along with guys that will never play or will not make the team. As far as the quality of his play, I was not able to evaluate him properly.

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Washington Post recap, photo gallery. NFL recap, box score, full play by play, Gamebook (PDF), photos, video highlights.


Next up, a real game, 2010 game one, Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys come to Redskins Stadium for this season's first Sunday night game, after a weak preseason the Cowboys look like a team that may have missed its window, after splitting with Dallas in 2006, 2007 and 2008, Washington lost both games to Dallas in 2009, pride and a solid start on the line for both teams.



Willie Parker: Getty Images from here. Tony Romo: Getty Images from here.

I Feel Pretty Good About Rex

But let's not get carried away

Takeaway Drill: No serious injuries except for the one that may be, or not; second top AFC defense in as many weeks; speaking of, nice looking Redskins defense you got there, let's not talk about the offense right now.

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Quick jump to

Monday Walkthrough :: Soapbox :: Chattering Class :: Omnibus Spotlights :: Recaps and Stats

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Monday Saturday Walkthrough: The Redskins suffer another injury to a key starter, impress on defense and look not all there on offense as Washington beats the New York Jets 16-11 in New Jersey to move to 2-1 in the preseason, the real games are getting closer and the house is filled with nervous laughter.

Jets won the toss and deferred, the Redskins get the ball to start the first quarter, Rex Grossman at quarterback for Washington's first drive, Rex finds Joey Galloway on the first play, then to Santana Moss for a first down, that is that though and two plays later the Redskins are punting. New York's first possession, second year pro Mark Sanchez at quarterback, Braylon Edwards catches a first down, this is a long drive than ends with a 41 yard field goal by Nick Folk, former Cowboys kicker, Redskins defense was soft, Jets take an early 3-0 lead. The Redskins get the ball for the second time, Anthony Armstrong and Chris Cooley in motion as receiver, then Santana for 29, thanks to linebacker Bart Scott for the roughing the passer call, the drive stalls in Jets territory and Graham Gano kicks a 27 yard field goal, the game is tied 3-3. The Jets get the ball for the second time, Ladainian Tomlinson gets the ball and takes the first carry 45 yards, Jets score another first down and that is the end of the first quarter with the game tied 3-3.

The second quarter starts with the Jets continuing their second possession, London Fletcher makes a great play in pass coverage and the Jets are punting. Washington's third possession starts with a long incomplete to Santana Moss from the Redskins ten to the Jets 32, 58 yards in the air, next play was nothing to Willie Parker, two plays later the Redskins are punting. The Jets get the ball for the third time, it is a three and out featuring a 55 yard incomplete by Mark Sanchez, Jets punt... but waterbug return man and aspiring receiver Brandon Banks fumbles the punt return and the Jets recover, New York's fourth possession starts on the Redskins 34 yard line, just as it looks like the Jets are about to go in for an easy score DeAngelo Hall intercepts Mark Sanchez on third and eight from the Redskins thirteen, he takes the ball 34 yards, Redskins ball. The Redskins get the ball for the fourth time, Rex strongarms it into Joey Galloway, two plays later a tipped ball stalls the drive, Graham Gano lines up and belts a 42 yard field goal and the Redskins take a 6-3 lead. The Jets fifth possession has something though I do not notice until linebacker Chris Wilson sacks Mark Sanchez and the Jets are punting. Washington's fifth possession from the Washington five yard line, Keiland Williams for nothing then Rex bobbles a good shotgun snap into the end zone, Rex kicks the ball out the back of the end zone for a safety making the game 6-5 Washington. The Redskins free kick to the Jets for New York's sixth possession, on first down Mark Sanchez passes to former Steeler and current stoner Santonio Holmes, cornerback Phillip Buchanon strips the ball and linebacker Perry Riley recovers for Washington, one play drive, upheld by replay bitches. Washington's sixth drive starts with a long incomplete to Santana, Keiland Williams catches for first down, I hadsome blah blah, Rex fumbles and the Jets recover but teh ball is awarded to Washington, it happens to be fourth down and the Redskins punt. New York's seventh possession starts with eleven seconds left in the half, Ladainian Tomlinson for fourteen and the Jets are going to try a 62 yard field goal, no good and that is the half as the Redskins lead 6-5.

The Jets get the ball to start the third quarter, New York's eighth drive, Mark Sanchez still in the game, on third and short the pressure is there and Vonnie Holliday stops Mark short and the Jets punt. The Redskins get the ball for the seventh time, John Beck in the game at quarterback, Larry Johnson at tailback, John finds receiver Terence Austin for a long first down, we would see him again on a Santana Moss receiver screen in traffic for another first down, a corner blitz on third down stalls this drive and Graham Gano kicks a 41 yard field goal, Redskins now lead 9-5, this was a good drive. New York gets the ball for the ninth time, Mark Sanchez still in the game, good pressure on the passer by the backups, there is no Jets running game apparent, this is a long drive that goes through the end of the quarter with the Redskins leading 9-5.

The Jets continue their ninth drive into the fourth quarter in scoring position and in fact tight end Dustin Keller catches a short pass and pushes it over the goal line for a touchdown, former Cowboys kicker Nick Folk misses the extra point and Jets now lead 11-9. Washington gets the ball for the eighth time, Richard Bartel in at quarterback and he goes long long to Brandon Banks to start the drive, Brandon draws the offensive pass interference and that pushes the Redskins back to their twelve yard line, Fred Davis drops a pass, an intentional grounding is not called then a give up run on third and 25 and Washington is punting from the end zone. New York's tenth drive starts on Washington's side of the field, former Redskin Mark Brunell in the game, Jeremy Jarmon blows through the line easily on third down for a sack and the Jets are punting. The Redskins get the ball for the ninth time, John Beck is back in the game at quarterback, on third and thirteen from the Redskins three Brandon Banks catches in traffic and dashes for a first down, that is pretty much it for that drive and the Redskins punt. The Jets' eleventh possession is blah blah and FUMBLE, cornerback Ramzee Robinson recovers, Redskins ball. Washington's tenth drive has Richard Bartel back in the game, he connect immediately with rookie tight end Logan Paulsen, then a fifteen yard out to Brandon Banks, then a long Larry Johnson run to the right, two plays later Larry takes a trap screen over the middle for fifteen yards and a touchdown, Redskins now lead 16-11, nice work by Richard Bartel on this drive. The Jets get the ball for the twelfth time, Mark Brunell in the game, he fumbles on first down, defensive end Darrion Scott knocks the ball loose and Kevin Barnes recovers, Redskins ball. Washington gets the ball for the eleventh time with less than two minutes left in the game, everyone is done for the night, the team uses six plays to suck out the clock and that is that as the Redskins win 16-11 to move to 2-1 in the preseason, all in all a good game.

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Soapbox: Forget everything you know about the second half, particularly the fourth quarter, all that Richard Bartel - John Beck back and forth and Larry Johnson scoring big at the end of the game, that is all worthless from an evaluation standpoint. It was all about the first two quarters.

Rex Grossman was far from an embarrassment, Clinton Portis sprained his ankle, Joey Galloway caught passes, DeAngelo Hall grabbed another interception.

It is hard to evaluate this team in that period, principally because it is preseason and it is difficult to evaluate most teams objectively; we know the team is keeping a lot of stuff under wrap and nothing I see tells me this is a team destined for a failure of a season.

What I see is a team that is still coming together. New players, new system, new dynamics. Have a look at the last two Redskins games, here I am excluding preseason game one against the Bills because I have come to realize they are that hapless, and focusing instead on the Jets and Ravens, two good offenses and two superior defenses.

The run game could be better, I honestly do not think head coach Shanahan needs to see one hundred yard ground games in preseason, we all know the running game is going to be there, even if it needs to be set up by the passing game a la Andy Reid's Eagles. Let these offensive linemen line up and knock some people around for a while and they will get in a run blocking groove; it is all Clinton Portis and all others are tied at number two, it really does not matter who is backing Clinton up.

The passing game is in good shape, Joey Galloway and Santana Moss both dropped what would have been long completions, there are no Randy Mosses or Jerry Rices or Steve Smiths on this team and the Redskins are going to have do without that playmaker this season; 2010 is all about finding one or two players in that mostly undistinguished group of pass catchers that Donovan McNabb can bond with; Chris Cooley, Santana Moss and one other will get us through, and if those two guys get hurt then there are bigger problems.

Rex Grossman is still a starting caliber quarterback, I fear we will get a good long look at what he can do this season, no one should expect Peyton Manning out of Rex, he looked sharp last night and if the line can block for him he will be able to find the open man. With Rex the Redskins may not be heading to the Super Bowl in Mike Shanahan Year One, we are not talking Danny Wuerffel either.

It is all in the difference between jelling and struggling; you want to see a team that is struggling? Go and have a look at that Cowboys-Texans game from Saturday night. Dallas looked like a bunch of amateurs, you know you are having a bad night when the preseason announcers start piling on.

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Chattering Class: Sally Jenkins at the Washington Post writes (op. cit.) that there are still many questions about how this team really will perform, and I agree and as I have written above I attribute this more to coming together than to falling apart.

Tracee Hamilton also at the Post loves herself some receiver Anthony Armstrong (op. cit.) and I agree, I really think the guy looks like the new Santana Moss. With the team preparing for life after Santana starting in 2011 we may have a guy the team can keep. Main question of course is, can he extend it into the regular season, and can he keep it up for sixteen games plus playoffs.

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Omnibus: Uniform watch: The preferred uniform of white jerseys and burgundy pants.

Broadcasters: Kenny Albert and Joe Theismann, not my favorite, much prefer Mike Patrick teamed up with Joe.

Joey Galloway now has a stat line, catching the first pass of the game. On that possession there was a near hookup, then another on the next drive. Rex and Joey hooked up in the second quarter as well, good arm, good catch.

Willie Parker opened the game at tailback and fell right down. Next carry, second possession, also fall down, same with third. Fourth was positive yards but maybe like three yards, fifth was a fall down at the line. Sixth was in third drive and nahthing. Seventh was an eight yard carry, feels good man.

Opening defensive line: Adam Carriker, Maake Kemoeatu, Kedric Golston, is this really a starting line? Albert Haynesworth made an appearance in the opening defensive series, not officially a starter but might as well be.

Redskins second possession, first quarter, Dono on the sideline in sweats with an earpiece. Big smile as always. One possession later we see offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan talking to Rex Grossman, Dono was right there listening.

Wedge rule: Jets were penalized for having four men on the wedge on the kickoff after the Redskins first field goal, a two year old rule but first time I have seen it enforced.

London Calling: Jets second possession, second quarter, London Fletcher was out in pass coverage, stretched out 20 yards downfield to break up a pass.

Rex's Arm: Redskins third possession, second quarter, Rex tossed the ball from the Redskins ten to the Jets 32, that is 58 yards in the air. Rex can rip it. On the ensuing Jets possession Mark Sanchez ripped an incomplete 55 yards from the Jets 36 to the Redskins seven, these guys can throw it.

Working titles for gamewrap: I Feel Pretty Good About Rex;

My big takeaway from the first half is, Rex can play.

At halftime Joe Theismann was impressed by the Redskins offensive line blocking, Trent Williams appears to have recovered from last week.

During the Redskins first possession of the second half Rick Doc Walker talked to left guard Derrick Dockery, he led the interview by saying that he was quote challenged unquote to do better. Coaching?

Larry Johnson in the second half, still not looking good.

The backups actually put together a good drive, Washington's first in the second half.

On this five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina Joe Theismann reminds us that as head coach of the New Orleans Saints, Jim Haslett had to play every game of the season on the road.

Jets second possession of second half, Albert Haynesworth pushed the pocket back and slammed Mark Sanchez to the ground with one hand.

Chris Horton lined up at strong safety in the second half, new guy Tyrone Carter was at free safety, saw Chris take a couple of bad angles.

21st century faux pas? During a sideline interview by Rick Doc Walker with defensive end Adam Carriker, Joe Theismann asked from the booth if that was gum or chew, ie chewing tobacco in Adam's mouth. Aside from Joe being orally fixated on a young man tobacco is gauche. It was sunflower seeds Adam was chewing on.

Mark Brunell? Holy shit, I did not know New Orleans let him go and I am surprised Mark is still in the game. He did good things for the Redskins in 2005 and then it all went downhill from there.

Ooh Larry Johnson gets a good carry. In the fourth quarter. Two possessions later he showed that he can run downfield when there is no one around him. Two plays later Larry catches a screen and takes it in for a touchdown, he almost fell on the way in, I am not trying to be down on Larry, at this point Larry Johnson sucks is a meme and he needs to displace that.

Plus ten internets for neighbor Bill pointing out that third string quarterback John Beck wears legendary Redskins kicker Mark Moseley's number three. Link http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/images/redskins/oldies/markm.jpg

Does Jason Taylor have anything left in the tank? He was out there in the fourth quarter and I never saw him spotlighted except when he was heaving on the bench.

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The Mastermind: Getting pretty accustomed to head coach Mike Shanahan pacing the sidelines in that long sleeve mock turtleneck, he seems pretty calm and agitated no matter the situation, maybe that is the deal.

Number Five: Quarterback Donovan McNabb did not play with a sprained left ankle, the story was that his ankle was sprained so badly that if this was a regular season game Dono would not have played.

Silver and Back: Rookie left tackle Trent Williams had a much better night than last week against the Ravens and Terrell Suggs, Trent held well against linebackers Calvin Pace and Jason Taylor, Calvin injured his foot in this game and did not play the entire first half and former Redskin Jason Taylor appears to have nothing left in the tank, I guess this means that Trent can play well enough to stay out of the headlines against in an average matchup which I would call good progress for any rookie.

Albert the Butthurt: Defensive nose end Albert Haynesworth came in to the game at right defensive end on the fourth play of the Redskins first defensive series and played about thirty snaps, lining up at nose tackle and end, he played well and now he's all smug and shit.

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Washington Post recap, photo gallery. NFL recap, box score, full play by play, Gamebook (PDF), photos, video highlights.


Next up, the final tuneup as the Redskins travel to Arizona to play the Kurt Warnerless Cardinals, Washington will travel farther for this game than any other team this season for any preseason or regular season game. Fifth (fifth!) year first round Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Matt Leinart was pulled nine plays into Saturday's game, head coach Ken Whisenhunt denies Matt is out of favor because Matt was not brought to the team by coach Whisenhunt which of course means Matt is out of favor because Matt was not brought to the team by coach Whisenhunt. That and he sucks.



Rex Grossman: Getty Images from here. Matt Leinart and his beer bong from here.