Die Hard Sports Fan

Wednesday morning; time to get back to work. We have a game this weekend against the St. Louis Rams. The Redskins are 4-1; the Rams 0-4. It sounds like a cake walk.

So, why is Redskins nation so nervous?

At half-time, during the New York Giants game to start the season, you could smell the rubber burning as all Redskin nation fans had their mind racing back and forth about so many things, like is Jason Campbell the right QB for this team, or was the offensive line getting too old, or was Clinton Portis fighting a losing battle trying to run against eight-man fronts. But, that was a long time ago.

Today, all Redskins fans, and especially the owner, Dan Snyder, are feeling euphoric, over four straight wins.

Moreover, because those wins came against the dreaded rivals of both the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, fans far and wide have rejoiced in unison. In the past 24 hours, this Die Hard Redskins Fan site has seen fans come from as far east as Melbourne, Australia and as far west as Honolulu, Hawaii, as well as points in between, including Oman, Greece, and Spain. Everyone, it seems is ready to believe.

But, here come the St. Louis Rams.

The St. Louis Rams have a new coach after firing the one they began the season with. They have their QB, Marc Bulger, back in the starting position after he was benched in desperation by the aforementioned former coach. They, and the rest of the team, remain perfect in a winless season with one very key, and common denominator: they all have something to prove.

The offensive world of the St. Louis Rams revolves around Stephen Jackson. He is their leading rusher *and* receiver. Thus, naturally, he leads their team in total yardage. Conventional wisdom would suggest that the Redskins defense should focus on stopping Jackson and the Redskins would win the game.

But, this Die Hard Redskin Fan says, “not so fast.”

Given a moment to think about it, every Redskins fan can remember who the offensive coordinator for the team was for the past two years; Al Saunders. This is the same Al Saunders who is now the offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams.

For two years, day after day during practice sessions, he became, by the nature of repetition, an expert in the defensive coverage skills of each of our entire secondary. I’d bet dollars to donuts that he could rattle off the five key flaws of Shawn Springs, Fred Smoot; maybe even ten for Carlos Rogers. Further, I’d be even more confident that he knows exactly how to move LaRon Landry out of position to create a deep strike down the field.

If the Redskins key on Stephen Jackson, Al Saunders will most assuredly attack deep down field. Though the Rams may not have been successful as of yet against other teams, Al Saunders has much more experience and knowledge of the Redskins that would enable him to call a more effective game, and find our vulnerabilities.

In short, this week’s game will be a challenge. Not just because of Saunders knowledge of our defense, but also because of the natural human tendency for the Redskins to take a mental holiday.

I recall, in college, graduate school, and even here in Corporate America, preparing for a big test, or a presentation to executive management. There is a palpable rush of energy that fills each of us when faced with challenging situations. It’s often referred to as the “adrenaline rush.”

The Redskins have had four straight weeks of the adrenaline rush that culminated last week with a huge win against the Philadelphia Eagles, in Philadelphia!

So, now what?

It’s called the “adrenaline FLUSH.”

After climbing the mountain, or escaping the attack of the mountain lion, human beings experience the adrenaline flush, which is a malaise of physical ability to move and respond. It is more commonly referred to as fatigue; specifically in this case, “emotional fatigue.”

The measure of Jim Zorn as a coach will be determined this week, more so than any of the other five weeks. Along those lines, the players speak about staying “medium.” I understand.

But, show us!

Hail to the Redskins.

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I had the opportunity to interview another Die Hard Redskins Fan, Lindsay King, recently. Enjoy.

1. How did you become a Redskins fan?

I’ve been a redskins fan since I was a little girl.  Literally, my grandparents have pictures of me and my sister holding a Redskins pennant with our fists in the air…I think I was 5.  But it’s funny because the person I would say that I have to thank for being a Redskins fan would be my old step dad.  Most of my family grew up Baltimore Colt fans and after they left town, the Redskins were the home team to root for.  My Grandpa was on the season tickets waiting list for Washington for about 20 years…and the year he was finally offered tickets, he declined because he was on his way to becoming a fan of a new team….hello Baltimore Ravens.  Needless to say, the majority of my family has followed in his foot steps as Ravens supporters and I pretty much stand alone in my burgundy and gold.  Lots of people claim it’s ‘wrong’ to be a Redskins fan while we’re living in Maryland because of taxes, this that and the other…in my opinion, it’s wrong to switch the team you like based on location.

2. What is your favorite Redskins / Cowboys game that you’ve watched? Tell us about it.

The Redskins/Cowboys rivalry is one of my favorites (naturally) and I look forward to seeing a good game every time they meet.  An NFC match up will always come down to who wants the win more and who plays best that day, regardless of records. I would have to say my favorite Redskins/Cowboys experience thus far would be last years first meeting.  Granted, we took the loss, but I organized a trip for myself along with 14 of my friends to fly to Dallas and attend the game. We tailgated with Chief Zee, Clinton Portis‘ mom, Rock Cartwright’s family and every Washington Redskins fan in the Dallas area.  And it was quite the experience to be sitting in the Cowboys endzone, just ten rows from where the majority of T.O.’s touchdown saga went down.  It was a VERY back and forth meeting, despite what the numbers may say and the Skins were never really out of the game at all.  Matter of fact, we were on our feet screaming the entire game and irritating the surrounding Cowboy fans until Jason Campbell’s interception to Terence Newman with 1:39 that pretty much would send us back to D.C. with a loss. Oh well. And like I said, we may have taken the loss but it was an experience of a lifetime.

3. Before the game yesterday, what were you most concerned about as a Redskins fan?

My number one concern walking into the game this week was our offense, but especially our offensive line.  We’ve been producing the last few weeks, yes, however the Cowboy’s secondary is phenomenal.  Demarcus Ware is probably the greatest linebacker in the league and Jason Campbell needs protection from that.  Chris Samuels went on to play a great first half, but Campbell slipped away from Ware multiple times post half time.  If Samuels and the rest of the line work on pass protection in particular, I don’t see why or how Philly’s defense should be a problem next week.

4. In your opinion, what is the number one thing we did right yesterday?

In the game yesterday, I would have to say the number one thing we did right would be utilizing the West Coast Offense to the best of its capablities.  Zorn was calling the pass and rush quite strategically, which was a very critical part of us winning the game.  Now that our offense is seriously starting to click, implemention of the new offense is beginning to show and we are utilizing our weapons to the best of our capability!

5. Conversely, what is the number one thing we need to fix before the Eagles next week?

Above all else…. we need our boys to be HEALTHY going into next week!!!! Between losing Jason Taylor after our win over the Cardinals last week, followed by Fred Smoot and Marcus Washington coming off the field yesterday, I am a little bit concerned about a McNabb/Westbrook show next Sunday.  As I’m trying to remain optimistic, I think the reality should be to try and add depth so that we don’t run into serious problems if Washington and Smoot aren’t 100% next week.

6. If you could tell Coach Jim Zorn one thing after today’s game, what would it be. Please explain.

The one thing I would say to Jim Zorn after the win today would definitely be congratulations. He is the only Redskins coach in the history of the franchise to be undefeated in Texas stadium.  Considering the fact we had only won one of the last twelve match ups in Dallas going into this game, coming back to Washington with a win is HUGE.  Not only did we defeat the ‘best’ team in the league thus far , but we did it to them at home.  Not only did we hold Marion Barber to 26 yards on the ground, but we also didn’t allow any passes longer than 18 yards throughout the game.  This win was absolutely vital for the Redskins to be considered with the rest of the ‘elites’ in the division and now we’re sitting pretty in second place with a quarter of the season under our belts!

7. Who do you think deserves the Die Hard Redskins Fan game ball. Why?

And the game ball goes to…Jason Campbell! He had 231 yards yesterday, 145 of which were connecting with Santana Moss, a man who is known for playing well in Dallas.  He also managed to lead the Skins down the field to score on four consecutive drives over the second and third quarters.  He threw two touchdowns and is proving himself week after week to be the leader of this team.  My biggest complaint about Jason Campbell would be his tendency to linger in the pocket, but he managed his time well yesterday and knew when it was time to throw the ball. The man has yet to throw an interception this year and has a 102.2 passer rating.  When Campbell was first added to the team, we were told he was the future. It seems the future is closer than anyone thought, and he is doing a great job proving everybody wrong that doubted him being able to adapt so quickly to the West Coast Offense.

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Tom Rock of Newsday put together a Q&A for the Giants, and here are two questions that I found to be the most interesting.

Is Ahmad Bradshaw still on the team?

Yes, and he did return a kickoff. But the second-year running back was left out of the rushing game. That wasn’t by design, Tom Coughlin said. “I didn’t get the rotation worked out the way I really would want to,” he said. Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward took all of the team’s handoffs, and they seemed to fare rather well. Coughlin pointed out that he was pleased with how the two backs worked against a physical, stout defense. “Not that I’m not pleased with Bradshaw,” he said. “That’s not the case. I just didn’t get the right rotation.”

What was the most impressive moment of Jacobs’ night?

That would have to be the hit he put on LaRon Landry, an instant YouTube classic in which the Redskins safety was essentially spiked into the ground and had to leave the game. “I’m just glad that guy’s on my team,” defensive end Justin Tuck said. “He ran over a guy while a guy was on his back, too. That’s hard to do. That’s what you get when you have a running back that looks like a lineman. I don’t know what to tell you other than I’m glad I don’t have to tackle him.”

So now we know why we only saw Bradshaw once. Jacobs is a beast, and I love it. We just have to hope that the physicality he bring does not get him injured again like last season. I am aware that we have depth at the RB position, but I would prefer to have Brandon in every game if possible. I went and found the YouTube video of when Brandon Jacobs ran over LaRon Landry and another video of when he knocked the wind out of Fred Smoot.

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To be honest, I’ve been avoiding the NFL Network, ESPN, blogs, etc., all morning. Why? Two reasons. First, I don’t want to hear others talk openly about how uncomfortable we looked on offense last night. I think there is a lesson to be learned for the team, and Zorn. Preseason does matter. Last night showed the team was not where it needs to be. Now, I don’t know exactly what happened during training camp. I don’t know if there was a sense of premature accomplishment, or what. But clearly, last night, the Giants let us know, we’re not there yet.

So, yeah, the score wasn’t that bad. We didn’t get blown out. The defense can take the credit for that. By half-time, the squad had seemed to figure it out. And, even after Fred Smoot went down, we were able to hold them back from squirting Plax juice in our face for the rest of the night. I think the defense will be fine if they can play a whole game like they played the second half last night.

As for the offense, to be certain, I do believe we will improve…dramatically. How could we not. The running game needs help. How Clinton Portis ended up with 84 total yards is amazing. Jim Zorn wants to keep the same running game. Well, he might want to think seriously about adding a few new wrinkles to it ’cause “50-gut” doesn’t work any more. Beyond that, we need to get Chris Cooley more involved. And, he needs to learn how to “crash” block down on the far side DE. On one particular play, his DE ran all the way across and down the line to stop CP for maybe a 1-yard gain. Are you kidding me?

The second reason: I don’t want to see LaRon Landry get blasted and bowled over by Brandon Jacobs, again…and again…and again.

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Pre-Game Jitters - -

Right from the start, I’m concerned. Shawn Springs is out of the game. He’s not even activated for the game. So, Carlos Rogers and Fred Smoot have to play. Right now, my optimism is a bit strained with the prospect of Rogers being left alone out there on the island…

First Quarter - -

Giants receive the ball first. On their first drive, they march right down the field for a touchdown. Two big plays, back to back…It’s gonna be a long night if they don’t figure out how to protect Rogers on the corner against Plaxico Burress. Fred Smoot contributed with a pass interference call. But, right now, all we can hope for is that the Redskins offense can answer the bell and respond.

Skins First Offensive Series

Well, Skins fans, all I can say is quicksand. Everything that could go wrong on the first series, is going wrong. Zorn recognized it. Called a draw play on 3rd and 20. Perhaps it’s best to get them off the field and try to regroup. Jason Campbell is still holding on to the ball too long.

Second Giants Offensive Series

They start off running right at Jason Taylor. I think they’re testing his knee. My opinion, JT was success in extending his consecutive starts. Now, it’s time for him to sit down. It’s a long season.

3rd down, and the Skins defense have yet another opportunity to get off the field. [Commentary: Football was more fun before commercials] Nope. another first down; again running right at JT. Okay…you’ll see it on NFL Replay, Brandon Jacobs ran right over LaRon Landry. And now, Landry is out of the game. Another third down, and SUCCESS!! We stop them seven yards away from another touchdown.

Score: Giants up; 0-10.

Our Turn, Again

This is starting to look real silly…three and out! Wait, we get another chance thanks to roughing the punter.

Well, it looks like Zorn is trying to get a running game. But, the Giants ain’t havin’ it. At least not yet. Another three and out!

I’m still an optimist.

END OF 1ST QUARTER

2nd Quarter, Giants Ball

Santana’s little brother just torched Fred Smoot for about 30 yards. It was sick. He almost broke Smooty’s ankles. The real bad news was that play came on yet another third down. Before the game, it was announced that Plaxico got a new $35 million contract. He’s playing like he’s thankful tonight. Right now, this looks like the USC Trojans playing against the Montgomery Blair Blazers (Sorry, Blazers. But, I graduated from there. So, I’m taking liberties).

WOW…success, again. We stopped them short of another touchdown. This time, JT made a play by not allowing the G-Men to get a screen off.

Score: Giants up; 0-13.

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