OK, this is not another post to blame Snyder, or Shanahan, or Allen, or D-Mac, or anyone really. At least I won't do that intentionally. I'm not using this to vent. I'm just going to go through my expectations about the season so far.

Before the season started, I had very low expectations. Yes, we were a different team than the one we dared march out in 2009. Still, we went 4-12 and that doesn't change in one season. What else doesn't change? A decade of bad draft picks, ill-advised free agent signings, or in other words, Snyderatto. Oh, wait, I guess that was a swipe at Snyder.

Anyway, we all thought the culture was changing when Shanahan took over. In all honesty, I think it did. Haynesworth-gate, it seems, is ongoing, and at this point it has gone on too long. That said, accountability was established, and in my mind that's a good thing. The benching of McNabb was dumb but all the anger I had at the time is largely gone because we signed him to an extension. That brings me to my next point. I think it's great that we have a QB next year so we can focus on what really matters--our depleted offensive line unit. The contract was too long and probably too expensive, but it's settled. No more worrying about drafting a quarterback in the first round. I think if we can build an at least average OL and surround him with some weapons, McNabb will improve immensely, but that's fairly obvious.

I want to go full circle now: expectations. After week 8, we were at .500. Whoa, who expected that? I certainly didn't. As I said, I had almost zero expectations that we would be "good" at this point in the season. That gave me a horrible, evil thing: hope. Hope destroys realism and makes me believe in a team that isn't actually that good.

A lot of our awful 2009 team still remains--why would that suddenly change? Change is a process. Here's a novel idea: let's take it one game at a time. I'm ready for a bunch of losses. I really am. At the end of the season, let's see where we stand. I'm not one to make predictions when we really don't know what's going to happen. 

I'm a Redskins fan until the day I die. This team has been hard to watch over the years. The good news is that it can't get that much worse than 2009. I'm not a natural optimist, or a relentless pessimist. I don't know if I'm a realist, but I'd like to think I am. With that said, HTTR.