vs. 
Out of the box: The 2009 walk of shame continues as the Redskins host the Denver Broncos, 1pm ET on CBS, they way I figure it Washington has a chance to win this game just based on the law of large numbers.
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Quick jump to
The Story So Far: The march to irrelevance continues into its ninth game, now with more sideline fights. I saw the same play and replay as everyone else (op. cit.) and what I saw last week against the Falcons after safety LaRon Landry's late hit on quarterback Matt Ryan was two things: cornerback DeAngelo Hall not getting out of there in an expeditious fashion and a lack of Redskins teammates rushing in to bail him out. I would counsel though that the lack of teammates coming to break things up is not so much a comment on how the players feel about DeAngelo, rather it is a comment on how unmotivated the team is to do anything, they are as depressed as their fan base. DeAngelo came in and stirred things up when he did not have too (op. cit.) and then whined about it and the Falcons head coach took a chance to take some bitterness out, both kind of punk moves. Nice move by defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth at the end of the scrum, he came right in and moved the whole pile.
And how does a game like last week's happen? One team, with a week off plays another that was on a short week and gets creamed in the first half, five sacks of quarterback Jason Campbell and it took an epic halftime screaming match by offensive line coach Joe Bugel and head coach Jim Zorn to get them to play like men. All this is so last week, about the last game so why bring it up this week? Because the sideline scrum and the getting pushed around are not signs the team is quitting, but rather signs the team lacks discipline and basic fundamentals. The talent issue is not even really an issue at this point.
And while it seems like meteor sized pieces of the season keep raining down all around Washington, hints are beginning to materialize there may be new management at the end of the season (op. cit.), meaning shadow general manager Vinny Cerrato. And why the hell not, everything over the past two seasons, from Jim Zorn to drafting all receivers last year to the fresh set of eyes this season to handing the playcalling duties to a total stranger, is all traced back to Vinny. As someone once said on HBO's great The Sopranos, someone's gotta go.
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Curly R aside: As the Redskins have continued to spiral downward and inspire nothing but ennui in their fanbase I have seen anecdotally more and more pleas for someone to please take my tickets, or stories of people refusing free tickets or people simply not using their tickets and staying home to watch a real football game on TV. Well one local business is doing its best to turn Redskins tickets back into hard currency, American Service Center is running a promotion whereby if you turn in your unused Redskins tickets, and the team is not called by name in the commercials, ASC will credit you face value of the ticket off the price of a new Mercedes and donate the tickets to Boys and Girls Clubs.
Ouch.
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Oppo Research: This year's Broncos bear at least a passing resemblance to last year's Redskins, a brash and inexperienced head coach coming in to replace a legendary face of the franchise and then getting out of the gate on a hot streak. Will the parallels continue? After coming out of the gate six and oh, Denver has lost two straight, with quarterback Kyle Orton throwing three interceptions against the Steelers last week. The league may be catching up with Josh McDaniels.
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Trainer's Table: Tailback Clinton Portis suffered a painful looking concussion, taking two Falcons helmets right on the hat and knocking him out of that game, in his place tailbacks Ladell Betts, and to a lesser extent Rock Cartwright, did a great job carrying the load, Ladell will be the go to guy this week as Clinton will be out. I wonder if Ladell has a great game behind this same shitty offensive line if we will have ourselves a backfield controversy.
The list of injuries from the Atlanta game goes on, safety Chris Horton suffered a ligament tear in his big toe and is likely to miss the rest of the season. Former 400 pound man guard-tackle Mike Williams also suffered a ligament tear, in his ankle, no word on how long he will be out.
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Gameplan: This game will be all about pass rush, with both the Redskins and the Broncos strong on the defensive line and susceptible to sacks along the offensive line. Down the field the Broncos have two excellent receivers in Eddie Royal and Brandon Marshall which will test Washington's defensive secondary. Somehow the Redskins are currently leading the league in passing defense, I have no idea how that stat is true.
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My Take in 60 Words or Less: Everything sucks. Can't wait to see the demonstrations of fan unrest in the stands.
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Washington Post interactive gameday,
Enjoy the game, at this point I do not even know if there is anyone out there to hear my signal, all appears to be madness, there will be more pain, then stillness.
This is a gameday open thread.
NFL helmet logos from here.






