Month: October 2019

Another revenge game storyline, a game where Kirk Cousins got to beat on a Redskins team that did not believe in him. A team that let him go and went in a different Quarterback direction. Case Keenum got a chance to do the same for a Vikings team that also allowed him to sign elsewhere. However, he suffered a concussion and was replaced by Dwayne Haskins, negating his opportunity to inflict some type of revenge on his old team. Although, I do not think his chances of pulling off a victory were high, considering how badly this team is playing. The final score was 9-19 for the Vikings.

We are now 1-7, and this team is now inconsequential as far as the NFC East division goes. I do not think I can remember a recent time when a Redskins team was this irrelevant 8 weeks into a season. Even when we had a losing record in previous seasons, this team was somewhere in the middle of it all, fighting it out week after week, making things difficult for our opponents, especially for our division rivals. Management and ownership seem unaware and clueless about how awful this team is. On paper, this team should be a hell of a lot better. The product out in the field is a disaster. They cannot stop anybody on defense, even though they are loaded with young talent on the defensive side. Terry McLaurin is our only star in the making. I get the sense from listening to Bill Callahan discussing Dwayne Haskins that he will be inserted into the starting line up after the bye week, and then a clearer picture of the future of this team will develop.

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It is evident to me that this team is playing better under Callahan than under Jay Gruden, but they need to start winning games soon. Things are not getting any easier for us, next week, we play the Bills. They have an outstanding defense, but if we follow the Eagles game plan and run the ball well as coach Callahan likes, then we have a shot at pulling the upset. We got to establish our running game early and stick to it no matter what the score is. We have to play old school football; run the ball down their throats type of football.

My current disposiiton regarding my Redskins: Desperate for a win.

And now for the rest of the league….

WEEK 8:

Eagles 31-Bills 13: It was all about running the ball down Buffalo’s throat, and the Bills defense did not have an answer to Philly’s running game. The Eagles needed this victory badly after being embarrassed last week by the overrated Cowboys. Next week the Bills play my Redskins, and I hope we can duplicate Philly’s success running the ball.

Lions 31-Giants 26: The Lions are still chasing a playoff spot, with this win they are now 3-3, and they are pretty much still in it. Their defense played much better, and Matthew Stafford had an outstanding game. Matt Patricia is developing this team into future contenders. The Giants are losing close games, and I am not sold on Daniel Jones yet.

49ers 51-Panthers 13: This 49ers squad is undefeated at 7-0, Kyle Shanahan is another former Redskins Assistant coach lighting up the league, similar to how Sean McVay lit up the league last year. Kyle Allen had a day to forget, where he threw 3 interceptions and struggled to get this offense going like in the previous 5 games. Christian McCaffrey continues to be the lone offensive threat for the Panthers. Next week Carolina plays an important divisional game against the Titans, and Maybe Cam Newton could be ready to return.

Texans 27- Raiders 24: The fourth quarter belonged to the Texans. The Raiders were ahead in the scoreboard for three-quarters of the game until Houston put up 14 points in the fourth and held the Raiders to just one field goal. The Texans are just one game behind the Colts for 1st place in the AFC South. The Raiders fell to 3-4 for the season, they play the Lions next week, which will make for an exciting game. These are two teams building for the future.

Rams 24-Bengals 10: The NFC West is getting hotter and hotter, the Rams are in third place behind the Seahawks and 49ers. They already lost to both teams, so they will have to put together some wins heading into the December rematch games against Seattle and San Francisco to have a shot at grabbing a playoff spot. The Bengals are a disaster, they are not as bad as the Dolphins, but they are still pretty damn bad.

Colts 15-Broncos 13: Joe Flacco threw Denver’s coaching staff under the bus, calling out their playcalling. The Broncos are a mess, and maybe it is time to start looking at John Elway as the problem here. The Colts are 5-2 and making a solid run at the division title.

Patriots 27-Browns 13: Cleveland keeps getting prime time games, and they keep on losing badly. Freddie Kitchens will be fired by the end of the season. He is not the guy for this over-hyped team. The Patriots are all about their defense, and Tom Brady is looking completely disinterested; he seems to be going through the motions. Next week’s game against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens should be an interesting one.

Packers 31-Chiefs 24: Kansas city needs to improve on defense ASAP, picking up someone by the trade deadline to boost their defense should be a priority. Pat Mahomes should be back soon, but their main issue is the inability to stop anyone on defense. The packers are now 7-1, and their next three games will be against tough teams.

Chargers 17-Bears 16: The Bears cannot catch a break, and Matt Nagy decided to kneel on a 1st down before a field goal attempt, fans, and the media are heavily questioning his decision making, the field goal attempt failed, and it cost them the game. Trubisky continues to struggle, and changes are in order for this team; maybe it is time to start looking at their GM Ryan Pace and some of his decisions. The Chargers refuse to go down into the night quietly, they are a tough, scrappy team, and they will make games difficult for anyone facing them.

Saints 31-Cardinals 9: Drew Brees came back and looked great, throwing for over 300 yards and 3 TDs. The saints seem to be destined to run away with the Division. Nobody expected the Cardinals to be 3-4 up to this point in the season. Next week they play the 49ers, and I do not expect much from Arizona in this game.

Titans 27-Buccaneers 23: Ryan Tannehill has now won 2 straight games since taking over for Marcus Mariota as the starting QB. This is a perfect example of why it is essential to have a capable and experienced backup quarterback in your roster. Mariota’s time in Tennessee might be over, which is a strange parallel, but it feels like James Winston’s time in Tampa Bay is also winding down.

Jaguars 29-Jets 15: Sam Darnold continues to “see ghosts” throwing 3 picks if you count the 4 picks he threw last week against the Patriots, that is 7 picks in two weeks, Adam Gase was hired to develop Darnold into a starting QB, but not much progress seems to be occurring here. Garner Minshew and the Jaguars have won two in a row, bringing them to 4-4 for the season, next week they play a dangerous Texans team but without their best defensive player JJ watt who is out for the season. I like Jaguar’s chances here.

Seahawks 27-Falcons 20: Atlanta is 1-7, and they cannot get anything going on offense. Matt Schaub replacing Matt Ryan threw for over 400 yards but only 1 TD, and there was no ground game. Dan Quinn surprisingly has not gotten fired yet. The Seahawks got an easy win, and next week they play a 2-5 struggling Buccaneers team, which should be another easy win for them before going up against the 49ers on week 10.

Steelers 27-Dolphins 14: Miami scored 14 points in the first quarter, and that was it for the whole game. The steelers got going in the second quarter and never looked back. The Steelers are now 3-4, two games behind division leader Baltimore, so they need to start winning some games now to have a shot a the playoffs.

It was the “Shanahan’s revenge Bowl” and I was thinking going into the game that Kyle Shanahan was going to run up the score and humiliate the team that unfairly fired him and his father Mike Shanahan a few years ago, but thankfully our defense stepped up and held them scoreless for the first half of the game until the 49ers were able to finally score a field goal and put some points on the board. It was an ugly, nasty game. It rained all day long, and the field was in bad shape. We ended up losing 9-0. We could not even score a single field goal; it was a horrible game to watch. I guess not getting blown out by an undefeated team like the 49ers counts as a moral victory, but the thing is that we do not need those types of victories right now, we need to win some real games desperately. This team is on life support at the moment, and things will not be easy in the upcoming weeks. On Thursday night, we play the Vikings, and Kirk Cousins in Minnesota, who I am sure wants to beat on the team that gave up on him, and I do not blame him. Then, we face the Bills, which probably has the #1 or #2 best defense in the league.

We are now 1-6 for the season and 0-4 at FedEx Field. We no longer have a home-field advantage (not sure if we ever did after we left RFK stadium). Fans from every single opposing team we play at home show up and owns FedEx field. It is sad and pathetic. We need to start winning games NOW. A victory over the Vikings would change the conversation and give the fan base something to feel optimistic.

My overall disposition regarding my Redskins: Dreadful

And now for the rest of the league….

Week 7

Rams 37-Falcons 10: Todd Gurley continues to struggle running the ball, and the entire Rams offense is not making things easy, but they ended up putting up 37 points on the Falcons who are also struggling on both sides of the ball and will likely end up costing their Head coach his job very soon. The Rams defense stepped up and dominated this game with the newly acquired Jalen Ramsey.

Chiefs 30-Broncos 6: Matt Moore came into this game in the second quarter, replacing an injured Pat Mahomes and steered the ship into a solid victory over the Broncos. All the talking heads on sports media thought Vic Fangio’s defense was finally starting to come together, but the scoreboard tells a different story.

Packers 42-Raiders 24: The Packers are quietly putting themselves up as one of the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. They are now 6-1 and seem destined to at least win their division. The Raiders self-destructed in this game, but were competitive to the end and are now 3-3 and in second place in their division behind the Chiefs. Do not be surprise if they make it into the playoffs as a wildcard.

Vikings 42-Lions 30: Kirk Cousins and the Vikings are finding their rhythm and getting on a roll. Dalvin Cook is probably the best running back in the league right now. The Lions are losing tight games. I am surprised how much they have improved from last year; I was wrong about them going into the season.

Cardinals 27-Giants 21: Daniel Jones put up some solid stats, but the turnovers were crucial. The Cardinals contained Barkley and were able to pressure and sack Danny Dimes, a bunch of times. Kyler Murray has the Cardinals surprisingly seating pretty at 3-3-1, but they have a couple of tough games in the next two weeks.

Cowboys 37-Eagles 10: Carson Wentz was under siege from the start of the game, Dallas brought constant pressure and shut down the Eagles ground and air game almost entirely. Zeke Elliot ran all over the Eagles defense. The Cowboys get an easy game against the Giants next week, and then things will get tough for them with six very losable games.

Saints 36-Bears 25: The Mitch Trubisky experiment is not yielding the results Bears fans expected. The Bears lone signature victory this season was against the Vikings in week 4. The expectations were high for this 3-3 team going into this season, especially on the defensive side, but they could not stop the Saints explosive offense from putting up points on the board. Alvin Kamara was out for this game, and his backup Latavius Murray ran for over 100 yards. Terry Bridgewater continues to steer this 6-1 Saints team into the playoffs in the absence of Drew Brees.

Jaguars 27-Bengals 17: Andy Dalton put up a valiant effort to try to get this team their first win of the season, but the Jaguars defense got a bunch of turnovers to keep the Bengals at 0-7. The Bengals could not wait to push Marvin Lewis out the door, and I am pretty sure they would love to have him back right about now.

Bills 31-Dolphins 21: Only the Patriots have beaten the Bills, which says a lot about this Buffalo team. It is going to be very interesting how this AFC East division looks like come December. The Dolphins, at this pace, will end up racking up draft picks for next year’s draft.

Colts 30-Texans 23: Jacoby Brissett has the Colts fans thinking playoffs. This is precisely why every team needs to have a legit backup in case your starter goes down. The Saints, Jaguars, Panthers, and Colts have winning records with backups, but in Brissett’s case, there is no question that he is the future of this franchise, and the Colts should build around him. The Texans are now 1-1 in the AFC South division, so they still have a chance to make a run.

Ravens 30-Seahawks 16: Baltimore is looking like a completely different team from the Ravens team that got blown out by the Browns in week 4. Next week’s game against the Patriots will be must-see TV. The Seahawks defense had no answers for Lamar Jackson. Next week Seattle takes on their former defensive coordinator Dan Quinn’s 6-1 Falcons, which will make things interesting.

Titans 23-Chargers 20: This was a close game to the end. Ryan Tannehill came through for the Titans, validating the benching of Marcus Mariota and having a former starter as his backup. Mariota might be looking for a new team at the end of this season. The Chargers keep losing close games heartbreakingly, and the clock is ticking on Philip Rivers’s time with the Chargers.

Patriots 33-Jets 0: Sam Darnold could not duplicate his magic from the previous week and seemed frazzled throughout the whole game. The Patriots defense not allowing any scores is pretty remarkable, but their schedule has been pretty smooth so far, next week they have a tough test against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.

Finally, my ‘skins won a game. It was “The Battle of the Winless,” The Dolphins 0-5 vs. the Redskins 0-5, and Bill Callahan delivered on the things he spoke about during the whole week leading up to the game. I saw a renewed emphasis on the run game, which is what I been screaming about since week 1. Hopefully, we will stay the course with our running game as we head into future games. McLaurin scored 2 TDs; it is now beyond evident that he is the lone bright shining light in this offense.

Next week we play the undefeated 49ers under Kyle Shanahan. This is going to be a big game for us, as well as for Shanahan. I am sure he will try to send some type of a statement to Snyder and company by trying to beat us soundly. On the other hand, a victory against an undefeated 49ers squad would be a tremendous achievement for a Redskins team that is in dire need of morale-boosting victories. Two wins in a row would make things better, especially since the Nats have just clinched their first-ever World Series appearance. The DC area has now become ‘Nats Country’ and no longer feels like Redskins Nation is represented correctly in the streets like in the not too distant past. Now all you see is people wearing gear from some of the other local teams like the Nats, Caps, DC united. Redskins gear is becoming less and less visible. This city is no longer proud of their team, and it shows. However, winning cures all, so let us get back to winning, and hopefully, our winning tradition will once again rise in our nation’s capital.

My current overall disposition regarding my Redskins: Hopeful…

And now for the rest of the league:

WEEK 6

Jets 24-Cowboys 22: I been saying since the beginning of the season how overrated the Cowboys are, and now they have lost 3 in a row. Whisperings of Jason Garrett being fire sometime soon have already begun. The Jets got Sam Darnold back, and all of a sudden, they looked like an efficient offense. Jamison Crowder showed up big time, and LeVeon Bell had a chunk of yards running. Let’s see if the Jets can sustain this thing.

49ers 20-Rams 7: Jared Goff had one of his worst games since Sean McCoy took over as Head coach. The 49ers are steamrolling through every team they have faced this season. The Ram’s defense is not stopping anybody, and their offense is becoming stale.

Vikings 38-Eagles 20: Kirk Cousins had a great game with 3 TDs, he was able to spread the ball all over the field to most his offensive weapons. The Vikings defense continues to be on a roll. The Eagles had no answers for the Vikings, Minnesota was just the better the team.

Texans 31- Chiefs 24: Pat Mahomes is not the same since he got banged up last week. The chiefs defense is the weakest link here and now have lost two games in the row at home. The Texans are coming into their own six weeks into the season.

Panthers 37-Buccaneers 26: Kyle Allen is running this Norv Turner offense efficiently. James Winston was sloppy and had 5 interceptions. Bruce Arians will have a tough decision to make if he can’t get Winston to turn the corner by the end of the season.

Patriots 35-Giants 14: Daniel Jones should not be playing this soon! He had 3 interceptions and 1 TD. I don’t think he is ready to start against NFL caliber defenses. The patriots had heir way with The Giants.

Seahawks 32-Browns 28: Russell Wilson is making a case for league MVP. The Browns seem to be imploding on a week to week basis. They are about to become the biggest disappointment of this football season.

Saints 13-Jaguars 6: Terry Bridgewater is keeping the ship afloat quite nicely in the absence of Drew Brees. Gardner Minshew had a rough game. The Jaguars have tons of talent and are much better than what they showed in this game.

Ravens 23-Bengals 17: Lamar Jackson had a great game running and throwing the ball. The Bengals are making a case for the worst team in the NFL.

Packers 23-Lions 22: This was a great game on MNF, and it came down to a last-second field goal to lift the Packers to victory. This was a brutal divisional loss for the Lions, but they are playing way better than anybody expected. I think the three most improved teams this season are the 49ers, The Raiders, and the Lions.

Cardinals 34-Falcons 33: Dan Quinn will be fire very soon if the Falcons don’t turn things around next week against the Rams, but the cards are stacked against them. Kyler Murray had his best game so far this season, throwing for over 300 yards and zero interceptions.

Broncos 16-Titans 0: The Broncos defense found its groove and held the Titans from scoring any points. Things got so bad that Marcus Mariota ended up getting benched, and Ryan Tannehill went in to finish up the game.

Steelers 24-Chargers 17: The Chargers were getting blown up before they woke up and made the game enjoyable, but it was just too late to catch up. The Steeler’s defense is finally playing up to expectations.