Per WPXI:

Per Redskins 360: It is an individual award, which makes the nomination of the Redskins even more extraordinary. I'd just as soon have 21 than some award, though.

The run is even more impressive viewed in context. We lost our starting quarterback (Jason Campbell) and faced an impressive run of teams, including: 1) the Vikings, in their hood, and they missed the postseason by one game, 2) the Super Bowl winning Giants, in their hood, when they could have clinched a playoff spot with a win over us, and 3) the Cowboys who were in a position to set a franchise record. Any suggestion that they weren't trying as hard they usually would given that they'd already clinched their playoff berth is responded by: That shit wasn't even close and if the Cowboys can't get up for even an allegedly meaningless game against a hated rival, that reflects something wrong with their team, not ours.

Anyways, congratulations to all the individuals (and team) nominated. It was an emotionally powerful season.

Final stat line was 3 catches for 41 yards and a touchdown. Per the Post:

Interesting coincidence that Cooley was taking passes from the guy his now head coach mentored. If Jim Zorn can enable Matt Hasselbeck to pass touchdowns to Chris Cooley, I have every confidence he can do so with others as well. Cooley will not be stopped. (By the way, for a very entertaining article on the perhaps changing nature of the NFL tight end, please head over here at Mile High Report. I enjoyed the post, you may as well.)

The AFC was held to one sack by Vanden Bosch, and without having watched every single snap of the game I can only probabilistically claim that Chris  Samuels wasn't responsible. So maybe he had a good game too. Or maybe he didn't. Nothing here informs either way.

The NFC, just like the Redskins against Buffalo, honored Sean Taylor in a unique manner to open the game:

I appreciate the sentimentality of the gesture and it impressed upon me that though these crazy sumbitches may try to kill each other once a week on the field, there's a healthy dose of unity among the players such that they'd go to these lengths to honor Taylor who, for most of them, wasn't even a teammate. Also credit is due the league for permitting Cooley, Samuels, and Albright to honor their fallen comrade with #21 jerseys. I am just thankful that the entire tragedy was handled as well as could be expected by the league. And that's all I have to say about that.

And because no post for the immediate future can be made without some reference to Jim Zorn, here was this at the bottom of same article:

You're also dating Zorn, lest there be anyone out there who thinks we went with a young guy.

Per Art Monk for the Hall of Fame Campaign, the most comprehensive resource for all things Art Monk into the HoF, has all the history on Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman's campaign to keep Art Monk out of the Hall. As an example:

Which drove many of us nuts for sometime. However, Dr. Z has since come around and pledged that he will vote for Art Monk. Bygones be bygones and all that, I'm willing to completely forgive Dr. Z so long as this wrong is righted and Art gets his way into the Hall. The most recent quote from Paul Zimmerman, per a very reporter-like Michael David Smith investigating, is worth repeating here: You vote for Art, Paul, you're no longer an asshole.

Reader(s) are asked to recall this ESPN Page 2 Article pointing out that our very own Ethan Albright, the Red Snapper himself, was once considered of low quality by a video game:

Worst player... like a fox!

At the time, Albright faked apathy:

Though, more likely than not, he cried himself to sleep and cursed the game's creators nightly while promising to prove them wrong on the field.

One commenter noted that it was strange that any person could rank as low as Ethan in some categories:

That criticism was right on, and now Madden will forever regret underrating the greatest snapper in the entire NFL. Congratulations are in order for Ethan Albright; he's going to the Pro Bowl: He, along with fellow Redskins Pro Bowlers Chris Cooley and Chris Samuels, will be sporting #21 jerseys in honor of the Meast. More details on that here.

In other news, the team signed 14 players. Here is the guy who will actually make the team:

Huh. So were these guys signed in anticipation of cuts due to financial difficulty or is this just filling a roster now that those pesky limits aren't in place? More importantly, who signed off on these guys? I'm not sure who Executive Vice President-Football Operations Vinny Cerrato (a substantial promotion, reader(s) will remember, from his former title in 2005 of "vice president of football operations," see, once you get to just old plain V.P. of Football Operations, there's no place else to go from there, where can you go from there? Where? Executive -- these go to eleven, etc.) ran the decision by since we don't have a HC, we don't even apparently have an OC or DC or decided waterboy as far as I can tell. Were these 14 names the exclusive decision of Vinny Cerrato? Can we have fucked up the coaching search more?

Per the Official Site:

A fitting tribute to a great player. It's impressive that he managed to maintain the league's lead in interceptions with nearly two games less than many of his peers.

The honor speaks for itself, much as Sean Taylor's play on the field did, and thus I don't have to.

Yesterday, Clinton Portis was named the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week for helping the Redskins demolish the Dallas Cowboys on our way to clinching a playoff spot. I understand that FedEx is an NFL sponsor and appreciate many times over them recognizing the great work of Clinton Portis -- and thanks a mil(lions and millions) for purchasing the naming rights of the stadium, too, because it would totally suck if we named the stadium after some Redskin legend instead so that we could claim them with pride everytime someone announced our home games, whatever. But since FedEx is effectively a mailing service it seems strange to identify great play with mailing it in, a euphemism typically reserved for the way the Cowboys played last week, and not how Portis played last week. Anyways...

The entire team is playing very solid football, but CP deserves all the credit in the world for his 23 yard touchdown against Dallas, when he shrugged off contact by two defenders and managed to keep his balance for the touchdown.

So what if these awards are invented, congratulations are in order for Coach Gibbs, who won the Motorola Coach of the Week (with a hat tipped to Extreme Skins):

BTB just asked me about Coach Joe's alleged extension and I couldn't help but admit that such a thing would never hurt my feelings. I don't know if he's going to be the best coach of the year without a Super Bowl win, but he's certainly turned around a 5 win team in spite of the circumstances. He managed to beat out Mike Tomlin of the  Steelers and Tom Coughlin of the Giants.

Quick rant: I haven't been at work this week because I don't really do that anymore. This has afforded me plenty of time to enjoy either Oprah or else ESPN all day every day while the rest of you jokers are busy being productive adults. ESPN has been totally hijacked by NYG vs. NEPatriots constantly. I cannot turn on the god damn TV without seeing someone demand a hypothetical matchup between this year's Patriots and the 1985 Bears or whomever. The entire thing is exhausting and I really look forward to watching the Patriots destroy the Giants just so we can be done with the entire faux dramatic bullshit. Nothing that happens after this moment will change the fact that this year's Patriots are one of the best teams of all time, even a first round exit from the playoffs (which won't happen).

As impressive as the Miami Dolphins' 14 win undefeated 1972 regular season was, their 3-0 postseason -- that closed with a Super Bowl victory over Your Washington Redskins by a score of 14-7 -- defined the year. Beyond that, as far as I'm concerned:

1. The 1972 Miami Dolphins weren't as good a regular season team as the 2007 New England Patriots regardless of what happens this Sunday.
   
2. The 2007 New England Patriots won't be as good a team in their entirety as the 1972 Dolphins up and until that moment they hoist the Lombardi.
   
3. The Redskins are still in a position to defend the good name of the 1972 Miami Dolphins by refusing to lose anymore games this season. Should the Redskins win on Sunday, they march into the playoffs. Should they win out, and should the Patriots play them in the Super Bowl, the good guys will have an opportunity to prevent New England from being as complete a winner as the 1972 'Phins. Is that going to happen? I don't effing know, but it's nice to believe that history still, in no small part, remains in the hands of this great team we claim as our own.

Per the Official Site, Todd Collins was named the NFC Offensive player of the week. Todd Collins mixed together with "Offensive" and it works in the way we all want it to work. What a good story:

He and his teammates will have a long week to prepare for a pretty serious 9-4 Giants team that's already beaten us once. It is win or go home time meaning Collins can't take a breather but must unleash his awesome 13 year veteran fury on another unsuspecting foe. But just for good measure we brought in a secret weapon, also per the Official Site: The Jason Fife? Wikipedia says Jason's claim to fame was backing up Joey Harrington before he backed up Kellen Clemens at Oregon. And he played for the L.A. Gladiators. So, like, your move New York.

Hat tip MDS at Fanhouse, the Pro Football Hall of Fame has announced its 26 semi-finalists (there was a tie for 25th). Your Washington Redskins are:

1. Darrell Green
   
2. Art Monk
   
3. Joe Jacoby
   
4. Russ Grimm
   
5. Do we claim Andre Reed of 2000? I don't.

Don't get too excited. While Darrell Green should be a first ballot Hall of Famer, and probably will, Art Monk and Russ Grimm/Joe Jacoby are routinely selected among the semi-finalists only to be Punk'd later.

Is here hat tipped to the enemy. I'm a shameless Redskins homer so don't think these are the only guys I'm voting for, but here are the people I definitely think deserve a serious look from voters:

1. Clinton Portis - 4th in the NFC in yards per game, 2nd in touchdowns behind only Adrian Peterson (who is going). Three running backs are selected, and Portis is at least top three. He's had the 2nd most attempts in the NFC behind only Edge, and has moved more chains than anyone besides Peterson.
   
2. Mike Sellers - Leads all NFC Fullbacks in yards per game (8.2!!!!), has a touchdown, and is an absolute monster blocking. Is also a legitimate receiving threat with 13 receptions and a touchdown.
   
3. Chris Cooley - Leads NFC Tight Ends in touchdowns (5, tied with Witten) and is 5th on receptions. Third most first downs with 22, among TEs with over 10 receptions, he is 2nd in 1st down % (68.8% of his receptions move chains).
   
4. Chris Samuels - Rare consistent bright spot on an offensive line that has been decimated by injury. I'd also consider Casey Rabach for center.
   
5. Andre Carter - Tied for the lead among Defensive Linemen in forced fumbles with three (one recovered). Only NFC defensive linemen with a safety, as far as I can tell. Sixth among NFC DLs in sacks, 10th among DLs in tackles.
   
6. London Fletcher - Leads all NFC linebackers in tackles, has 7 passes defensed and two picks, including a touchdown. Also has one fumble recovery and has been the obvious catalyst on a completely revamped defense.
   
7. Rocky McIntosh - I said it. Fourth among OLBs in tackles, has three sacks, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.
   
8. LaRon Landry - 2nd among NFC strong safeties in tackles, has 1.5 sacks, and has recovered a fumble. You can only pick one strong safety, so perhaps this is a stretch, but shoot me for loving the Redskins. This isn't a stretch...
   
9. Sean Taylor - Leads NFC defensive safeties in interceptions with 5, returning those for 98 yards. Has a forced fumble and is third in tackles among free safeties. His injury kills this defense.
   
10. Rock Cartwright - Mr. Consistent. Has returned the 2nd most kicks in the NFC for more yards (800) than anyone else by nearly 100. Is currently 6th in kick return average with 27.6 and has more returns than the other 5 players above him combined. Leads the league in 20+ yard returns with 25 and has two 40+ yard kicks, good for 2nd among NFC returners. Has yet to fumble the ball on a kick.

Word. [editor's note, by Skin Patrol] And by "word" I mean "So what do you guys think?"