You know the drill, some questions answered for the game this weekend, this time complements of Blogging the Boys contributor Brandon W. My answers to their questions will be up some time soon, I'd imagine. Enjoy:

Hogs Haven: What if anything is Tony Romo not going to be able to do under center that he would otherwise be fine at supposing he wasn't recovering from an injury? Anything exploitable?

Blogging The Boys: Apparently Tony Romo is able to do everything he could do before he got hurt and by all accounts is throwing the ball pretty well. The questions surrounding Romo's return are not really on how the injury will affect him, but how the time away from the game will. They say the great quarterbacks are able to step in after an injury and pick up right where they left off, so long as that injury doesn't linger. There's no doubt that having Romo back will infuse this team with some much needed hope and energy and it looks as though Romo has found that energetic spark he's had in the past that was missing earlier in the season. It's amazing what a few games on the sideline will do for your outlook towards the game. As far anything being exploitable, I would say it's going to be the same old Romo out there; a guy who like to take chances and will sometimes force the ball into tight coverage. However, a reinvigorated Romo could be very dangerous to the Redskins and other teams moving forward. The key for this matchup is for the Redskins to apply as much pressure as they can on Romo, because he might be a bit skittish of having that hand knocked into. The Cowboys' offensive line hasn't played up to par this year and Romo was getting hit more than ever when he got hurt against Arizona. Put pressure on him and force him to get rid of the ball quickly and the Redkskins could do a good job of disrupting the offenses timing.

HH: I'm of the opinion that QB pressure plays at least as big a role in generating turnovers as does good secondary play. You guys have a lot of sacks, apparently have gotten some pressure on opposing quarterbacks, but virtually no interceptions. Any reason for that?

BTB: There's a couple of factors that can explain the lack of turnovers the defense has generated. First you have to look at which quarterbacks the Cowboys have faced. Aaron Rodgers, Donovan McNabb, Jeff Garcia, Kurt Warner and Jason Campbell are all averaging well under an interception a game and have done a great job of finding open receivers when pressured. The Cowboys were able to put pressure on these quarterbacks but for some reason weren't able to force bad decisions. A great example of this would be the game against Tampa Bay when the Cowboys repeatedly had Jeff Garcia on the run, yet was constantly throwing the ball out of everyone's reach, something he is doing exceptionally well this season.

Another reason could be the scheme the Cowboys are running with their secondary. The Cowboys have been playing a zone, soft coverage scheme all year in an effort to minimize the big plays against them and keep the receivers in front of them. This prevents the defenders from playing aggressively on the ball and relies on the pass rush to force bad throws. If the quarterback is able to throw the ball accurately, the defenders haven't been in position to make plays on the ball, thus negating the chances for an interception to occur.

The last few games the Cowboys defense had become much stronger in the pass rush and were able to force three turnovers against the Giants, including an interception return for a touchdown by rookie corner Mike Jenkins. The return of outside linebacker Anthony Spencer will allow the Cowboys more options with the blitz and should provide more opportunities for forcing the quarterback into bad decisions. Now we just need the secondary to capitalize.

HH: What is going on with Roy Williams right now? He hasn't been too loud in Dallas just yet, and wasn't playing too loud in Detroit prior to the trade. Is it a lack of chemistry? Can Brad Johnson be blamed?

BTB: First of all I don't see anyone playing too "loud" up in Detroit right now, so I don't see how his lack of production there this season is anything to be worried about.

Roy Williams arrival to the Cowboys came with some very bad timing; as he was walking onto the practice field Tony Romo was walking off for the next month. In his three games with the Cowboys, not only has he failed to produce but the entire offense has been anemic. We got to see flashes of Roy Williams can bring to the table, including a clutch touchdown grab against Tampa Bay and an absolutely incredible one handed catch on the sideline against the Giants. Unfortunately that's about all the action that has gone his way. See the funny thing about receivers is that for them to be effective they actually have to have the ball thrown in their direction, something that wasn't happening at all with Brad Johnson at quarterback.

Williams hasn't made any excuses or mentioned a lack of knowledge of the playbook, so now it's just a matter of getting the ball in his hands. That task now falls into the lap of Tony Romo and Jason Garrett. Romo was able to build on field chemistry with T.O. almost immediately after he became a starter and I don't see a problem with that now with him and Williams. If the Redskins decide they want to focus on taking Owens out of the game, then Romo needs to realize how talented a receiver there is on the opposite side just willing to go up and get the ball.

HH: Terrell Owens called out DeAngelo Hall this week. What do you see from T.O. in this upcoming game? What does he, or the coaching staff, need to do differently to see normal production from Owens?

BTB: I almost feel bad for Owens. He was having a rough go of it earlier in the year and was having difficulty beating the press off the line of scrimmage. When he was getting open, he and Romo were misfiring a bit for whatever reason. Then he started to beat the coverage and find himself open countless times, yet Brad Johnson repeatedly was unable to get him the ball which is the most frustrating thing to happen to a star receiver. They want it thrown to them, but when it is they also need it catchable.  That has been happening the past few months. The responsibility also lies on Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett's shoulders. Last year the Cowboys were able to find mismatches for Owens across the board, putting him in different spots on the field nearly every play, which resulted in Owens having a free release against linebackers and safeties. Garrett needs to find a way to get back to these mismatches for Owens to be effective. Make no mistake about it, Owens is the Cowboys' most dangerous weapon and for them to have success they must find a way to get him the ball. The return of Romo and the addition of Roy Williams should (in theory) take some of the load off Owens and free him to do what he does best.

I also want to say how impressed I have been by Owens' attitude the past month. If ever there was a prime opportunity for a T.O. blowup, this was it. The team was losing, the quarterbacks were inept and even better the Cowboys traded for another top receiver and signed him to a long term deal. Yet Owens has kept his cool and while it's obvious his isn't happy with how things have gone he also hasn't gone crazy on the team or coaches.Owens realizes this is his last chance to win it all, and I am sure he doesn't want to blow it. Completely ignoring Ed Werder helps.

HH: Please tell me everything you know about Felix Jones and his availability for the upcoming game. I have no interest in seeing him on the field.

BTB: When  on the field Felix the Cat has been nothing short of fantastic and his absence has left the running game with some issues. His return would mean a whole new dimension to this offense and could help take some of the pressure off Romo.

Fortunately for the Redskins and bad for us, it seems as if Felix Jones will not be able to go after missing yet another practice on Friday. So there you have it.

Afterall, they have so much in common. They share spit, they talk:

After Terrell Owens spit in DeAngelo Hall's face in Saturday night's game, Hall insisted he'd have nothing to do with the Dallas receiver.

Owens, who was fined $35,000 by the NFL, kept trying to contact Hall, the Falcons' star cornerback. Former Atlanta and Dallas player Deion Sanders finally convinced Hall to take a three-way telephone call on Monday.

"We had a pretty good conversation," Hall said Wednesday. "As far as I'm concerned, it's over. We got it all out, cleared it all out. It's over."

They both face new depth chart challenges. In DeAngelo Hall's case, he joins a Redskins roster already set at CB and looks to be something like our 4th string guy (Leigh Torrence was cut to make room) behind Shawn Springs, Carlos Rogers, and Fred Smoot. Alternatively he could be 3rd CB if Springs is moved over to safety, a possibility voiced here. Terrell Owens probably isn't the #2 wide receiver just yet, but with Roy Williams about he's no longer the perpetually unquestioned alpha male of the Cowboys receiving unit.

And they're both having bad years. Hall was recently cut by the Raiders from a 7 year something like 70 million dollar contract to sign with Your Washington Redskins for a one year deal worth, ostensibly, much less cash. DeAngelo fell out of favor in Oakland in part because of his allegedly bad attitude, and in part because he flat out isn't playing very well:

"At the rate he's playing, I'm looking forward to a big day," Owens told the Associated Press at his book signing today in New York. "I'm no stranger to playing against him. I've had success against him just as much as everybody else has, so if he's out there, I'm looking forward to playing him."

T.O. speaks the truth. Hall, who was extremely overrated in Atlanta, has been horrible this season. Per Stats Inc., he gave up more yards (556 on 40-of-66 passing) than any other cornerback in the league during his brief stint as a Raider.

T.O. is apparently looking forward to playing against a corner that probably wouldn't be lined up against him anyways, as he's buried now much deeper on our depth chart than he would've been on the Raiders. As TORB points out:

This seems like an awfully roundabout way of saying “I hope the new guy is covering me, because the two guys they had on me last time really shut me down[.]”

And maybe that would be best for Owens, as he isn't having the best season of his career. While he's pretty square so far on touchdowns, with six in nine games, his yards are much lower than he's used to as are his yards per reception. If he maintains his 13.3 YPC throughout the rest of the year, that will end up being the third worst season of his career. He's averaging around 52 yards per game, which would be the lowest total of his career since his rookie year in 1996.

Football Outsiders is even meaner. They think he's just about the worst receiver in DYAR (only nine players with 30 or more passes are below him) with a miserable catch percentage of 48%. He has yet to gain 100 yards receiving this season.

And, finally, they'll be on the same field (though probably not often lining up against one another) this coming Sunday at FedEx Field. Given how the year is going for T.O., and his relatively (to his career, I mean, his 7 for 71 yards and a touchdown was probably one of the best games of this season) bad performance against us the last time around, in his house, I think Owens probably missed a perfect opportunity to shut up.

But we will see.

I much prefer getting these out immediately following a game's end as the results are fresh in my mind. Too bad. Anyways, here are my brief thoughts from the game yesterday, enjoy or don't. As always, I use only my eyes to evaluate a game and have no special monopoly on interesting commentary on the results. Reader(s) are encouraged to post their own thoughts. Lots of great commentary over at Blogging The Boys, Grizz covers the Xs and Os much better than me so you might stop by over there.

• Cliches were the name of the game. All those things talking heads love to discuss that allegedly good teams do so well... we did so well. Starting with: Stop the run. Their explanation for why they abandoned the run so early are baffling but entertaining:

"It wasn't hard to run the ball against them," guard Leonard Davis said. "We had a game plan based on the looks they were giving us, and that dictated we stick with the passing game."

Mr. Davis is entitled to his own opinion but not his own facts. You can say "it wasn't hard to run the ball against" the Redskins if and only if you... ran the ball against the Redskins. What that doesn't look like is 11 carries for 44 yards. Marion Barber had 8 touches for 26 yards -- 2. 3 something yards per carry -- and Felix Jones had zero carries. Barber had 15 of those yards on one carry, which should tell you how good the other 7 were. The last drive of the game the Cowboys ran the ball to Barber more than once was their first of the 3rd quarter. Result was a touchdown. I have no explanation for why they so willingly gave up on the run, but it wasn't working even before they did, whatever Davis has to say about it.

• Cliches continue: Run the ball well. Final damage was 161 ground yards for 4.4 yards per carry, highlighted by a monster game from Clinton Portis for 121 yards on 21 carries (5.76 YPC). This is the kind of drive that would give die hard old school coaches orgasms:

When this drive begins, the Redskins are up by one touchdown and there's a whole lot of game left. When it ends, seven minutes later, the Redskins are up by two possessions and that's all she wrote.

• Give your secondary a round of applause. If you had told me, prior to the game, that the Redskins would have zero sacks and still win, I'd have laughed. Shawn Springs had what we might colloquially refer to as a "statement game" that statement being: I am a bad ass shutdown corner and I piss excellence routinely. Terrell Owens was silenced by Springs in the first quarter, who did exactly as I'd asked by painting himself all over T.O. The final damage from Owens was 71 yards and a touchdown (12 of which came against prevent defense at the end of the game), not a bad day by most measures, unless you consider that he was targeted 17 or 18 times on the day. He did not have a 20 yard reception. There are no easy solutions to a player as good as Terrell Owens unless you have an incredible player to line up against him, and we do. Shawn Springs is incredible. Anyone who doubts how important he is to this defense has just to recall the horrible shit storm that was 2006 and realize he was the missing link. It wasn't the presence of Adam Archuleta (which we fixed) but rather the absence of Springs for much of the year that did us in. He is the most talented player on the defense. (Fred Smoot you played great, too.)
  
• Rest of the guys played great too. Carlos Rogers was good and bad but not so much of the latter to make me wince. Chris Horton had the pick and continues to find the ball, making him cliche numero tres: "playmaker". Marcus Washington got beat by miles on the Jason Witten touchdown but besides that the linebackers played ok. Witten had a big game but the reality is you can't stop all the people on the Cowboys offense. You shut down Owens (relatively speaking) and Marion Barber and Felix Jones -- not necessarily by anything we did, mind you -- and you've got a good chance to beat them. We beat them.
• So a crazy thing happened. Doghouse Durant Brooks is insecure about his job security, shows up in someone else's house against probably the best punter in the NFL, and outplays Mat McBriar. Final damage was: Brooks 4 punts for 42.8 yards average with two touchbacks, long of 60. McBriar: 6 punts, 39 yards average, only one touchback, 59 long. Welcome to the team, rook.
• What a toolbox this guy Skin Patrol is going to spend all this recap talking about the punter and kicker? You bet I am. You beat the Cowboys by 2 points on the road and it all comes down to: If Suisham misses one of those four kicks we lose. You can have this phenomenally played game otherwise that hinges on whether Suisham is going to go 4/4. His kickoffs were good too.
• ALL HAIL SPECIAL TEAMS I WILL NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT IT. Kick and punt coverage units were both flawless. Pacman Jones returned three punts for an average of 4 yards. Felix Jones averaged 13 yards per return on kickoffs. Underewoks need to find ways to win and winning on special teams is how you go about doing that.
• Jason Campbell is the quarterback of the future. He will no doubt stumble at some point in the future and throw an interception. He is not without flaws, he is simply playing that way through 1/4th of the season. Having said that, I'm a believer, I've seen enough, Jason Campbell has what it takes to lead this team to sustained success for the foreseeable future. And he's playing well because he cliche alert protects the football. This time last year he would've fumbled the ball six times and lost it seven (check my math on that). We all speculated that Jim Zorn would be great for Campbell, indeed that was the only aspect of Zorn that few of us wondered about, and it's been true. Joe Gibbs placed a huge emphasis on protecting the football but it has been his successor who has somehow convinced this team not to fumble or give away the ball. He's completing 67% of his passes. NFL, you're on notice.
• Also on notice regarding our head coach, who is as real a deal as anyone right now. No offense to the past, this wasn't a Monday Night Miracle. Jim Zorn went into the devil's house and beat them without theatrics or requisite belief in unlikelihoods. This wasn't a game dominated by the loser for all but one quarter. Coach Zorn found a way to get the most out of his players at a time when the rest of the world was expecting the least out of them, and for that he should get 10 strong Hail To The Redskins. I saw him doing hip hip hoorays or some other nonsense after the game. As lame as a hip hip hooray is, I don't care what he says so long as we win.
• And we did win how 'bout that.
• Santana Moss eleventy four million yards on 8 catches bla bla bla this thing can't go on forever. I'd go line item down our roster praising the team because so many people did so many of the little and big things right for us to win this game. This was huge on so many levels, I'm really speechless. I am without speech.

Someone save me here in the comments section, my fingers hurt.

(You are not reading about this because I refuse to have anything to say on the subject. Readers are free to discuss whatever they'd like.)

Long odds those furry critters had against the evil Empire, which frames well this week's game against the Dallas Cowboys. Depending on who you ask, the Redskins are something like a 10-11 point dog ewok, which is the biggest margin of the gambling week. That's especially distressing in light of the fact that someone has to play Kansas City.

The importance of a sploding the death star cannot be overstated, and hinges largely on where one shoots. In this instance, Terrell Owens is a womp rat sized target:

[Last year at Texas Stadium] Shawn Springs was matched up in man coverage on Owens for most of that half, and though Owens beat him to the corner of the end zone for a four-yard TD, Owens didn't hurt the Skins otherwise in that half (four other receptions for 40 total yards. Washington had yet to give up the big play - QB Tony Romo's longest pass in the first two quarters was for 23 yards.

But the Skins went to much more of a zone look in the second half, the corners played deeper off the line, and they were burned repeatedly for it. Three of Owen's four catches in the second half were for long TDs, with linebacker London Fletcher, and safeties Pierson Prioleau and Reed Doughty among those who got caught making coverage mistakes. Sean Taylor was hurt for that game, with the season about to take a sickeningly horrible turn, and the secondary was in disarray in the second half, with communication between the safeties and corners problematic to say the least.

Yea so that sucked, etc. and raises questions why we make adjustments to the strategies that work. That might be Jacksonville's problem now, but I digress. I would happily sacrifice our old strategy of lining up #1 and #2 CB on their side regardless of who lines up opposite them (like Carlos Rogers yo) in favor of just painting Shawn Springs on T.O. every minute of the game. I'd send him over to the Cowboys sideline, if possible. They should carpool.

Crikeys I'm too honest to ever succeed at blogging. Over two years ago I made a ridiculous case that Santana Moss was a better receiver than Terrell Owens. I was wrong. My heart was in the right place, the actual results were not. But, for the first time since 2005, I'd wager, Santana Moss is owning Terrell Owens statistically by traditional and better metrics. On a long enough timeline, many even ridiculous claims have a good shot at validating eventually, so here's to hoping for a 2008 that looks like 2005, for Moss at least.

And for us, since that was both the last time I didn't attend the Cowboys-Redskins game at Texas Stadium and also the last time we won. My fault.

Why didn't the league schedule the final game at Texas Stadium betwixt the Redskins and Cowboys? You spend 50 years developing this intensely bitter rivalry only to squander perhaps the once every 50 year opportunity to actively encourage this bitter hatred, and you give it to the Ravens? On NFL Network? I'm about half as pissed off by that as any self-respecting Dallas Cowboys fan should be. As crazy as this sounds, instead of giving Texas Stadium a proper funeral at the hands of the Washington Redskins, a team the Cowboys have history with and have played more than any other team in the league, you give it to the Baltimore Ravens who the Cowboys are 0-2 against or, put differently, the team they've played fewer times than anyone else in the league? Cool beans, NFL. Looking over the list of their opponents, there quite literally isn't a single team the Cowboys could have played in the final game of Texas Stadium history that would be less interesting. The Texans are the only other team to have played the Cowboys as little as the Ravens, and at least that represents state pride fight night.

Anyways, I'll ask Dave of Blogging the Boys about it later this week. In the meantime, scope out their concerns for this weekend:

Jason Campbell is a young QB with a mountain of potential. He played really well against us last year, throwing for almost 350 yards and two scores in Dallas. It took some T.O. heroics for us to pull that game out.

No one's saying Campbell is near Romo. But he can hurt us. We need to get pressure on him and keep pressure off Romo. The Deadskins are hurting with injuries. Jason Taylor is sitting this game out.

I'll take it.

Suffice to say this goes double true for us, given that we're the damned underdogs in this fight and pressure without blitz is the great equalizer in the NFL. If Tony Romo can pass comfortably with all the time in the world, it won't matter what T.O.'s stat line looks like because whatever omissions exist in his TD column will be filled by production in Jason Witten's. Speaking to yesterday: No one is going to beat the Cowboys for us, and if we want to do so, on the road, it will take more than crossed fingers. Chris Wilson save us and nom nom nom Tony Romo.

(NO FEAR.)

via virtualhug.files.wordpress.com

Probably a bit late but I've spent much of the afternoon our and about, watching football. Games I watched today were Jacksonville at Tennessee and a little bit of Pittsburgh and Houston. Since we play the Steelers this year (Behind the Steel Curtain is a good website) it is of some interest how they looked today for those reader(s) that missed the game.

Pittsburgh ruined Houston, Fast Willy Parker said no and scored three touchdowns and Hines Ward added two more. In discussion with my amigo Blitzburgh we both agreed that winning a game with 14 passes when your quarterback completes something like 13 passes is just about the perfect way to win. His words: "Efficient, efficient football" captures it. They played good defense, they threw the ball effectively, and they ran without mercy. This is not a team we will easily defeat.

Besides that I'd love to get reader(s) thoughts on all the games they watched. Or not. This is your Sunday late game open thread.

I'm out until tomorrow, make sure you v isit all the other SB Nation blogs for updates, input, analysis, etc. on all today's games. Cheers.

PS: I'm currently locked in battle with Hogs Haven contributor Burgundy and Gold in the Hogs Haven Fantasy Football League. I've been placed in the unfortunate position of rooting against Derek Anderson (playing the Cowboys) but the fortunate position of rooting against T.O., in order to win. As of this moment I'm up, I have Anthony Gonzalez of Indy and Adrian Peterson yet to play. He has Joseph Addai and the aforementioned Anderson still playing. If Michael Turner hadn't acted like a crazy person today I'd already be celebrating. As of this writing BnG and I reprsent the 1st and 3rd highest scoring teams of the week, though there's plenty of football left.

Indebted to Dillweed of Post Game Heroes [ED NOTE: Their post is up here] for taking the iniative on the initial Redskins Roundtable, currently involving just a small smattering of questions between myself, Dillweed, and Ben of the Curly R [ED Note: His post is up here] (who also revealed his Blogger Deathsport picks; he's actually good). Questions w/ answers from Ben and Dillweed posted below, make sure you check their sites periodically throughout the day for my responses to their questions. Enjoy:

1.  What do you consider our biggest strength going into the regular season?

Dillweed: I agree with Will, it's the linebackers.  Our running backs are good…not great, and the defensive line seems to be average at best.  It's hard to say Corners are our strength when the D-line (and blitzes) aren't getting to the quarterback.  With LaRon Landry back our safety position looks a lot stronger, but I have a huge concern at Strong Safety.  We just need to
find a guy that can occasionally cover while primarily being a weapon in
the box, and I don't think we've found that guy just yet.  On offense, our
passing game is unknown to us…we'll find out a lot more about it this
Thursday.

Ben: It has got to be the defense, despite some changes in personnel, Phillip Daniels out and Jason Taylor in, and some injuries, safety LaRon Landry's hamstring, linebacker Marcus Washington's hip and cornerback Shawn Springs bruised calf, this unit has managed the proverbial continuity Joe Gibbs was hoping for at the end of his second term in Washington.  They get started a little dinged with linebacker Rocky McIntosh and cornerback Carlos Rogers coming back from inury in addition to those mentioned above, this unit should get better as the season wears on.

2.  What about the team makes you want to resort to alcohol abuse to
help numb the pain?

Dillweed: Reed Doughty.  It's really not all his fault either…we have been
absolutely spoiled with Sean Taylor and LaRon Landry.  Doughty's mistakes
in the run and passing game have been amplified this preseason because of those two guys.  I still haven't adjusted to the fact that teams will
throw deep on us.  I mean just a year ago that was something you couldn't
do…ask Brett Favre.  If we had a defensive line that could apply pressure
then I wouldn't be so worried about having a weak link in coverage at
SS…but we don't.  And even if Doughty improves in his run defense, which I
think he will in a hurry, what does that leave us with…Adam Archueleta?

Ben: The FUD factor, fear, uncertainty and disarray.  Fear of weak offensive line play and nagging injuries, uncertainty in the strength of Jason Campbell's coming 2008 performance, disarray if the team gets off to a weak start or a large part of the team is simply not working right.

3.  Which NFC East team worries you the most?  How do you think we
will fare against our division foes?

Dillweed: With Sean Taylor, I never feared T.O.  I looked forward to playing him and seeing him get shut down almost every game.  But now…Dallas kinda scares me.  Giants are very physical but as long as Elijah is their QB I'm not too worried about them.  And the Eagles refuse to just open up the check book to hire ONE FREAKIN WR.  I'm so glad I'm not an Eagles fan.  It's one thing to just absolutely suck, but to have an obvious, and easily curable,
weakness never taken care of year after year…that's gotta make you
suicidal.  I think we split with the Giants, Eagles…and hopefully Dallas
too.

Ben: The Eagles, always the Eagles, they are the Redskins principal division rival now, I expect the Redskins will split with the Giants and Cowboys, depending whether the Eagles progress back toward the team they have been for most of the past decade or regress toward the end of the Andy Reid slash Donovan McNabb era, remember how surprising it felt to beat them in game two last season in Philadelphia and how unsurprising it felt to lose to them in Washington seven game later?  The Redskins are looking at best at 3-3 in the division, a more realistic assessment may be 2-4.

4.  What will our regular season record be?  How far do we make it
into the post-season (if at all)?

Dillweed: 9-7…Our running game and defense are the same…schematic wise at least, and I like the continuity on those fronts.  I think the passing game won't hurt us during the home games, JC seems to play a lot better at home. However, the away games are where JC will be tested and probably fail early on.  I think we go 6-2 at home and manage to pull out 3 wins on the
road.  If we make it to the playoffs, we might get one win, but I'd be
surprised (and really freakin happy) to see us go past that.

Ben: My walk through the schedule has the Redskins somewhere between 4-12 and 10-6, depending on whether this team comes together and stays together, or not.  If the Redskins finish 10-6 that should be good for a wild card playoff berth, maybe not, the NFC could be more competitive than the past two years, ie fewer 8-8 teams vying for playoff spots.

I'd like to expand this feature to either include more questions and/or more bloggers in the future, though give me some feedback for now on whether this is goodness or badness. It's greatness for me since Ben and Dillweed know more about the 'Skins than I do.

Final NFC East roundtable questions via Grizz from Blogging the Boys. A recap of the Redskins 13-10 win over the Buffalo Bills this weekend is pending and I will hopefully try to get that up tonight. The issue is that I am moving cities at the end of this week and have many loose ends to tie up here in my current city of residence before I belt town, meaning my time is at a premium right now. I'll do my best, but you guys would do me a huge service if you kept the place hopping until I return to escuela.

Anyways, Grizz's answers to our NFC East roundtable questions are below. Enjoy:

The NFC East is brutal in terms of the depth and quality of its teams. Can you think of another division that is even close in terms of talent and competitiveness?

Grizz: I think the AFC South would be only other one that has the quality of teams at the top of the division and depth throughout. The NFC East has returned to its former glory as a division that produces Super Bowl winners and everybody in the division is considered a dangerous team for any opponent. The intra-division wars are about as good as it gets in the NFL right now. I like the AFC South, there are some real quality teams over there, but I'm sticking with the NFC East as the best.

2. Was the Giants Super Bowl victory a fluke?
   
   Grizz: Fluke is probably not the right word. I still don't think they were the best team in football last year, but they did what many surprise winners have done – get hot come playoff time and ride that momentum to a championship. There's nothing wrong with that, it doesn't make you any less of a champion. In the NFL, you actually have to beat you're opponents on the field to advance and the Giants did that. Surprsing? Maybe. Fluke? no.
3. What new player on any of the teams -- draft pick, free agent or trade acquisition -- will make the biggest impact within the division this season?
   
   Grizz: Zach Thomas will really help the Cowboys in the middle against the run. He looked great in camp and preseason so far. Assante Samuel in Philly could be another guy. I'll also keep an eye on Jason Taylor to see if he, like his partner Zach Thomas, is still capable if dominating.
4. Your team will win the division, and possibly the Super Bowl, if ...
   
   Grizz: Tony Romo stays healthy, Adam Jones gets reinstated and plays up to his potential and Wade Phillips/Tony Romo finally figure out what's holding them back in the postseason.
5. Your team will finish last in the division if ...
   
   Grizz Injuries decimate this team or somehow the team chemistry starts to unravel. We got a lot of high-profile, out-sized egos in our locker room and some of them come with shady pasts. So far, everything has blended very smoothly but if that chemistry turns explosive, we could have trouble.
6. What team in the NFC has the best shot at keeping an NFC East team out of the Super Bowl?
   
   Grizz: I think Seattle's chance might have past them by and the Vikings would be the obvious pick if they had good QB/WR play.  Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay leaves them as a question mark. How about New Orleans? They fell apart last year but there is still a lot of talent on that club.
7. Give me one player on your team everyone else might not know about, but who could wind up making a name for himself this season.
   
   Grizz: Miles Austin, a three-year UDFA who has been hanging around at WR and looks like he might finally be getting it. He has all the physical tools you need to be a great WR; fast, big, ability to get open, but he's had problems with consistently catching the football. Over training camp and the first preseason game, he's looked very sharp and Dallas is searching for deep threat opposite T.O. which neither Patrick Crayton nor Sam Hurd can provide. It's kind of a longshot, but keep your eye open for Austin
8. Rank the starting quarterbacks within the division.
   
   Grizz: Tony Romo – Still has to win in the postseason, but if I had to pick a QB from these four for my team going forward, I'd take Romo

Donovan McNabb - I think time and injuries have taken a little luster off of McNabb, but he's still a very good QB.

Eli Manning – Great job in the playoff/Super Bowl run, but he's had some rough years with the Giants. If he does something great again this year, he's moves up rapidly.
 
Jason Campbell – Looks like he has a ton of potential, but he's still behind the other guys in the division right now.

9. Rank the coaches within the division.
   
   Grizz: Andy Reid – Has been so consistently good with the Eagles. I don't like his offense but he gets it to work and usually has a good defense.

Tom Coughlin – He moves up to second by virtue of the playoff run and Super Bowl win. He's had some success in the past but he was on the verge of being run out of New York for losing the team. But whatever he did last year, it was the right move and he won big.

Wade Phillips – The only flaw on Wade as a coach is he can't win in the postseason, and that didn't change last year. He's got to get it done this year in the postseason or he'll always be remembered as a good coach who failed when it mattered most.

Jim Zorn – We just don't know about him so he has to serve his time at the bottom.

10. Finally, what is your predicted order of finish in the NFC East? Why?
    
    Grizz: Cowboys – Without being too much of a homer, I really do believe on paper the Cowboys have the best roster in the division and in the conference. They won the division last year; the regular season isn't their problem, it's what comes after.

Eagles – I think they'll rebound and have a pretty good year if McNabb stays healthy.

Giants – They get the post-Super Bowl blues. I know the Giants fans hate when people say this, but I'm not convinced they can do it again. Yes, I'm convinced they whipped the Cowboys in the playoffs last year, but I need to seem them put together a consistent year, not an uneven run followed by a brilliant playoff run.

Redskins – New coach and a QB who is still learning, and now must learn a new system gives me doubts. I think they'll be a quality team, they are just stuck in a brutal division.

This is where soundbites are made. Dan Steinberg sets us up:

So in this dream, we're talking about an early June charity basketball game at UDC featuring Clinton Portis, Fred Smoot, Caron Butler, DeShawn Stevenson, Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens, Gary Payton, Braylon Edwards, and all the rest, with the promise of celebrity halftime entertainment even better than the game itself. Yeah, that'd probably be good for a few days of blog copy. If only, right?

And indeed, it is on like donkey kong (who I played as on the new Wii Mario Kart yesterday, which was fantastically awesome):

Washington, DC (PRWEB) May 13, 2008 -- BET host and internationally syndicated radio personality Big Tigger will assemble an impressive line-up of iconic athletes and celebrities for the All-Star Basketball Game during Big Tigger's 7th Annual Celebrity Classic. The game will be held Saturday, June 7th at 6:00pm at the University of the District of Columbia. Presented by the Street Corner Foundation Inc., the 3-day charity weekend is designed to both raise funds and heighten public awareness of HIV/AIDS.

As you know, I'm a sucker for the charity thing:

The Street Corner Foundation, Inc. (SCF) is committed to empowering and strengthening diverse urban communities through proactive, innovative programming. Based in the belief that knowledge is the key to improving issues affecting the community, SCF's focus is two-fold - to increase public awareness of HIV/AIDS by funding educational initiatives targeting prevention, and to improve quality of life for youth by supporting programs that focus on literacy and self-esteem.

I don't know how tickets are had, but someone, anyone, from this site needs to figure out the how and be there. I'll be setting my calendar in anticipation of bloggable stories galore that will naturally result. Fred Smoot and Clinton Portis will not be able to restrain themselves from being their always profound selves.

[Note by TexSkins, 05/12/08 2:57 PM CDT ] Skin Patrol types faster and writes better.

As part of the plan to create sports news (specifically NFL news) when there is none to feed to global machine that is ESPN, the Mouse Ear NFL Division has released the first (of many) versions of the NFL Power Rankings.

There are some interesting things here. First, the top NFC team in May is the NFL Champion New York (football) Giants the Dallas Cowboys? Wait... you're telling me that the team that won the Super Bowl and has only added pieces is not only the second best team in their conference, they're the second best team in their division? Is it because TO is now a TV Star? Or is it because Romo butchered "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at Wrigley worse than Harry Carey ever did? I mean, it has to be something like that, since it can't be on the field where the Giants won... in Dallas... in the playoffs... before winning the Super Bowl.

I mean, I can understand having the Patriots, Colts and even the Chargers ahead of the Giants. I don't like it, but I can understand it. But I think you almost have to have the Super Bowl champs in the top 5 in May, don't you?

From the ESPN article:

Our voters, who also include staff writer John Clayton and Scouts Inc. Insiders Jeremy Green and Keith Kidd, had diverse takes on what offseason moves mean to various teams. The Titans ranked as high as 10th in one voter's opinion, but rated only 22nd in another's. The defending champion Giants are the best team in the league, according to one selector; another ranks nine teams ahead of Big Blue.

Now, on to your Washington Redskins, who are 14th... one behind the Eagles in May. As Matt Mosley, one of many Dallas Cowsheep transplanted in Bristol even though he still lives in Dallas who wrote the blurbs for the NFC East puts it:

Too many questions: a new coach, young QB and a pair of rookie WRs. Hard to get a good read. (MM)

And by "hard to get a good read" he means last place in the NFC East in May. They are ahead of some playoff teams (Bucs, Titans) and in e top half of the rankings... but not by much: the Bucs are #15 (end of the top half) and the Titans are #16. So, basically, this means the football experts in May have the Reskins at, what? 8-8, 7-9? They don't specifically put a record down... but to finish last in your division and to be the 14th best team, and 8th in the NFC, means you are about middle of the pack.

I don't specifically disagree with the 14th overall ranking and predicition a 4th place NFC East finish in May for the Redskins, but I do have a problem with almost all of the rankings... from about #4 down. But that's it for now. What says ye?