Shanahan coaches the Redskins to a loss, wait…was it Shanahan making the calls or is Jim Zorn back?

If you told me the redskins went for it on 4th and 1 with 2 timeouts left and 2:08 on the clock I'd say Jim Zorn is crazy!  Guess what guys, not JZ calling that horrible play, it was our "savior" of the season, Shanahan.  Scratching of the head became a regular thing while watching today's game, I really expected the skins to go out and compete and they dud until Torain went down.  Well, let me back up a bit….there was no protection up front at all throughout the entire game.  Rabach has got to get himself together, he was backed up on what seemed like every play with two leading to McNabb tripping and loss of downs and yards.  Heyer showed why he can't be trusted, having Brown not a 100% really killed us today.  Vandan Bosche went to town on us today, he attacked the line and caused ruckus.  The rookie, Suh showed up to play recording 2 sacks and recovering the ball and running it back for a TD sealing the game.  Calvin Johnson and Stafford connected on three touchdowns as though they hadn't missed any time apart.  It seems as though all the the lions playmakers showed up and made an impact in the game something I can't really say for the redskins. 

It didn't start well for the skins, they never really got anything going.  The biggest blow was losing Torain, the offense was already struggling but having to put a rookie in during a game is always a scary thing.  The lions attacked the rookie immediately and he proved to not be the greatest in pass protection.  Losing Torain made the struggling redskins a one dimensional team, the lions had their number from that point on.  McNabb made a couple big plays especially the big run which led to a TD but it just wasn't enough.  Brandon Banks even cashed in today with a 96 yard kickoff return for a TD sparking the offense hopefully taking the momentum and running with it.  Unfortunately, the lions took that momentum and never looked back. 

Just when the game seemed out of hand, Shanahan makes one of the biggest head scratching moves by taking McNabb out with two minutes left in the game to put in Grossman.  He said after the game that it was Grossman's knowledge of the two minute offense that led him to make the call but it just doesn't make sense!   Sure Grossman has knowledge of the offense and the two minute drill but the extent of his knowledge so far has been on the practice field.  Although McNabb didn't have a great game, I blame this more on the offensive line never giving him the opportunity to ever do anything whatsoever.  For McNabb to get benched because of someone else's mistakes and lack of play is absurd, and to bench him for a guy that quickly proved to not be any type of improvement over McNabb is just a joke.

Shanahan lost a lot of credibility today by making  Jim Zorn moves by going for it with 2:08 left on the clock in the 4th quarter but the most confusing of them all was benching McNabb.   It seems as though Shanahan was watching too much tv last year when he was sitting on his couch, he saw Reid bench McNabb and thought….hey, it might work here.  The difference is that we don't have a good backup quarterback that you can really depend on.  Grossman going in the game didn't scare the lions, if anything it scared redskins fans across the world thinking we had gotten rid of bozo the clown aka Jim Zorn but I guess he just came back dressed as Shanahan, It is Halloween.  After the game Shanahan announced McNabb would be the starting QB though I think the damage has been done. 

If the redskins had any reputation going for them was that they were on a different path led by a legitimate leader that's had a reputation of being an offensive genius…after today's game I might compare him to a confused Wade Phillips running up and down the field scratching his head not having a clue of his surroundings.  The redskins might again be more of a laugh to other teams, it seems as though this club shy'd away from players in the offseason that were going stir up drama in the locker room yet the skins had plenty of that.  Now to add to their mess is a coach making bonehead decisions leaving everyone with a sick feeling in their stomaches.  If the redskins were a legitimate good team they would've gone into detroit and beat them, maybe they would've struggled at some point but they should've found a way to come out with a win.  The complete opposite unfolded today, the redskins lost their second running back this season and then went on to show that the solid leadership that was once there is now a struggling one. 

I'm aware that Shanahan got to where he is today on more than two decisions throughout his career whether they were good or bad.  Redskin fans can't lose complete hope but the once security that was there in the head coach might've been lost today.  Although the players had a huge part in today'd debacle, I blame the coaching squad for most of it by making joke decisions.  One positive thing is that the bye is here, the players can begin their healing process, take their minds off the game for a couple of days and start all over next week knowing a hungry eagles team is coming to D.C. and they're on a mission to get the skins back  for the loss earlier in the year. 

The skins are 4-4… .500, had you told me that was going to be our record after 8 weeks a couple of months I would've said you were crazy but I'll take it and with that note, skins fans lets keep our hopes alive.  The NFC is as it always is, competitive and with the redskins 4-4 record…there's still a lot of football left to be played.  At least we're not 1-5 and our name is the Dallas Cowboys!