Standing Firm in Philly

Now I'm no sports writer. I can't spout off endless facts and figures about players in the National Football League and talk intelligently about how the Steelers of the 1970's were far superior to the Colts of the time due to various factors. Sure I love listening to such discussions but I'm no die hard expert. "Star Wars" is a different matter but when it comes to the Redskins, over the past three decades I have been a fan who has seen the rise and fall of the team. And after having dwelled in the valley for a very very long time, it appears as if the team is finally climbing out for greener pastures.

Now this isn't the first time that the team has strung together some victories and snatched a win from the jaws of defeat but it's the first time in a long time that I can remember the team doing so against teams with far better reputations than the Redskins themselves. In past years it was not surprising for the Redskins to come out ahead by halftime and lead the game with a commanding presence and then see that lead fizzle away like the end of a hand held sparkler. They would sit dejected on the sidelines and scratch their heads wondering how it was that they lost the way they did. A couple of years ago had the Redskins suddenly started out the first quarter of a game being down 14 - 0, I think fans would have started heading for the exits at that point itself. I mean what was the point seeing a major blowout if you could beat traffic and still have the euphoria of the tailgate parties fresh in your mind.

But this year there's something different. This year it seems that the team only gets better with each passing quarter. After starting off down by two touchdowns, the defense which has already been suffering due to injuries, stepped up and held firm against sixth best offense in the League. Last week they held their own against the Cowboys who had a similar reputation and so this week just seemed to be more of the same. After a shakey start, the defense buckled down and began stopping Westbrook's run and McNabb's air game. I'm curious though how things might have been if this has been the McNabb of a few years ago when flushed from the pocket, he would have gained more yards than some of the running backs in the League. He isn't as agile anymore but he still holds his own quite nicely yet he was effectively shut down. I think we saw shades of his old form in the shape of Jason Campbell when late in the game he ran over ten yards to get a first down and more to keep the Redskins clock-killing drive alive.

When the Eagles looked to last week's game against the Cowboys to see how to defeat Washington, they realized the importance and power of Santana Moss. So effectively treating him like Washington's version of Terrell Owens, they kept him covered up tighter than a mason jar lid but they forgot that Campbell has plenty of options to throw to including Antwaan Randle El, Chris Cooley and Clinton Portis among others. All three picked up the pace and helped Washington come out ahead in the end. And not enough can be said for Shaun Suisam. It's easy for most of us to forget the kicker on the team; usually the most silent contributer to a team's success or failure. I remember when the Ravens of Baltimore were on their Super Bowl run. Trent Dilfer couldn't do anything other than get them in field goal range, it was the defensive scoring that helped them become champions. In the case of this year's Redskins, there is an all-around team that is pulling it together to get victory.

One could argue that the opening game against the Giants was how the team was supposed to play out the season. Losing to the teams that were good by a narrow margin. Previously the team has lost games with margins as little as one point or three points. And even some of the games we won, we won because of such miniscule margins. I won't say a six point victory against the Eagles is a major achievement but when you think that the team was better prepared for the Redskins than perhaps the Cowboys were, you realize that there may be something more to this year's team than people come to realize. At the start of the season the NFC East was considered to be one of the top and toughest divisions and for the most part it has lived up to that reputation but one team missing from that discussion was the Redskins.

Sports writers across the country had little or no expectations as the team had a new offensive style and most especially a new rookie coach. I will admit that I didn't have very high expectations of Jim Zorn when I heard that he was taking over for Joe Gibbs. That's not to knock Coach Z or his ability; I think he answered those doubts early in the preseason with some great victories. But what was troublesome if you think back to those games was the fact that the first two we won and the last two we lost. Badly. Now I'm not assuming that that's what will happen during the regular season but we are not tied for second place with the Dallas Cowboys and the next three teams on schedule for the Redskins have a total of one victory on the year so far so it's quite possible that two weeks from now I'll be writing about how the team is 6 - 1 and poised for a great season. I'll be ready to write it but I am just hoping that the team doesn't come into that form of complacency that they get when they are going up against a 'lesser' team. Sure the Rams of St. Louis aren't the Super Bowl contenders they were some years back but that doesn't mean we should write them off. I mean people had written off the Redskins at the start of the season after the loss to the Giants and look where they are now.