I Am So Glad Joe Gibbs Is In Our Division

Heavens, but what a desultory afternoon at the Linc. Sixty-five dollars to sit in the driving rain and watch the Eagles devour a shabby, forlorn Redskins’ team. You couldn’t even put your beer down to applaud things- or it would fill with tepid rain sluicing in buckets off the roof.

The Redskins really, really worked hard to suck out all joy from winning that game. USC would have been 50-50 to beat that Washington outfit yesterday- so I don’t know what positive conclusions the Eagles can take from it. I suppose it was a “must win” game- and the Eagles are thus alive to face another “must win” game next Sunday- so that is good. I suppose. Sigh… couldn’t the Redskins have scored a touchdown, forced a turnover, committed something less than a thousand retarded penalties- something, anything that suggested that at some level they were engaged and trying?

Even the news is designed to frustrate. The Philadelphia papers are agog about the Eagles’ rushing attack. I find that odd (not to mention wrong)- as the Redskins have an absolute fetish about running the football- and they stink. Has anyone noticed? The Eagles have allowed almost 400 yards rushing total the last two games- and just sixteen points. Yesterday, Philadelphia rushed the ball for well over 100 yards- and had nothing to show for it. Their two offensive touchdowns were both the result of singular, giant, big passing plays.

Perhaps those scores were facilitated by the running game. But ultimately, in the NFL the run is only good for three things: setting up the pass, tactically moving the clock and reducing the number of points you score. Most teams waste too many snaps trying to “establish the run”. Put the ball on the thirty- and run four straight “successful” running plays- and you are looking at 2nd and 5 from your 47. Or run two good pass plays coupled with two incompletes- and it is 1st and 10 near field goal territory. Our Precious League is not the Big Ten- 12 plays and 75 yards doesn’t happen here- you gotta throw it (a lot) to score it.

And the Redskins can’t do that. Other than Randel El doing something crazy (ed. that was a helluva option throw he made that Dawkins made a miraculous play on), there is nothing on the Redskins to fear. They have good wide outs, but the quarterback can’t and the coach won’t throw the ball down the field. The ‘skins are so, so easy to play defense against. Make a mistake against the Eagles, it’s a touchdown or a field position flipping play. Make a mistake against Brunell, Portis flops forward for five, or someone catches the ball in flat for six. Either way it brings up a 3rd and 3 that Brunell has little hope of converting the three times in succession required to score.

Worse… look, I know Brunell throws the ball away a lot- but he also looks more than a little gun shy out there. Fifteen minutes into the game, it was obvious the Redskins were not going to be able to run the ball to three touchdowns. But no one did anything about it! Saunders, Gibbs and Brunell were content to run the ball in a sad manner, throw the requisite incomplete pass- and punt the ball.

So holding the Redskins to three points doesn’t mean much. I am glad to see the win- but unless USC is a Wild Card team in this NFL too, the Eagles’ win means little more than they got a chance to win next week and make the season relevant again heading to Indianapolis.