What a perfect preseason. Zero wins. Zero inspiration.
The Washington Redskins starting offense finished blanked for August in the 17-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday. The defense gave up a long touchdown drive. Long-shot reserves will instead receive e-mailed pink slips via Radio Shack’s theturk.com while quarterback Jason Campbell earned another season of clipboard duty.
The secret word of the TV contest was “Gibbs.” Funny, I thought it was touchdown or victory.
Don’t start with comparisons to 1982 when the team was 0-4 in the preseason only to win the Super Bowl. First, that was a strike season when smart coaches and front offices made a bigger difference. Second, almost a quarter-century ago has passed. Redskins safety Sean Taylor wasn’t even born. Women wore shoulder pads and helmet hair and the Internet wouldn’t be invented by Al Gore for another decade.
Not much was expected from the preseason finale and not much was accomplished. At least the crowd beat Tropical Storm Ernesto by leaving in the third quarter — the only victory of the night.
Mark Brunell remains the clear No. 1 quarterback despite a lackluster effort because neither backup remotely played well. Todd Collins wrestled the backup job from Campbell, who surprisingly looked unsteady after a year of practice. Collins’ knowledge of the offense makes him the better emergency passer because he won’t lose the game.
The backup offensive linemen not only didn’t help either passer, they may have punched a few bus tickets themselves. Good luck if any of them have to play this season, which statistically is very possible.
At least kicker John Hall nailed a shortfield goal. Oh, happy day. Special teams coach Danny Smith was on the verge of becoming LeCharls McDaniel.
Defensive guru Gregg Williams recently said the players giving up a boatload of points to New England wouldn’t be around after cuts. Good thing because those guys gave up another long touchdown drive to the Ravens in the first quarter. We’re going to miss those starters. I mean, error-prone scrubs.
The defense can point to several injuries, but what’s the excuse by free agents Andre Carter and Adam Archuleta for doing less than a freshman congressman?
The Baltimore loss may have been a throwout, but what’s the logic behind scoring 27 points over the entire preseason? The Redskins played the theme music of “Mission: Impossible” before the kickoff. We thought it was in tribute to owner Dan Snyder’s newest free agent Tom Cruise. Who know it was about reaching the end zone?
Where have you gone Jeff George?
You can blame the late start of camp and limited two-a-days for poor play, but coach Marty Schottenheimer led a death camp in 2001 and the Redskins opened 0-5.
You can say Gibbs doesn’t care about the preseason, but that’s crazy talk. He may not go for the win in August, but the Hall of Famer doesn’t dismiss poor play.
Maybe the Redskins will beat Minnesota in the Sept. 11 opener and fans will cheer once more. Perhaps the black ops passing game will awaken and Clinton Portis will return soon.
Unfortunately, this sure looks like the summer of discontent that could lead to a fall.
Rick Snider has covered local sports for 28 years. Contact him at [email protected].
