What happened in the Washington Redskins locker room at halftime? Was offensive coordinator Al Saunders kidnapped? Did the defense take a shuttle bus to Stupidville? Don’t tell me the Redskins started believing the hype.
Will anyone from the Redskins pick up the white courtesy phone — it’s the second half calling. You were supposed to return instead of replicating Maryland’s second-half collapse the previous day.
Just when you thought it was safe to pick your pizza toppings, the New York Giants scored 21 unanswered points for a 24-17 victory. Even worse, the Redskins were stuffed on the final two plays of the game just three feet from overtime. On their home turf. Before a FedEx Field record crowd of 90,803. To a winless NFC East rival.
Good thing Redskins owner Dan Snyder billed the Giants $25,237.06 for their luxury suite. (The Giants included the invoice in the game notes.) It’s the only thing Washington took from New York. Karma, Dan, karma. When will you stop doing these dumb things that makes the universe punish the team?
Really, did you think it would be that easy this season? A 3-0 start before the bye with hapless Detroit on the return? Forget all those trends of the Redskins always winning their third game if Gibbs was 2-0. Those stats belong in the vault with the three Lombardi trophies. Gibbs II has less in common with the first golden age of Gibbs than fraternal twins.
The Redskins haven’t started the season like kingpins since 1991 when taking their final bow under Gibbs with a title. That’s 16 years. Even the 10-6 seasons in 1999 and 2005 required late runs to emerge from .500 marks.
No, the Redskins will be NFL parity at its finest each week. All three games have come down to the final play. It’s like watching the last two minutes of NBA games.
“If you have to guess, it’s going to be a dogfight every week,” Gibbs said.
Somehow, that doesn’t sound good.
“Every game is going to be close,” Gibbs said. “If I had to guess the rest of the way will be like that.”
OK, at least it will be entertaining. But so are blowout wins. The Redskins dominated the first half 17-3, then looked clueless on both sides of the ball the entire second half. The offense didn’t get a first down until five minutes remained in the first half. The defense permitted seven straight third-down conversions before practically giving New York the winning score with a third-down pass interference and cornerback Carlos Rogers whiffing on the 33-yard touchdown pass.
Suddenly, the Redskins have a whole lot to do during their week off. Like run blocking. Tackling. Broken routes.
“We let one get away,” quarterback Jason Campbell.
Try not to make it two.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
