Captain Kirk sets the Skins on warp speed 5

No RG3, no problem.  Enter Captain Kirk and exit Cleveland with our fifth straight win putting us in a three way tie for first place in the East.  Because of tie breakers, the Skins lead the division and if the regular season ended today, we would be the fourth seed.  Not too shabby for a team that fought hard most of the season but was at 3-6 not too long ago.

The game started out a little rocky as our offense couldn't seem to get it going.  It was clear that the revitalized Browns were focused on stopping Alfred Morris and they were going to force Cuz to beat them.  Cuz looked a little nervous early on and threw an early INT where it looked like Garcon was being held on the route.  Still the INT was returned deep into our territory and the next play was a Trent Richardson TD run. 

After that, it was a different Cuz.  Felt like one of the big turning points was his first TD to Hankerson.  Give credit to Kyle Shanahan for recognizing how the Browns were overly aggressive on the run and moved away from traditional drop back passes to having Cuz play action and rolling out for throws.  Most of the game the containing end bit on the play action not seeing Cuz as a threat to run and Cuz made them pay regularly.  That is how the first TD came about.  Cuz faked the handoff, the end bit, and he probably could have run easily for a first down but instead launched a great ball on the run to Hankerson who was behind three DBs and made the catch for the touchdown. 

Cuz seemed to gain confidence after that and had himself a tremendous game.  Again, credit to Kyle Shanny for being aggressive in the play calls and trusting Cuz to make the throws.  Cleveland forced Cuz to beat them and he did just that. 

Here are my grades:

Offense:  A.  Washington racked up 430 yards, kept the ball for 14 more minutes than the Browns, and put up 38 points.  Hard to complain about that.  Again, Cuz made all the plays he needed to.  He was cool under pressure and executed very well in a pressure filled game on the road.  Things started to open up for Morris later in the game as the Browns defense had to respect the passing game and he came away with two rushing TDs.  O line solid again.  Ball was spread to eight different receivers with four of them catching at least four balls.  A very balanced attack.

Defense:  B.  A very good game by the defense.  Haslett looked like he called the game similar to the second halves of the last two games.  It wasn't so much an all or nothing blitz.  Pressure came from different places and looked to be pretty well disguised.  Weeden looked uncomfortable for much of the game.  Thought Rob Jackson had himself a great game.  The INT on Cleveland's opening drive of the second half was probably the play of the game as it set up our go ahead TD.  Jackson also had a big sack in the game.  Fletcher was solid as usual.  Had an INT for the second consecutive week.  I know people say he is getting long in the tooth and has lost a step.  That may be true but he is still a very good LB and the value he brings both in terms of his play but more importantly his leadership (on and off the field) is still important for this young team.  The only real flaw was again giving up a 3rd and 15 deep ball for a TD.  Backup CB, D.J. Johnson, got caught looking at Weeden and anticipating something incorrect allowing the WR to run past him and get open for an easy score.  Still, other than that play thought it was a very good defensive effort.

Special teams: B. Not much to report here.  Coverage teams were solid.  Crawford seems to make good decisions in the punt return game.  Forbath made a 44 yard FG to keep him perfect with the Skins.  The only problem I continue to have is Forbath cannot kickoff and for the second week in a row we faced a tough kick returner in Josh Cribbs and he got them decent field position on nearly every kickoff.  We will get burned on a kickoff if this isn't resolved.

Coaching.  A.  Great job on offense and defense by K. Shanny and Haslett.  Think I have already said enough in that these guys really did put their players in the best positions to be successful.  That is what good coaches do.  They deserve a lot of credit for the victory yesterday.

A couple of other notes:

1. It was interesting to hear RG3's post game comments.  He certainly looked like he supported the team from the sidelines yesterday.  In his comments though, despite the win, he looked a little disappointed that he wasn't able to play.  He said that he felt he could play but it wasn't his decision and he respected the decision but he still looked/sounded disappointed to not be out there. 

2. Captain Kirk's postgame interview on Comcast was also interesting in that he was happy but it was tempered.  Thought he was classy and respectful and humble.  The last question Rob Carlin asked him was if there was a QB controversy (which is RIDICULOUS), Cuz chuckled and said that hopefully he will get his chance somewhere someday.  Cuz seems comfortable in his role for now.  He also seems to have a good relationship with RG3 and in a separate interview he acknowledged that this is RG3's team.  Still, I know Cuz mentioned that he was surprised and seemed a little disappointed to be drafted by the Skins as I'm sure he wanted to opportunity to be a starter.  He already seems to understand that that opportunity is most likely going to come from a different team than the Skins.  Funny how several people (including Charley Casserly) were already talking after the game about how the Skins could recover some of the draft picks we lost in the RG3 trade by trading Cuz.  It's interesting and if a team makes a significant offer, the Skins certainly need to entertain it but for now I'd like to keep Cuz as he seems like a solid QB.

3.  Think it is ridiculous that callers and some media even bring up the notion of a QB controversy.  Saw one text on the CSN ticker that read "So does this mean we should call RG3 Spock now?"  These are the idiot fans that annoy me.  They change their tunes with the direction of the wind.  I'm sure that the majority of the fans recognize that this is RG3's team and what he has been capable of and that he gives us the best chance to win.  I'm also sure that 99.9% of the fans were hoping that RG3 would be healthy and play against the Browns as they felt like he would be the best option in such a critical game.  I just find it amusing how people react post game. 

The same is true for how the fans react to the Shannys.  Before many people were saying they stink and fire them and how they can't evaluate talent and now people are commending them for what they have built and some people are concerned K. Shanny is too hot a commodity and may leave for a head coaching gig after the season.  It's all ridiculous.  I have maintained my position all season.  I said as early as training camp/preseason how I liked that the team had gotten younger, deeper, no longer had the over priced divas dividing the locker room and that we finally looked for the first time in the Snyder era to actually be building something.  Even at 3-6 I was comfortable because you could see the difference in the team.  Yes, it's great that we have won five in a row.  Frankly we are exceeding my expectations for this season.  Still, you really have to like the direction of the team.  We have a unified locker room built on high character guys with leaders who care and demonstrate that to the younger guys.  We have guys that hold themselves and each other accountable and recognize that winning matters and losing hurts.  This was not always the case.  We have a young core of talented players that we can build around. 

In the end, it's exciting to see what has taken place.  I still remember Shanny saying in a press conference when things weren't going well that he knew what he was doing and he was confident in the direction of the team.  He was right.  It's great to be playing meaningful, exciting games this deep into the season.  Every week for the last several weeks has been a playoff game for the Skins.  There is another one this weekend against the Eagles in Philadelphia.  After such strong play, hopefully we don't have a let down against the Eagles and can keep this going.

HTTR!!!