Redskins made a claim for Babin

Why?  This smelled of Snyderatto so was a little surprised to here of this news.  Babin is 32 years old.  He still has a lot of money remaining on his contract and he is suited for a 4-3 defense.  All that taken together, it didn't make sense for the Skins to make a play for him. 

Shanallen has done a good job fixing the salary cap situation that Snyderatto screwed up.  They have installed a 3-4 defense and Babin wouldn't fit in our scheme and he is older and we have been getting younger.  I didn't understand the attempt to bring him in.

I get that we need help in the pass rush and we are in the thick of the playoff hunt but I didn't like the move.  I'm happy that the Jaguars got him.

ESPN Power Rankings - Week 13

Skins up one spot to #17.

Pears stay put at #6.

Puckers down five spots to #9.

Sounds about right.

CEAFOD B.S.!!!!

I have had an unbelievably frustrating season and this past week is no exception.  Once again, I find myself on the losing end of a close game.  I lost to Robs (the overall high scorer for the week) 140 to 141.  Literally if Eli Manning throws for ONE MORE YARD the game is tied.  Instead, I suffer another heartbreaking loss.  I get it.  I get that this is all part of the game but I seriously have not seen such bad luck by a team.

I will end this week at 5-7 and here is a quick recap of some of my more heartbreaking losses:

1. Week 1 - I score 152 points but lose to the overall week high scorer by 11 points.
2. Week 7 - lose by 1 point.
3. Week 8 - lose by 2 points.
4. Week 12 - lose by 1 point.

Those are some of the most heartbreaking but outside of one or two games, I have put up big points and still ended up losing in close games.  I am the overall league high scorer so it is clear I have a consistently strong team but it seems week in/week out I go up against a team that happens to have a tremendous week.

I know this comes across as belly aching but I just had to get this out there.  I just hope I get in the playoffs because I know I have a strong team that can compete and once you get in the playoffs everyone starts back at 0-0 and anything is possible.

This might as well have been me on Thanksgiving

This is why you have to like RG3

I love his answer.  If you didn't know who he was, it comes across kind of nerdy the way he really cracks himself up but I love that he is comfortable in his own skin.  I enjoy that he is kind of an oddball that just happens to be an unbelievable QB.  I honestly haven't seen a guy like him before and I'm glad he is our QB.

Meriweather done for the season

The Redskins have suffered another big injury on defense.  After missing the first nine games of the season with a left knee sprain, Brandon Meriweather suffered a torn ACL in his right knee during a non-contact play in the third quarter of Sunday’s 31-6 victory over the Eagles. The veteran safety will miss the remainder of the season, Coach Mike Shanahan said Monday at Redskins Park.

Although Meriweather was sidelined for all but a half this season, those two quarters were brilliant ones. Before getting hurt, he had made seven tackles, intercepted a pass, defended two others and made a tackle for a loss against struggling Philadelphia.

This really hurts as Meriweather was a big improvement to a struggling Redskins secondary.  Injuries happen and it's part of the game.  Still, this is a big loss.

Hopefully he recovers and comes back strong next season.

Skins dominate Iggles - win 31-6

So I expected a comfortable win this week but not that comfortable.  Frankly, it was as important a win for Shanny as there could be as he really needed to show that this team is making progress and a loss to a reeling Eagles team would have been devastating.  We had a lot reasons to believe we would win that include:

1. Eagles starting a rookie at QB.
2. Eagles O line is decimated.
3. We were at home.
4. We were coming off of a bye week.
5. We got Garcon and Meriweather back.

All of that came together and it was a solid all around game.  Here are my grades:

Offense: A. Led by RG3 who was razor sharp again.  He completed 14 of 15 passes (93%) for 200 yards, including touchdown passes of 6, 49, 61 and 17 -- one in each quarter. His numbers resulted in his first perfect passer rating of 158.3.  He also ran 12 times for 84 yards and was again serenaded with chants of "RG3."  Give credit to the WRs for this as well.  I like Aldrick Robinson and would actually like to see more of him.  Moss made an incredible catch on the 61 yard TD pass as he jumped between two defenders stealing the all away for a TD.  Morris was solid again in the run game picking up 76 yards.  I will say that I am not a real big fan of the pitch and would rather see the stretch run play.  Still, solid ground game.

Defense: A. The defense got three takeaways and four sacks and had Foles under pressure for much of the game.  Meriweather was huge in his first game back as he got 7 tackles and an INT in basically a half as he hurt his right knee early in the third quarter.  I'm not saying he is the cure all for our secondary but he certainly was a difference maker yesterday as he laid out some huge hits that not only jarred the ball loose and sent Eagles receivers to their sidelines but he helped to pump up the defense and the crowd with his play.  Hopefully his injury isn't serious and he is able to play on Thursday night.  Still, the entire defense was much better.  Coverage was solid and again we stopped their ground game limiting McCoy to 45 yards on 15 rushes.  It was a very good performance for this struggling defense.

Special Teams: B.  Solid.  Nothing special.  I do like Forbath as he is now 9 for 9 on FGs since coming to the Skins.  The only negative about this group is that Forbath really needs to do better on kickoffs.  He admittedly has a strong leg on FGs but struggles on kickoffs and it shows.  Strange that that is the case but I can live with the short kickoffs as long as he is making the FGs.

Coaching: A-.  Not much went wrong yesterday.  Game plan seemed sound.  The only two things that got me were, as mentioned, wasn't a fan of the pitch run plays especially the RG3 option runs as those don't work well at the professional level.  That said, I do like that RG3 seems much more careful about getting rid of the ball and getting to the sidelines.  On the defensive side, there were a couple of times where we showed the zero blitz thing which I am not a fan of and we didn't back out of the blitz and it hurt us.  There have been enough times now where that play has hurt us much more than helped us and I would like to see it removed from the play book.  I did like that we showed it a few times and backed out of it and I also liked sending in a corner or a safety for a blitz.  This is MUCH better coaching.  Josh Wilson had a good corner blitz resulting in a sack and a Foles fumble (recovered by the Eagles).  D. Hall also applied pressure on Foles on I believe the Eagles opening drive that helped.  This is more of what I would like to see from Haslett and the defense.  I don't want to see vanilla type of defense or an all out rush as this is WAY too predictable.

Again, a strong performance by the entire team.  The first one we have seen all season.  Again, hopefully we get Meriweather back as, while I don't think he is the cure all, I truly believe he makes the defense much better.

On to Dallas on Thanksgiving.

HTTR!!!

RG3 named a team captain

The Redskins' offensive players voted Wednesday to make their quarterback a team captain for the rest of the season. Coach Mike Shanahan said he believes it's the first time he's had a rookie in such a leadership position.

The title merely confirms reality. From the day he arrived, Griffin has eagerly seized the leadership role that comes with being an NFL starting quarterback.

I like the decision as he is the leader of the Skins.

Lucille Bliss, Voice Of Smurfette, Dies At 96

Some where Deepie is dressed in his Smurfette outfit "smurfing" his eyes out.

Skins fall to the Panthers

In a must win situation, the Skins fall short.  We had our chances but we hurt ourselves. Thirteen penalties definitely hurt.  I have said that typically most football games are decided by a handful of key plays.  Yesterday was no exception.  The key moment of the game was right before the first half.  Skins went for it on a fourth and goal from the two yard line and came up short.  With like two minutes left, the Panthers drove the ball the length of the field and scored a TD right before the half.  Instead of taking a FG and possibly going into the half at 7-6, we found ourselves down 14-3.  I will say that I didn’t have a real problem going for it on fourth down.  We have done it a fair amount this season and mostly because we have RG3 and we have largely been successful so I didn’t have a big problem with the call. 

We actually won the possession battle and the yardage but we couldn’t punch it in the end zone.  Just disappointing. 

The other play that was REALLY disappointing was I think it was a third and long and Newton threw a pass out to the left sideline to a wide open Panther WR who ran it down to around our 10 yard line.  Clearly blown coverage but that is the kind of stuff that is extremely frustrating. 

Also, frustrating was at the end when we are moving the ball and score twice but have the TDs called back because of penalties.  It cost us a timeout AND the two minute warning.  Not saying we would have won if one of those TDs counted but it would have hopefully allowed us to get the ball back with more time to do something. 

The only positives I had from yesterday’s game was the play of Forbath who made some long FGs and has yet to miss one as a professional.  I also liked the Homecoming event.  Apparently it’s something that all the former Skins enjoyed and while some on the outside my think it is kind of corny, I think it is a good thing.  Previously, former players were upset with Snyder for feeling shut out and now I think they feel good about being included in things.  I know this is not game related but it was good to see all those I rooted for as a kid back.

Well, on to the bye week and some soul searching.

HTTR!!!