Looking on the Bright Side of Life (As a Redskins fan)

The 49ers game was another tough loss for our team, no doubt.

Yes, we struggled to complete passes longer then 5 yards

Yes, we allowed over 100 yards on the ground

Yes, John Beck missed open receivers downfield

Yes, any momentum we gathered was literally fumbled away.

And yes, we're not the world beaters that a lot of band-waggoners thought we were. (The same group of band-waggoners who predict a Championship every pre-season)

Our offense was VERY frustrating to watch, but to hear our own fans turned against them was even more frustrating. If you're booing your own team, its a huge boost for the away team and its the last thing a struggling team needs.

John Beck has lost his mojo and looked very uncomfortable out there. Maybe it was his lack of faith in his O-line or his over-eagerness not to make another mistake after his early pick. I'm not a "Beck Defender" but, statistically he has played better then Rex Grossman and I believe he gives us a better chance to win.

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Does anyone else find it slightly ironic that T-Rex was benched because he was making mistakes and forcing the ball deep all the time? Now people are calling for him to be given the starting nod because Beck isn't making those 'plays'. We've been down that road before and not learning from your mistakes is the biggest mistake.

I'm not saying we don't need to throw the ball more then 10 yards, we do. We had one of the better deep threats in the league last year in Anthony Armstrong, who continues to be a non-factor. Stretching the field vertically will open up the running game and the medium passing game.

The problems we're seeing from Beck aren't because or a lack of Football ability, its from a lack of confidence and belief in himself and/or the team. He needs to get his mind right and then I think he could be the game manager we need, until we have our franchise QB.

The three fumbles on offense really were the straws that broke the camels back in my opinion.

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Brandon Banks was also doing his best to give the ball back to the 49ers, muffing everything that came his way.

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Enough about our struggles though, and onto the positives.

We may have found our starting O-Line for the remainder of this season;

Sometimes you don't miss a good thing until its gone and although he is inconsistant at times Trent Williams, coming back from injury is a massive boost for us. He had a stupid penalty which negated an important 3rd down play, but that's only because he was backing up Maurice

Hurt who was having a shoving match with Justin Smith. Other then that he had a very good game, against one of the best front 7s in Football.

Mo' Hurt had a solid debut and didn't make any glaring mistakes. For a 7th round pick, against an elite D-Line and LB core. Woosah!

Montgomery is back at Center and played well against a Nose Tackle come Full Back...

The right side struggled abit when Jamaal Brown was in, but after he went off with an injury Sean Locklear stepped in and solidified the line.

As a unit they played well in Pass Protection, allowing only 1 sack in 47 attempts. The Running game is still aneamic and although Helu averaged 4.1 yards a carry they were routinelu beaten at the POA and failed to consistently open holes for the Tongan Torpedo. All in all, it was a solid performance against a very good D.

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The Roy Helu Show;

On the edges of the big grey cloud caused from constant Beckdowns, there was a shimmering silver lining. The play of Roy Helu was inspiring! He touched the ball 24 times for 6.1 yards a pop en-route to setting a franchise record for receptions. In his FIRST start, against an elite defense, and considering that he was our only outlet... Take a bow son!

(To see just how good their Defense is, check out this article written by Kevin Ewoldt http://www.hogshaven.com/2011/11/4/2537610/the-49ers-defense-has-already-injured-6-running-backs )

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Youth is stepping up;

Roy Helu was awesome! Niles Paul was flying around the field on Special Teams (as usual), Terrence Austin had a bit of an off game, but I would like to see what he can bring to the table as a returner though. Maurice Hurt got his first start in the trenches. Darell Young continues to play lights out, and he even laid a good lick on Patrick Willis during a run after a reception.

Ryan Kerrigan continues to show up and had a highlight real hit when he knocked the taste out of Alex Smiths mouth, as well as applying constant pressure throughout. Oh, and his run defense was pretty solid too. With the exeption of Von Miller or Cam Newton, I don't think we could of used our 1st round pick any better, that's without considering the additional picks we got from trading down for him.

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Chris Nield was used in relief of Barry Cofield and I didn't notice anything particularly positive/negative from him (which isn't always a bad thing for a NT)

The player who has me reaching for the Kool-Aid though is Leonard Hankerson, he was our best receiver on the field. He seemed to be open every time there was a camera on him and he topped it all off with a goal-line back shoulder fade... Something which has been missing from our offense for WAY too long! Maybe, just maybe he might live up to some of the expectations a lot of us had for him (He still has time to catch 120 receptions for 3,000 yards and 22 touchdowns, right?)

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Graham Ga-YES!

Considering he was struggling with chip shots last year, he has found his form this year his statistics don't look good, but that is due to blocked kicks and a muffed snap from the usually reliable Sav Rocca. Gano has only actually missed X kicks this year.

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So let's all stop the "Beck suxxxx, play Gr0ssman lulz" bull shit, because when he starts throwing to a Safety again the arguement will just reverse directions and people will be crying out for Beck again

We all know our QB situation isn't good, but what else can we do? Its not like Shanahan is going to lay an egg and hatch one. Like I said in a previous article, Shanahan needs to live or die by his decision to play Beck.

Although the play-off's are mathematically possible, with the way our team is playing I'm not holding my breath. This doesn't mean I'm going to jump off the band-wagon though, I'll be watching every Sunday cheering on the team I love!

Hail To The Redskins!