Week 11 vs. Dallas Cowboys

Washington - Well, this game made me sick to my ghostly stomach. Team Evil prevailed and our hopes for the playoffs just decreased dramatically. This was the most nauseating fourth quarter performances I have seen in quite some time.

The Cowboys, Marion Barber specifically, simply ran over the Redskins offensive line all game long. The Redskins were fortunate enough to get 2 interceptions deep in their own end against a rusty Tony Romo to stall 2 scoring drives otherwise this game would not have been close. "Butter Hands" Barber did his part coughing up another fumble, but the Redskins could not recover it. When the 4th quarter rolled around, the Cowboys simply stopped throwing the ball and plowed right through the Redskins defensive line. The Cowboys had 2 drives in the 4th quarter totaling over 10 minutes. The Cowboys showed they were going to run the ball, the Redskins knew it was coming, and they just got manhandled and could not stop it. It was flat out painful to watch.

The Redskins offense was inconsistent at best all game long and Clinton Portis struggled with a sprained knee, but toughed it out and gave a good effort. With Clinton not 100%, the Redskins needed their receivers to step up and make some plays and it did not happen. Chris Cooley did his part with 7 catches, but Santana Moss had 5 catches for only 29 yards and Antwaan Randle El simply disappeared with only 1 catch.

On a positive not, DeAngelo Hall made his presence felt in his Redskins debut with his first interception and newcomer Ryan Plackemeier had a solid game with 4 punts averaging 47 yards.

This is the problem when a team over achieves in the early part of the season. When they come back down to Earth, it's just that much more painful. The Redskins were a team in transition at the beginning of the season and they still are now. They caught a lot of breaks early in the season and a lot of people began to think they were better than they really were and now they have come crashing back down to Earth. The Redskins do have an easier schedule down the home stretch of the season including next week against a happless Seattle team that is 2-8. If the Redskins lose to Seattle, their season is officially over. We can only hope for another end of the season run like they have had the last few seasons, but I would not count on it this time unfortunately.

Washington 10, Dallas 14

Highlights of the Redskins' Week 11 Loss to the Dallas Cowboys

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog

LaVar Wins the Just Shut Up Award

I have always felt terrible for LaVar Arrington. He came in to the NFL with unbelievable talent and dreams of becoming one of the all-time greats. Unfortunately, LaVar's career was single handedly ruined by one man, Daniel Snyder, who seemingly hired and fired defensive coordinators every season. When the Snyder regime took over the team, "The Snyde" was determined to make big splash after big splash signing over the hill and overrated big name players and coaches until his team finally won the title and his face was plastered all over the ESPN web site.

In doing so, the team had no chemistry, no consistency, and no chance. Year after year, LaVar had greater and greater aspirations and year after agonizing year, he was thrown into yet another new defensive scheme with yet another defensive coordinator and/or head coach. For the first 5 years under "The Snyde", it was flat out embarrassing to be a Redskins fan. LaVar never had a chance to mature as a player. He never had a chance to get used to a defensive scheme. He never had a chance to play with his teammates long enough to know where they would be and what they would be doing on the field. This was just a flat out waste of talent and has to go down as one of the biggest dissappointments in not only Redskins, but NFL history. Overall, LaVar is one of the biggest busts in Redskins' history. The terrible part is that it wasn't him that was the bust, it was Daniel Snyder. LaVar did have a few shining moments and a few glimpses of greatness, but they were too few and far between. He was constantly forced to take chances and play out of position on the field and he could never get his feet on solid ground. Now, all we are left with is a bunch of what could have beens. Oh yeah, and Daniel Snyder.

Be that as it may, LaVar needs to sit back and shut up. It is one thing to spout off at Daniel Snyder, the madman that ruined his career, but it is entirely another thing to call Joe Gibbs a "coward" for retiring from coaching last season. Joe Gibbs is and always will be a legend among Redskins fans, but this goes far beyond calling a hall of fame coach names.

As much as I love Joe Gibbs as a coach, the fact is he is a business man and he owns a very successful business in NASCAR. He doesn't need the grief of Daniel Snyder or his band of "fly by night" players.

Beyond that, the most difficult issue to swallow is that it is well known that Joe Gibbs has an infant grandchild who has been sick since the day he was born and has struggled just to stay alive. This poor innocent child and his mother were forced to live in the quarantined basement of their own house for an entire year where he could not go outside or even play with his own siblings. I can't even imagine the immense heartache his mother must have felt going through that. Besides making "The Snyde" a distant memory, Joe naturally wanted more time with his family as any good father or grandfather would.

It doesn't matter what differences LaVar may have had with Joe when he was still playing. To call a man a coward for wanting to be with his family and his sick grandson is a flat out disgrace. LaVar deserves a big fat slap in the face for that and I hope someone gives it to him. I would gladly do it myself, but I'm only a ghost so I can only spook him. I hope someone close to him does have the guts to stand up to him and say he was way out of line. I feel terrible about how is career went, but calling the hall of fame coach and Redskins icon, Joe Gibbs, a coward lowers LaVar's level down into the nether regions. An immediate apology to Joe is the only way LaVar stands a chance at getting a die hard Redskins fan's respect back.

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog

More De for the Defense

Welcome home DeAngelo!

The Redskins struck gold this week when they signed 2 time pro-bowler CB DeAngelo Hall. Hall is a tremendous athlete with great skills and is a perfect fit with the Redskins. The team already has 3 excellent starting CB's on the roster, but Sean Springs just cannot stop getting injured and Fred Smoot has unfortunately followed in his footsteps. Hall will only be 25 years old after his birthday next week and brings some much needed youth and a consistently healthy body to the secondary.

Hall has had a poor season overall so far this year after signing a whopping $70 million contract with the Raiders, but he has been showing signs of turning things around the last few games. Maybe he celebrated his contract signing a little too much in the offseason and was not prepared for the early part of the season. Maybe he struggled because he was playing for the laughing stock of the AFC Oakland Raiders. It's amazing. Three weeks ago, I hated Al Davis for how he handled the firing and disgracing of his former head coach Lane Kiffin. Now, I absolutely love that mental patient of a man! Who in their right mind would sign a perrenial pro-bowl caliber player to a $70 million contract and then simply release him outright after a mere 8 games? Insert the bewildered Al Davis picture here.

Hall went to college at Virginia Tech and after getting phone calls and interest from virtually every team in the NFL, he decided to come home to the Redskins where he is comfortable and where the team has a chance of winning. Adding his healthy and highly skilled body to the secondary is a huge boost for us now and later. Not only do we get desperately needed healthy young talent, but we also get the heir apparent to Sean Springs' job next year. Assuming Hall's play the rest of the season goes smoothly and he mixes well with his new teammates, the Redskins can sign him to a long-term deal and save themselves a much needed draft pick in next year's draft where they need every pick possible for the defensive and offensive lines.

It's a WIN-WIN baby...Thanks again Al!

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog

Week 9 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Washington - In a word, "awful". No..."disgusting". No..."humiliating". No, wait...awww "crap".

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later. Our weary warriors showed a big chink in their armor this past Monday night. The offense looked like a high school team playing against a Division 1 college defense. Jason Campbell had an awful day and the offensive line was worse. Besides throwing his first 2 interceptions of the season, Campbell got decked a whopping 7 times(with the ball that is). You simply cannot give up 7 sacks, that is just plain atrocious. Outside of Clinton Portis' one 22 yard scamper, he finished the day with 12 carries for 29 yards.

Granted, the Steelers probably have the best defense in the league, but this was embarrassing. The only way to make it any worse would be to let Pittsburgh fans take over our home stadium. This wreaks of Daniel Snyder. "The Snyde" has done so much damage to our fan base since he descended upon us in 1999 that a lot of fans have simply given up or lost their dedication to our team because of him.

On defense, go figure. The pass rush finally woke up from its dormant state and got some pressure on the opposing QB and then the secondary, insert Carlos Rogers' picture here, turns around and falls apart. The Redskins racked up an astounding 5 sacks in one game after getting only 10 sacks in the first 8 games of the season. You can only hope to contain Demetric Evans! However, while Carlos Rogers has been more consistent this year, he reverted back to his old ways from the past few seasons and simply got smoked in every direction.

We have to take something positive away from this so here is what we have. The defensive line finally woke up and got some pressure on the QB, Sean Suisham has remained consistent and knocked in 2 more 40+ yard field goals, and Ryan Plackemeier averaged a decent 43.7 yards on 6 punts. It's not good when you have to look to your kickers for positives.

Final Score: Washington 6, Pittsburgh 23

Highlights of the Redskins' Week 9 Loss over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog