Where Do I Start

There's a lot to be said about the Redskins today... where to begin is the question.

Earlier in the game, I wanted to question the play calling of offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. Then watching the execution of the team, I don't know if I could blame him as much. When you have five guys who line up in front of your quarterback and running backs that don't give the offense a fair shot, you can't expect to get the opportunities you'd like. I saw our biggest offensive lineman get trucked (and/or blown by) time after time after time... to the point on a few plays he just stood there watching the man he is supposed to be blocking clobber our franchise quarterback.

I saw Robert Griffin III, the man Snyder and Co. bet the farm on, walk off the field clearly upset about the loss and walk into an x-ray room because he took a hit so hard to his mid-section in the FIRST QUARTER OF THE GAME his body was sore the rest of the afternoon. Aside from the pain, the flung his body mercilessly amongst players leaving everything he had on the field.

I saw a coach call plays that let someone, who was injured most of last year with a concussion come in clearly unprepared to play football this season, block for our qb on a run play in the end zone. I also saw more plays where this player struggled to pick up yards on run plays and find the openings on the field and they called his number over and over and over again.

I know the refs made some questionable calls, but I still question the effort of this team. Greatly.

I know the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it..."
Well, what do you do when it IS broke?

Clearly the head coach doesn't know, he simply gave up on the team.

In the press conference following the game, Mike Shanahan remarked that after calling this game a "must win" and the team put out that disappointing effort that it's "time to start evaluating talent to see who's going to be here for years to come."

Translation: "There is nothing else I can do for this team this year; it's over."

After the game, it was noted in the locker room that some of the players were surprised to hear that sort of talk coming from their fearless leader after 9 games. Some people on other media outlets are saying the move was premature.

What do I think? Sadly, he's probably right. Out of the last 7 games, 5 of them are against division teams. They would essentially need to run the table against those 5 games alone to even be in wild card consideration. That's asking a lot at this point. Especially for a team who gives up 330 yards in the air a game among other stats.

Then to put the preverbial icing on the cake, Carolina RB DeAngelo Williams goes on twitter ranting about why the Redskins are having a "homecoming weekend." Aside from his remarks being classless and unprofessional, it seems like the pot is calling the kettle black... they aren't exactly the cats meow of the league either.

Any way you slice it, today's showing on the field was one of the most gutless, heartless performances we've ever seen from a group that suited up in the burgandy and gold in quite some time. Who keeps their job after the bye week? I don't know. But when your athletes don't know what the problem is after all this time, it's because the coaches aren't explaining it. So I hope when Pop Shanford says he's going to start "evaluating talent," that the coaching staff is on that evaluation list.

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RGIII: Keeping Score

1 For 1 So far. The past week or so was the beginning of what's probably to come throughout Robert Griffin III's career here in the Nation's Capital. Someone trying to pick at him for a couple of duckets. I'm sure judging by how things blew over, he probably took notes from the chick at the W Hotel Restaurant when Fat Albert came in for dinner one night.

Yes, it's already begun. Still no word of an inked deal with Dan Snyder yet. But of course we already know about the Adidas deal... and of course there's other endorsements (including Subway and others). Someone is already after Griff's pot-o-gold. Some town idiot who he went to school with fabricates a story to get money out of the guy, after he makes it big.

[Town Idiot (n.) - A person known in some circles to make a complete buffoon out of him/herself amongst others and is known to do so on a repeated basis.]

Consequently, this T.I. was also seen on Judge Judy a few years ago trying to wiggle money out of someone else. The storyline was, she lost her chihuahua, he "found" it, paid for medical treatment for the dog for one price, took her to court for the amount of the treatment (plus additional money). I use the term "found" very loosely, because he knew this girl for four months before the incident. (You "found" her dog, huh? Yeah, okay buddy.)

Sure this kind of stuff happens all the time all over the place. But being the Nation's Capital already puts anyone on a pro team in a demographic that demands national attention. What would probably get blown over by other news stories in other cities becomes nation wide news when it happens here.

Albert Haynesworth sexually harassed a waitress at a local restaurant here in DC, it was a national story that the entire country followed. Same thing happened when he punched out a motorist in road rage. If this had happened in Tennessee, it would have probably made a small section of the post and no one in California would have even cared.

Clinton Portis dresses up as Southeast Jerome at a press meeting at Redskins Park, and all of America is following the stories to see who he becomes week after week. Someone would have assumed it was some sort of charity stunt or something had it happened in his hometown of Laurel, MS.

Bryce Harper hadn't been brought up from the minors yet. Of course this only really concerned the Nationals. But the whole country was watching when they finally let him play. If this was going on in Omaha, NE or somewhere, it would have just been considered some kid in the minors that wasn't ready for the MLB.

No one would care about who Alex Ovechkin's latest girlfriend is if he was back in Russia or in some other smaller demographic in the United States. But because he plays for the Washington Capitals, it automatically becomes a B.F.D.

Rod Strickland seems to have had terrible eating (and drinking) habits for quite some time. But no one would have paid attention if he were only throwing up in games at DePaul or some other smaller scale area. But because he was wearing a Bullets uniform when his stomach let go of the hot dog, pizza and soda he had before the game, everyone wants to know why he's had the same pre-game meal for so many years.

In the end of it all, no matter what RGIII will do... whatever socks he decides to wear... if he decides fully to get dreadlocks vs the twists/braids he currently has... The whole country will be watching. Not to mention other parts of the world. It's true everyone was already watching because this was going on at Baylor. But this fall he puts on the Burgandy and Gold and steps on the field as a Washington Redskin.

That's a big difference from a small school in Waco, TX.


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#Redskins: Camp On The Move?

Over the past several years (or decades, however you want to look at it), the world of Washington Sports has been quite the roller coaster. The charismatic figures... the drama... the losing... It's hard to watch the teams compete, but the constant news makes it hard to look away. When Gilbert Arenas was still in a Wizards uniform, yes there were plenty of people who were clammering for him to score 40 points every night. Then there are also those who tuned in to the games not because they were hoping the Wiz Kids would win and score over 100 points so they'd get a half off pizza the next day, but they watched because of the circle of drama surrounding Agent Zero's life.

Likewise, of course there's a plethora of Redskins fans all over the DMV (and the rest of the world). Of course they watch the games because they want to see the team win. Then, there's the other group of fans (and non-fans) who watched the games because of drama surrounding Albert Haynesworth's personal life or his latest decisions on where to take a nap. Forget how many sacks he was capable of racking up. They watched because they were waiting to see what new character C.P. would come up with next... not to see if he'd break 100 yards. They watched to see how well or poorly Donovan McNabb played... not because they wanted to see him lead the team to victory, but because of the poor relationship between he and Shanford and Son.

So then how do we rid the teams of the constant distractions? Cutting players? That never fully worked. Press conferences? Please. Moving training camp out of town? There's a thought.

Earlier this week, Dan Snyder decided to move the team's training camp down to Richmond, VA starting next summer. Some people think this is too far. For me, Ashburn is a long drive for fan appreciation days (didn't stop me from going). And then what about the people who made the voyage to Carlyle, PA for camp during the Joe Gibbs' era. Consequently, the level of distractions was significantly lower during that time. Seems as though the beauty of moving camp away is minimizing media exposure of the players... reducing at-home distractions... allowing the group to work through their on the field and off the field issues apart from everything else familiar to them.

If you ask me, given the track record of this team in recent years, Richmond isn't far enough.

HTTR...

Follow Me On Twitter: @NFLHustleBabe