I have never been accused of being a realist. I don’t believe in fairies (at least not the kind that fly), or the Bermuda Triangle, or Dick Cheney, or foolish stuff like that, however my mind does not always operate in the most logical and grounded manner. Often, after a close game in which the Redskins lose due to one or two key plays, I’ll be found in bed that night, staring up at the dark ceiling, wishing that key play had different results. Many times, I’ll think about it so hard, I’ll wake up the next morning, and need a few seconds for the truth of what happened to sink in again. I had the same feeling as I watched Sean Taylor’s funeral on Monday. I sat there thinking, ‘This can’t be happening.’ I have never met Sean Taylor, nor come within 100 feet of the man, and yet I have had to bite my lip on more than one occasion over this past week. And I have no idea why. Players have died in the NFL, been seriously injured, have left children behind, and none have affected me the way this event has. Maybe it’s because of the potential that Sean had as a player, or as a person, maybe because of the fiancé and child that will never see him again, maybe the reason is a bit more selfish, such as I won’t be able to see number 21 roaming the field again. Maybe a combination of all of it. I can comfort myself with one thought about Sean Taylor’s death, which on the surface seems utterly pointless and stupid: the man died to protect his family. Most, if not all of us would do the same to protect our children and loved ones, and in the end, after all the negative things that people have said about him, Sean Taylor stood between his attackers and the people he loved most, and sacrificed himself for them. I had no drivel to offer last week in the aftermath of Sean’s death. Beyond that, there was no point in discussing a game (Tampa Bay) that could not have had less meaning. This week, however, the drivel once again slowly started to seep from my brain and out my ears. Ug. CBS coverage stinks. Really. The down and distance below the score comes up only intermittently, they’re horrible at showing replays, and there were very few updates from the bench on injuries. It was painful. And I bet he could kick Cris Collinsworth’s butt, too. Behind Troy Aikman, I think Solomon Wilcots may be the best color man in the business. He always had something intelligent to say, and was usually right about what he was describing. When he was wrong (the PI call), he actually admitted it! We won’t see Soloman again this year, but I think he did a fine job. Wow. That was the first pass interference call on the Bills in 12 months?!? Whoever’s palm Ralph Wilson is greasing to avoid those calls, Dan Snyder needs to get in on it. Tee hee! Call me immature, but I did chuckle when Ian Whatshisname said that ‘Edwards started to pull out prematurely’ on the QB fumble. Duh. It looks like the coaching staff has finally figured out that Jason Campbell does better on throws where he’s throwing to a stationary target in the middle of the field, rather than a receiver on a moving route. Aside from a couple of slants, most of the routes run in the middle were stops. Nostradamus Wilcots. He was dead-on when he said that Portis had to have a big day for the Redskins to win. The ineffectiveness (and that’s being kind) of the running game seemed like it might be a meaningless stat until the Redskins couldn’t run out the clock with less than 2 minutes to play in the game. To fumble or not to fumble. I think Cooley fumbled on that play in the first half. And I cannot understand why Dick Jauron did not throw his red hanky. It was a play that could have had a pretty serious motivational impact on the game. Kudos. I ripped Todd Wade a couple of weeks back for not playing hurt, while Marcus Washington left everything on the field. This week, Todd was hurt, and then came back in, so for that I owe him some props. That being said, he, along with the rest of the o-line, played like crap. Hook him up to the power grid. Wow, was Smoot fired up or what? The guy had a great game, and looked like could have powered the stadium lights with the energy he had. He, more than any other Redskin, seemed to be channeling Sean the most. The Future. I know this board isn’t yet sold on Jason Campbell, but I thought he looked great throwing the ball this week. He does need to work on holding on to the ball (although he was hammered on the fumble), but I believe his earlier errors will be corrected with experience. The safety was not his fault, in my opinion, as there was nowhere to go. The play call should have had an option for an audible once the Bills stacked the line. Scott Brunell, meet Joe Campbell. At one point in the first quarter, Ian Whatshisname had a senior moment and said that ‘Joe Campbell’ scrambled for the first down. Play of the Game – Part One. The false start on practically the entire offensive line on 4th and one on the Redskins first offensive series was huge. We get the first down, push it in for six, and the momentum builds from there. Play of the Game – Part Two. With about 30 seconds to go in the game, Roscoe (love the name) Parrish catches a ball at the hash marks, dodges a Smoot tackle, and gets out of bounds. The Bills at that point had no timeouts, and would have had to get to the line and spike the ball, which would have left 15 seconds on the clock, maybe less. If Reed still catches that ball over the middle on the next play, the clock runs out before they can get the field goal unit out. Game over, ‘skins win. Mashed banana, mashed banana… What’s with the little dance that Lindell does before he kicks a field goal? I see a Wiggles audition in his future. Do I have to? I guess I have to mention the timeout debacle. I firmly believe that it would not have mattered. Lindell drilled the kick before the first timeout, he would have done the same after it. Missed starts. I haven’t calculated how many starts the Redskins have lost to injury, but I’d bet my Brittany Spears CD collection that we’d be in the top five. We’re down to half an offensive line, a receiving core where the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5 receivers are out with injury and the number one guy is hurt, and a secondary where only Landry remains from the four original starters. And people complain that we stink?!? We’re lucky to be in the game in the fourth quarter. In my bones. I don’t know about you, but I could feel this one coming. Little things that we’ve seen all season happened again against the Bills. Their QB fumbles, the balls squirts into the hands of an o-lineman. Campbell’s pass is deflected, it lands in the hands of a Bill, while the Bills deflections landed harmlessly on the ground. The wasted opportunities on offense. The key plays given up on defense. The injuries. I’m not saying that I’m giving up on this season, but I am conceding that sometimes Fate just doesn’t want to take you to the dance. Expletive of the Week Award goes to… the entire Redskins Nation. If they’re anything like me, they sat there watching the Missing Man formation the Redskins used on the first defensive play, and uttered a simple yet heartfelt four letter…
