Redskins Hard Knock the Jets, 16-11

The Skins played the Egomaniac Jets in preseason in a sloppy game without McNabb and smacked em yacked em in the face 16-11. I watched in a slightly inebriated state at the Fox & Hound in Dupont Circle where they fill a glass full of vodka and give you a small bottle of soda and let you figure it out.

DeAngelo Hall had a big interception. Rex Grossman found Santana Moss on some pretty nice mid range completions. And Graham Gano made his field goals. Also, the defense put Sanchez on his butt a bunch of times.

The Skins won late in the game when 4th string QB Rick Bartel threw a screen pass td to Larry Johnson.

Important sidenote--JETS stands for Just Enjoy This Shit, according to my new favorite rapper Curren$y.

Gold Pants? Burgundy at Home?

How they look on the field is not insignificant. Its the way the burgundy pants, white jerseys, and burgundy helmets looked against RFK's bright green grass on Sunday afternoons that created an indelible, romantic image for so many of us diehards. Schottenheimer liked wearing the dark jerseys at home. Spurrier experimented with it. Jim Zorn brought us the ugliness that was burgundy on burgundy. Feh.

George Allen has floated the idea of bringing back the gold pants from the 70s, and a Cowboys blogger has announced that the Cowboys will be wearing their g-d awful white jerseys in Washington, meaning that we'll be wearing burgundy. With gold pants? Could be nice change for new era.

Debbie Downer/Thomas Boswell

"Every athlete should start from the assumption of victory. And every fan is entitled to dream of a remarkable year.

But don't make yourself miserable by expecting it."

And:

"Is there even a chance the Redskins could make the playoffs? Sure, there is. Unfortunately, it's just not much of a chance - less than 20 percent. Since '90, there have been 54 teams that lost 11 or more games, then got a new coach before the next season. How many made the playoff the first year? Ten of 54, or just 19 percent."

To which I reply:

My Redskins Hat Project, Skins Fall to Ravens, and....STEVE'S GETTING MARRIED!

A lot to get through...first, my hat. I did a fine job cutting out the cardboard insides and reducing the structural pieces, and wearing it in the shower so it shrinks to my head. Joey has also contributed by krazy gluing some cutting mistakes. However, portions of the hat still looked quite bumby and displeasing. So, I appointed master seamstress Joey to to see if she couldn't tear out the problematic seems and then sew them back tighter with red thread to create that smooth, effortless feel. And she succeeded!

Second, the Redskins lost to Baltimore 23 to 3, but again, we couldn't get to watch it live because we were out dining at Proof to celebrate Steve's engagement! Incredible, wonderful news.

On replay, McNabb looked pretty good throwing to Anthony Armstrong and Santana Moss. They would have had a really nice finish to a drive if Sleepy Davis had been able to hold on to a pass in the back of the end zone.

Larry Johnson played at running back and looked kind of lousy, but the o-line really wasn't giving him much to work with.

The starting defense also looked pretty solid. Brian Orakpo was brining a lot of pressure that should have resulted in about 3 holding penalties but the referees were being Baltimore lovin' a-holes.

Then, McNabb started to look like crap. He threw an interception, a second would-be interception was dropped, and he missed a wide open Armstrong down the right sideline. Before he left the game for Rex, however, he recovered and hit Santana for some nice catch and runs.

Overall, the starting O and D looked pretty decent against one of the NFL's top teams at the moment.

Most importantly, little Stevie and Faryn are getting married. This means a new sister-in-law for me, and a new member of Redskins Club. Clearly, this development warrants waiving the probationary period and going straight for full membership benefits for Faryn. Congrats and Mazel Tov!

So, I missed the first preseason game. Big deal.

Its not unprecedented. 3 years ago when the Skins opened the preseason against the Titans, Steve, Joey, and I were driving around Sherbrooke Avenue in Montreal trying to listen to it on the radio. It wasn't until the next morning when we were watching TSN and saw that new guy Lorenzo Alexander make a tackle after his helmet fell off and he needed to get stitches.

I watched the replay of the game and while it was nice to see a 42-17 win, it didn't seem all that great, which is ok.

What was great:

-McNabb threw a td pass to Armstrong on his second and final drive

-This guy named Brooks is super fast and scored on a punt return

-DeAngelo Hall's interception setting set up a second td.

-Rex Grossman's wide open post pattern td pass to Devin Thomas

-Trent Williams looks like a veteran and the o-line looks well coached

-Haynesworth played enthusiastically as a second stringer and was disruptive as a pass rusher

Not that great:

-McNabb threw a duck. Just one, but that's you get with McNabb. He's very good but that's going to happen

-Grossman's td pass to Sleepy Davis could have been intercepted and returned 90 yards for a touchdown