Redskins WIN!

In what was essentially a playoff game for both teams, the 'Skins came out victorious! It was a pretty strange game with the number of injuries and the number of penalties but as I always say, there is only one stat that counts at the end of the game and the 'Skins got the win. Here are a few thoughts:

The Good: 'Skins defense came up big against a pathetic Bear running game. Todd Collins had a great game coming in for the injured Jason Campbell. The coaching was pretty good on all fronts. I liked that Williams had the defense blitzing 95% of the game and putting pressure on both Grossman and Griese. We got a couple of sacks and a couple of INTs. Springs came up big in his play especially considering it was even certain he was going to play in the game because of his back. I also liked the play of Landry at free safety taking over for Taylor. He had the late hit personal foul on Muhammad which was a bad play on his part but he was pretty aggressive out there. He made good hits and had a couple of opportunities at INTs and just in general seemed to be flying around out there.

The offense was very aggressive in the play calling (almost to a fault). We did a lot of passing even at the end when we typically seem content with trying to run the ball and wind down the clock. I was a little surprised when we got the ball with like 6 and a half minutes remaining and the score was 17-13 and we came out passing. First, we hit a 13 yarder to Moss and the next play was a 12 yarder to Randle El. Even our first TD was a bit of a surprise. Springs ran back the INT deep into Bear territory and there was only like 30 seconds left and I thought we would be content with just running the ball and getting a FG so that we could get some points going into half time. However, we let Collins pass to Todd Yoder of all people for the score. Great call.

Special teams was decent in that they kept the ball away from Hester. The one thing I did not want to have happen was to give Hester the opportunity to run the ball back for a TD. He is the Bears best player and I did not want to have him beat us. Still, Suisham missed a couple of FGs which was disappointing but we still got the victory.

The Bad: Our running game was bad. Our O line did not create any holes for Portis. This was a bad Bear run D and we couldn't muster much. I understand they were crowding the box but still we have to do better. I suppose it opened up the passing game but again, we need better production. It's tough that JC went down. At least it doesn't appear to be any ligament damage so hopefully it won't be too long a rehab but we probably can't expect him to come back this year. John Eubanks sucks. I know we are already shorthanded at CB. With Rogers out, and Macklin out as well, we were forced to play Torrence (who wasn't bad) and Eubanks who was getting beat time and time again. If I were the Bears, I would have just kept going to Hester against Eubanks on every play.

The Ugly: Pretty simple...the Bears. They suck! It is hard to believe that they were the NFC Champions last year. They don't look anything like they did last year. The number of false starts and delay of games was ridiculous. I liked Collinsworth statement after the Bears just had two false starts and a delay of game penalty. He said something to the effect that there is professional football and there is unprofessional football and the Bears are downright embarrassing. Also, Urlacher looks like a shell of what he used to be. I remember watching a couple of games last year where he changed the whole complexity of the game. It was almost as though he won the games himself. I know he has an arthritic back but yesterday he was pretty much a non factor. He just looked like he was a step slow.

Anyway, all in all a great game as it keeps us alive in the playoff picture (although we have a tough road ahead). We basically ended the Bears season. We got a nice home win on national tv. Finally, I win the wager with RobsObs so that's a bonus.