Welcome to the Party Pal: Redskins 28, Giants 14

Last year, when Shanahan benched McNabb in the 4th quarter at Detroit and replaced him with Rex Grossman, we all thought, "this is the dumbest thing I have ever seen in football."

Last December, when Shanahan permanently benched McNabb and replaced him with Rex Grossman, to "see what we had there," we all thought, "holy shit, how bad is our team?  And how bleak is the future?  Oh, despair!"

Last April, when Shanahan decided not to draft a rookie quarterback when we could have had Blaine Gabbert, we all thought, "Rex Grossman is going to be our starting quarteback?"  No, other people said, "John Beck is going to be our quarterback."  All the people thought, "Gee whiz, I don't care if the lockout never ends."

But last Sunday, when Rex Grossman threw his second touchdown pass of the game to go up 28-14 against the g-damn Giants on opening day, we all said "yeaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" and woke up the baby.

The newest member of Redskins Club.  As Bruce Willis told the LAPD after throwing a German dude out a window, "Welcome to the party, pal!"   Like it or not, you're a Redskins fan, kid.  Its a tough road to walk, but there's a great support network. 

The running game showed potential with Hightower, who has a lot more speed than Portis has had the last couple of seasons.  However, it was Rex's arm and chemistry with several different receivers that made the difference.  Even Sleepy Davis continued to improve, making several big time catches for first downs while absorbing hits.

He knew he was gonna get hit! (Dan Dierdorf)

The fade pass to Armstrong to tie the game at 14 before the half was huge!

On defense, we looked worlds better than last year simply because we have better pieces for 3-4, and because we have guys who are hungry like Chris Neild (the second to last player drafted this year) as opposed to dudes who already ate (Haynesworth).

Rookie Ryan Kerrigan made an excellent first impression by batting down and catching Eli Manning pass in the third quarter and returning it for what turned out to be the winning touchdown. 

Back to Rex Grossman.  Most people still think he is way too dangerous and sloppy with the ball to feel relieved and/or excited about himbeing THE guy.  Look at his record.  He earned that reputation.  But can he continue to be effective?  Can he be a guy who makes 3-4 great downfield completions or touchdowns for every 1 mistake?  Can his burden be lightened if Hightower/Torain/Helu and the stretch plays improve?  Hell yes.