It's hard to watch the 2012 version of the Washington Redskins and not think about 2007. That team started out 5-3 before dropping four straight and falling to 5-7. Then something unexpected happened; they won their final four games of the season and snuck into the playoffs as a No. 6 seed before ultimately losing to Seattle in the Wild Card Round.
It's unfair to compare the two because the context of each season is so different. Sean Taylor was killed during the 2007 season and the team, with inspired but heavy hearts, won four of their next five games. The 2007 team also started Todd "Career Backup" Collins during the stretch run of the season after starter Jason Campbell dislocated his left kneecap in Week 14 against the Chicago Bears. In comparison, the 2012 Redskins have the most exciting player in the league, RGIII, as well as one of the worst defenses in the NFL in terms of yards allowed- essentially an inversion from the 2007 squad. That being said, they have won three straight games- against teams in the division no less- and now sit at 6-6. As of now they are on the outside of the NFC playoff picture looking in, but they are still very much alive. They are one game out of both the NFC
I know that RGIII doesn't deserve all the credit for our recent winning streak (obviously the defense has been playing much better recently), but it feels so natural and easy to credit him for the Redskins recent successes. And I certainly don't think it's out of the realm of possibility to say that he is one of the biggest reasons the Redskins find themselves as close to the Playoffs as they are. He is changing the football culture in D.C., and that's really not even debatable.
I started to watch football- Redskins football- sometime around the end of the 1990's. Thinking back as far as I can my first football memory came at the end of the 1997 season when the immortal Gustave Ferotte did, well, watch for yourself:
My point is that I can't really remember a more polarizing figure or moment during my time as a Redskins fan (though Clinton Portis's first run as a Redskin is close) anywhere near to what RGIII is doing in his first season wearing the Burgundy and Gold. He may not be the reason that the Redskins have six wins and are a fringe contender, but he sure as hell is the reason that people care.
If the Redskins have any chance at finding their way to the Playoffs for the first time since that 2007 team, they are going to need to win this weekend against the Baltimore Ravens, then still maybe even need to win out. Thing is, the Redskins match up pretty well against the Ravens, and the odds of them winning this weekend are good (and I'm not even being biased).
The Redskins play what some would call an old school brand of football: they run the ball on offense (5th in attempts per game) and they stop the run on defense (4th in yards against). The issue is that they don't defend the pass, like, at all. This trend is echoed in the Redskins six losses this season-with the exception of Week 2 against the Rams- which have all come at the hand of a Pro Bowl caliber Quarterback. Sure, the Redskins beat Drew Brees in Week 1, but he still threw for 339 yards and three TD's so it's not like the defense was exactly smothering.
You know what the Ravens do? Well, no actually, they don't really run the ball with Ray Rice (23rd in rushing attempts), who only has 872 yards on the season. So if that was your guess tu as tort. I was going to say that they throw the ball 35.8 times per game (14th), instead of pounding the rock with their best offensive player, Ray Rice. It's weird, the Ravens would rather throw the ball around the field with a barely average Joe "Waka" Flacco "Flame," while Ray Rice "Hey Diddle Diddle's" himself without the ball. Their offense, however, only ranks 19th in the NFL with 343 yards per game; a yardage total that ranks behind such powerhouses as Philadelphia, Oakland, Buffalo and Carolina. The Ravens prefer to throw the ball, not run it, however, they are not particularly effective in doing so.
Flacco's QBR, 50.8 (an average QB's would be 50) is certainly not elite, and neither is his decision making: if you remember, he checked down on a 4th and 29 against the San Diego Chargers (you remember "Hey Diddle Diddle...), a play that would have vilified Flacco had it not been successful. His statistics in road games aren't impressive other: he completes only 55% of his passes; has thrown 4 TD's to 4 INT's, and has a Brady-Quinn-Like Quarterback rating of 70.2 that pales in comparison to his 100.7 at home. It don't think its "wacko" to say that Flacco (no? Okay, I'll stop) is a completely different player away from M&T Bank Stadium.
That's okay, you say, because the Ravens have that Purple-People-Eating defense that chews up offenses and spits them out like over chewed bubblegum. But wait, I say, because that's actually not true. This season Baltimore ranks 25th in total defense, allowing 372 total yards per game, a number that would make my senior year of high school's 0-10 football team blush. Ray Lewis isn't playing in this game with his torn triceps; and Terrell Suggs has a torn biceps and his status is questionable for Sunday- though if he does play it's not going to be at 100%. With these two guys both missing extended time this season the Ravens defensive ranks 23rd against the run and 30th against the pass, making them- in terms of the purple badass-ness scale- more like Tinky Winky than Donatello.
The Ravens have also struggled over the last three weeks, while the Redskins haven't lost.
Okay, fine. The Ravens are 2-1 over this period (and a win is a win is a win), but they played well in exactly zero of these games. Week 11 they beat a Byron Leftwich led Pittsburgh Steelers squad, still searching for its Roethlisberger-less identity; Week 12 they needed a highly unlikely (I can't stress how unlikely this play was... It was very unlikely) Ray Rice first down just to put the game into overtime; then, of course, last week they lost to Charlie Batch(!!!!!!!!!) and the Steelers at home. They easily could have gone winless during this stretch and fallen out of the Playoff picture. Instead, they are 9-4 and probably shoo-ins for a birth (though it's not a sure thing by any means).
Both teams are fighting for their Playoff lives, which is what makes this game so exciting (and why ESPN can't go 15 minutes without talking about it). For the Redskins this is a short week- they just beat the New York Giants on Monday Night Football- and fatigue may play a factor for them in this game. It's December, everyone is tired. But like Eminem says, "sometimes you feel tired, feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up. But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength and just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up and not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse." *
This game is going to be nasty. This game is going to be angry. This game is going to be exciting. And I have the Redskins winning: 20-14.
Hail.
*Listening to this song makes me want to Gus Ferotte my head into a wall.
No comments:
Post a Comment