The End Again: Giants 17, Redskins 14

Till the next time we say goodbye



Drink to it



Till the next time we say goodbye



Till the next time that we kiss goodnight


Till the next time we say goodbye


Till the next time we say goodbye


Till the next time that we kiss goodnight


I'll be thinking of you


I'll be thinking of you--The Rolling Stones


So its over again. The joyful routines of autumn are now over and done with. The season had some great high points:


Hall's strip and touchdown return in week 1





McNabb's touchdown pass to Cooley against the Eagles



Landry's overtime interception against Green Bay

Hall's interceptions at Chicago










Gano's winning field goal in Tennessee





But the low points were awfully low, like Andre Johnson snatching a touchdown catch over Reed Doughty on 4th down

Detroit's sack of Grossman after "the benching"; Vick to Jackson on first down and the subsequent massacre; Riley's block in the back against the Vikings












Freezing in the rain against Tampa






Getting trucked by the Giants, again.

The Redskins finished the season losing a sloppy game they could have won but for Grossman's two fumbles and interception, and Moss's fumble in the red zone.

The silver lining was that the Packers were able to beat Chicago, thereby eliminating the Giants from the playoffs and letting us off the hook.

Grossman was unable to stink or thrive throughout the entirety of the game, thus making it difficult to figure out definitively who will be playing QB next season. When plays didn't work, it was ugly. Another miscommunication on that wheel route to Sellers caused an interception, and he was unable to find anyone open past five yards until late in the first half.

But then, he started to look really sharp, especially after I made fun of him. He started rifling 15 yard darts to Cooley, Davis, and Moss, picking up first downs. And he threw a 1 yard TD pass to Davis to cap it, making the score 10-7 at the half.

Down 17-7, Grossman provided one last thrill for the year when he threw a perfect post pattern deep ball to Anthony Armstrong who got behind the safeties and ran right into the end zone. Finally. Most of his long catches this year seemed to end at the 10 yard line and were followed by subsequent field goal attempts.

The defense tackled well and played with much more energy than they did in the first Giants game, but they can never get any pass rush on Eli Manning. Every blitz is picked up--it looks easy for the Giants.

I watched in a very reclined fashion, and didn't get to my feet until the final drive when Grossman had a chance to tie or win the game. On 4th down, he had a man wide open in the middle of the field, but threw over his head. It epitomized the season.

Actually, no. I think this photo here epitomized the season: There are haves, and have nots--have nots that talk a lot of trash, start a pre-game fight taunting a player who is twice as fast, and then get toasted on the first play from scrimmage on national tv. And we are have nots.

Now what?

-Go, Pack, Go

-McNabb is probably out of here. I think they will try to trade him, and if they can't find a reasonable deal, they will hold on to him until late in the summer, and then cut him. Everyone will scream bloody murder, but contracts have consequences

-Grossman is a free agent, but I think he'll sign a sweetheart deal to stay in Washington. He knows he'd get to play here for a little while, and he has a chance to be decent with Kyle Shanahan's offense.

-10th pick in the draft--they might be able to get a decent QB. If not, I think they should draft a lineman, but they could use help pretty much everywhere

-Moss and Portis? I think the Portis era is over but that Moss should be brought back. He is a very solid slot receiver and had a pretty good year statistically. He just can't be the deep threat anymore. Torain looks very promising, but he needs a competent complement too.

-On defense, they need to find a big time nose tackle and much needed improvement pretty much across the board. Big props to London Fletcher, though. Dude is a 35 year old tackling machine who never lets up.

Here is an interesting analysis from some military statistics guy at the Washington Post:

*When Clinton Portis was injured, I predicted the Redskins' offense would likely not miss the overrated running back. His replacement, Ryan Torain, performed admirably, averaging 4.5 YPC with 6 TDs in 10 games.

*Safety LaRon Landry led the league in tackles by midseason, and we saw how that highlighted problems elsewhere in the team's defense. The defensive line was particularly silent in 2010.

*Against the Bears, DeAngelo Hall had the game of his life, accounting for 0.99 Win Probability Added (WPA)--figuratively and literally winning nearly an entire game single-handedly.

*When Rex Grossman replaced McNabb for the final 2 minutes of the Detroit game, it was an enormous mistake, no matter what reason was given. McNabb was an excellent quarterback in the clutch in Philadelphia, and Grossman was a disaster in Chicago.

*By mid-season, Chris Cooley emerged as the MVP of the offense, but it was also abundantly clear how bad the offensive line had become.

*Landry and Hall made big plays in 2010, but that highlighted problems with the rest of the defense. London Fletcher had another excellent season under the radar.

*By the end of November, McNabb was throwing for 4.9 Adjusted Yards Per Attempt, just below his career average of 5.2. Three weeks later, he likely took his last snap for the Redskins.
*Returner Brandon Banks was one of the bright spots this season. By the beginning of December, Banks had generated 16 points worth of net score advantage.