I'll be a nervous wreck between now and Sunday night. If it's good enough for Joe Gibbs, it's good enough for me!
Reasons to be cheerful:
1- Joe Gibbs is in charge, and we all know about his record in December games, particularly the ones that count (which is almost all of them when Joe is in town).
2- This team is playing it's best football right now, when it matters.
3- The team is about as healthy as you could dream of by this stage of the season.
4- Clinton Portis and Santana Moss are both after franchise records on Sunday, and will want to get them in style.
5- The Eagles are done, and shouldn't need much encouragement to throw in the towel on Sunday.
6- No McNabb, Westbrook or Owens.
7- Mark Brunell will play.
8- The Redskins are the real deal, and won't let us down now.
Reasons to be fearful:
1- The Eagles may be done, but this is still NFC East football - anybody can beat anybody else.
2- How fit will Mark Brunell really be? Can he set properly and put any fizz into his throws?
3- We have no receiving threat beyond Moss and
ey. One injury, and we're in trouble.
4- Ray Brown. Performed well enough last week, but will he prove to be the weak link this week?
5- The Redskins could return to fumble mode at any moment.
6- Can we really sweep the Cowboys and the Eagles in the same season? When did we last do that?
Realistically, using my head and not my heart, there is no reason why the Redskins should have any trouble on Sunday. All of the positives above are facts. All the negatives are just silly worries about whether the Redskins really are good enough, whether they've been kidding me over the last four weeks. But the record does not lie - we are a 9-6 team, the Eagles are a 6-9 team. Therefore, we are better, and we're playing a game with meaning, not just a meaningless tryout for some second stringers.
I choose to be cheerful, but it still won't stop me from worrying.
