Washington Redskins: Don’t Throw Out the Kool-Aid by Diane Chesebrough

Even as I stocked the Kool-Aid in my refrigerator these past weeks, deep down there was this still, quiet voice whispering: “Noooo! Don’t drink it!” But there were indications pointing to a real possibility that the Washington Redskins could beat the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football.  So I said (out loud), “It’s possible! Even probable!”

Washington didn’t beat the Cowboys and there will be some angry fans jumping off of the bandwagon and clearing out the fridge. Not this one.  There are enough good things about this team that I’m not tossing the juice.

Football fans should never believe that when Washington is on the national stage, they can predict what will happen. It will never be like a “normal” game and really, what is normal for this ball club? The 2011 Redskins are very different from and better than the teams that recently preceded them.  But they are still learning and still evolving. One of the things that has yet to change is the fact that when they play on Sunday or Monday Night Football, a warp in the time continuum seems to occur and weird things happen.

Consider the result of Dallas quarterback Tony Romo playing the entire game despite his injury and all of the “wonderful” plays he made. Between Ron Jaworski, John Gruden (part of the MNF commentary team) and Kara Henderson of the NFL Network’s Total Access, I don’t think I can handle any more of the love fest going on for the Cowboy’s signal caller.  I almost lost my breakfast this morning when I heard Henderson, describing his play in past weeks, say: “The legend of Tony Romo.”

Urrp.

Had it not been on the national stage, this loss would actually be beneficial to the team. Things re-entered the spotlight that we had lost sight of in all of the hype surrounding the Redskins’ undefeated status.  Certain facts remain however, such as: Rex Grossman still fumbles, DeAngelo Hall says more than he should sometimes and the team still has to learn how to win.

As Chris Cooley said: “This team has to learn how to say ‘were going to win. We’re going to win right now.’”

Redskins fans should not panic and they certainly don’t need to harshly criticize the team the way they have after a tough loss in the past.  There are  few positives to take away from this heart-breaking defeat and one thing is for sure: everything most of what was wrong can be fixed in some way, shape or form. For instance:

1)  The Redskins came out of this game pretty healthy. Linebacker Brian Orakpo (cramping) is fine, fullback Darrel Young and wide receiver Anthony Armstrong (hamstring) will eventually heal and safety LaRon Landry made his return obvious to the Cowboys last night (“It was like riding a bike,” he said after the game);

2)  the offensive line will likely continue to get better together and Trent Williams can continue to manhandle defensive linemen the way he manhandled DeMarcus Ware most of the night;

3)  cornerback Josh Wilson showed that he was a good acquisition and Philip Buchanon will be back after the Rams game. The defense did a great job most of the time;

4)  there are 13 more games. That’s 13 more opportunities to win;

5)  Rex Grossman can continue to practice tucking the ball;

6) Kyle Shanahan is an aggressive play-caller. The prevailing attitude should be that he can learn to call running plays when the team has the lead;

7)  Jim Haslett might learn to not call multiple blitzes in a row – the last one being an all-out  blitz on third-and-long – when Dez Bryant is healthy and one particular Washington cornerback was covering sometimes like mosquito netting.

8)  They lost in Dallas and not here at Fedex Field. So far, the Redskins have protected the home turf, something we could not count on in recent years. Dallas still has to come here to play. While that won’t be for weeks, don’t for a minute think that Washington won’t be looking for some serious revenge;

9)  it’s a short week so there’s not a lot of time to mull over this loss;

and,

10)  The officials might all get Lasik eye surgery

See? It’s not that bad.

One thing that worries me is what happened before and after the game. DeAngelo Hall making noise about hitting Dallas quarterback Tony Romo and then not delivering made him look bad.  I can understand his anger at the defensive play calling there at the end of the game on 3rd-and-21 (see #7 above).  However, enter the now-very-public post-game rant and we’re off and running with off-the-field drama that this team does not need.  It doesn’t matter that he is probably right about what he said. And while I understand the frustration, and actually feel kind of bad for Hall, any behavior that distracts the team and brings back memories of the past few years is not going to be helpful. Whether or not that is the case right now is a question that only the players can answer. I just know that there is no place in that locker room for any kind of ego or arrogant behavior.  I doubt this team will be affected by it though, like they might have the last couple of years.  This locker room is pretty strong.

For avid Redskins fans, Tuesday was probably a “horrible, no good, very bad day” but we only get to pout for 24 hours. Then, like head coach Mike Shanahan and many of the players said they would do, we need to look forward to the St. Louis Rams and the hope that the Redskins no longer play down to the level of their opponents.

“Anytime you lose a game it tests character,” the coach said. “This team expects to win. It’s still early in the season. We’ll rebound and we’ll play good football going into St Louis.”

Hail.