First, head over to Turf Show Times and thank them for ruining Christmas. Good job guys. I hope you're happy.
Let's not kid ourselves about blame: 197 yards rushing, 382 yards passing, 36 points.
It hurts to fumble the ball on what looks and feels like the game winning drive. But Steven Jackson lost a fumble this game as well, and his team won.
I do have one complaint for an offense that scored 31 points. How can you pass the ball 26 times and have exactly one receiver who caught a football? One pass attempted to James Thrash. I believe four were thrown at Antwaan Randle-El. Zero receptions. I saw Brandon Lloyd on a milk carton this morning.
It gets worse? Shawn Springs broke his shoulder blade. What a dilemna this will be; Springs is getting older and more injury prone. Betting on a 16 game season in 2007 is foolish, as he hasn't pulled that off since 2000. So can we pay him over seven million in 2007? My first instinct is of course not. No team can afford to pay a part-timer 7 million. But watching this defense flail about depressingly like a Mad Cow without him and it is clear we can't afford not to have Shawn Springs on this team either. Rock meets hard place.
The Curly R already covered this, but don't view Vernon Fox's suspicious 15 tackles as evidence of a game well played. You get a lot of tackles because you're either around the ball a lot or the ball is around you a lot. Marc Bulger made sure it was the latter in Fox's case.
Cheer up, guys.
- Ladell Betts is still a hoss. Five straight 100 yard rushing games, 1,000+ on the season. If Steven Jackson hadn't gone off like a crazy person for 250+ total yards, we'd be talking about Ladell Betts 150+ yards from scrimmage.
- Shaun Suisham is a good kicker.
- Rocky McIntosh had 10 tackles and should start next year. The bad news? This defense.
- Andre Carter impressed again with 8 tackles and a sack.
- Jason Campbell had a mistake free game and led the Redskins to a season high 31 points in regulation. Does his mere presence change this offense for the better? Yes. Yes it does.
More than anything I want us to win next week so I can put this totally forgettable defensive effort behind us. Giving up nearly 600 yards is not Redskins football. I don't know if it is schematic, personnel, coaching, or conditioning, but this defense is broken. An offseason's worth of fixing is necessary.
I will express my satisfaction with the offense and with Jason Campbell's development. Teams are having enormous difficulty stopping our rushing game as well and 38 rushes for 176 team ground yards (with 3 TDs) is Redskins football. If only both units would show up.
I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Christmas (oops, I mean Holidays! Go read this, it will cheer you up.)
Game Recaps: NFL, Official Site, Curly R, Redskin Report, AOL Fanhouse, Covering the Redskins, Washington Post.