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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This has been a decision I’ve been contemplating for about 24 hours now.  How do you decide who gets the game ball when the team as a whole pretty much won us the game?  Both sides of the ball were executed phenomenally, however my Die Hard Redskins Fan game ball goes to…Chris Cooley.

While I was quite impartial, debating between Cooley and Clinton Portis, I decided to go with Chris Cooley for a number of reasons. One, he had his first touchdown of the season yesterday, an 18 yard option toss from WR Antwaan Randle El that gave us the go-ahead in the third quarter.  Which, by the way, was the first visiting team touchdown scored at Lincoln Financial Field since last season. Two, he had a career-high 109 yards versus last weeks #9 power ranked Philadelphia Eagles.  Three, with the biggest concern for the Eagles defense being tight end coverage, Chris Cooley walked into the game ready to eat it up!

He credits “Tana Man” Santana Moss for his production in his official blog today.

“I finally put a touchdown on the stat sheet. I knew I was going to have a great opportunity to help the offense this week and really I felt it was a compliment to Santana Moss. Although he was catch-less, he opened up all kinds holes for the rest of us.”

Now, let’s move onto grading the team.  Beginning with the defense, I am handing out a B+.  Granted, Brian Westbrook isn’t healthy, but his presence did offer the Eagles their only touchdown in the game on Sunday.  Our defense was missing three key starters- Marcus Washington, Shawn Springs and Jason Taylor, however as a whole, they only allowed 58 yards on the ground.  DE Andre Carter recorded six tackles in the game, a team record so far this season.  And despite the mishap in the first quarter where WR Desean Jackson returned a kickoff for a touchdown, the most notable performance by the Redskins defense was when the Eagles pushed to the two yard line, followed by a no-gain second down and a 3 yard loss on third down, both on the account of Brian Westbrook. Ackers came in for the field goal where the Eagles were finally able to put up points after the Skins had posted 23 unanswered points.

Onto the offense. CLEARLY I am going to give the big O an A for their performance Sunday.  Between 204 yards on the ground against the #1 rushing defense in the league, along with a career-topping performance by Cooley, a brief taste of what may be to come with WR Devin Thomas, and the distraction methods used by Santana Moss, our boys worked together as a whole and executed beautifully in this win.

K Shaun Suisham racked up the points in field goals the first half yesterday, scoring us 9 points.  While at the time we were probably squirming a bit trying to catch up to the 14 points Philly scored early, those critical field goals won us the game in the end.  And they were all LONG balls too, and therefore I will be giving special teams an A as well.

CONGRATS TO COOOOOOOOOOOOLEYYYYY for having your best game yet in your career and scoring the Die Hard Redskins Fan game ball!

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I don’t know about the rest of Redskins nation, but I slept like a baby!! There is nothing better to start of the work week than a good, resounding victory. Even more so, a victory over the hated Dallas Cowboys.

Any style of victory would have suit me just fine. But, the manner in which the Redskins beat the Cowboys has me floating on a cloud. Consider for a moment the key indicators.

The High Powered Offense of the Cowboys -

I’m not going to make any disparaging remarks about their offense. I respect them. They have some talented players. But, most importantly, I believe their offensive line is top notch. That said however, our defense stepped up huge yesterday. First, and foremost, we shut down their run game. They knew it. And, in short order, they abandoned that aspect of their game. In the end, Marion Barber ran for only 26 yards on eight carries. It was noted here earlier in my PreGame Thoughts that when Barber gets more than eleven carries, the Cowboys are an incredible 22-1.

So, the question is already being asked amongst the pundits. Why did Dallas abandon the running game? Well, let me offer my two cents. Marion Barber is a beast. He is a big, strong back with a very high sense of balance. But, he’s slow. Our defense ran him down. More specifically, except on one or two occassions, he couldn’t generate enough momentum to break through the line and gobble up the yards, like he is capable of doing. If the Cowboys start to play Felix Jones more as the season progresses, they will add a dynamic to their offense at the running back position that all teams need: SPEED!

Terrell Owens, naturally, has a different perspective. During his interviews after the game, he seems to be in late season form suggesting that the Dallas offense is all about him.

“It’s no secret, when I get involved, we move the chains. When I don’t, we’re more stagnant in our offense,” Owens said.

Well, what T.O. is not acknowledging is that Shawn Springs played his ‘boohooty’ off yesterday. When he left the game with leg cramps, I admit that I cringed. On television, they had a close up of T.O. speaking to Tony Romo. It was possible to read his lips when he said, “I got him,” speaking of Carlos Rogers. He was licking his chops to go against Rogers.

Well, that didn’t work out for T.O. either. On one drive, late in the game, they attempted three consecutive throws to T.O.; all fell incomplete. T.O. is great receiver. But sometimes, his emotion, or more accurately, the lack of attention his emotion perceives, takes him out of the game. In the end, he only had 71 yards on seven catches.

Matt Mosley reports today that T.O. may have created a new drama in Dallas.

After the game, a Cowboys starter on offense said he thought the team tried too hard to involve T.O. in the second half. It’s not good when a player senses that coaches are calling plays in order to keep a teammate happy. It’s not time to panic if you’re a Cowboys fan, but I’d certainly keep your eye on that situation. It’s a slap in the face to Jason Witten, Patrick Crayton, Miles Austin — and especially rookie Felix Jones to freeze them out in order to please T.O.

Tick tock, tick tock…I’m waiting for the explosion to come to big ‘D’.

The Quality of Play of Jason Campbell -

WOW! I also admit that I was a bit nervous for Jason Campbell going into this game. I remember reading how Jim Zorn told Campbell that he had to trust him. Campbell shot back that Zorn needed to trust him, too. Well, it’s time for all of us fans to trust Campbell, even those that were advocating putting a rookie, Colt Brennan, in as the starting QB.

It’s easy to point to Campbell’s yardage and his touchdown throws yesterday. But, by doing so, we would miss something else: his growing ability to move in the pocket, keep the play alive, and make a play to move the chains or, specifically to yesterdays game, exploit Terence Newman downfield.

Campbell played like a QB that was fully focused on the task at hand. He was the field general that the Redskins needed.

Other Things That Made Me Smile -

Watching Terence Newman try to keep up with James Thrash in motion only to slip and the third change of direction. Campbell saw it and hit Thrash in stride for the Redskins first touchdown.

Watching Terence Newman get beat down field by Santana Moss, time after time. He had to consoled on the sidelines by his teammates.

Watching Clinton Portis find some running room (121 yards on 21 carries) and ripping off a nice 31 yard scamper.

Chris Cooley; that man can catch a football! He’s awesome.

Shawn Springs and the difference he makes in the secondary.

Chris “The Predator” Horton, along with Greg Blache that designed the play, running underneath the pass pattern for the only interception of the game. What a great story he is.

The offensive line met a formidable foe in the front four of the Cowboys defense. They gave up two sacks, but it could have been a much longer day. Well done.

Seeing Jon Jansen play again. He’s the best back up tackle in the league.

Jim Zorn. His arrival as a head coach may not have come as early as he would have liked, but from a Redskins perspective, it was right on time.

Things That Made Me Cringe -

Casey Rabach. Seriously?!?! Two nullifed touchdowns in a row on the same drive. What’s up with that?

Hail to the Redskins!

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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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