Even dogs know better: don't shit the bed. But we did.
What this isn't is some NcNabb-like attempt at taking something away from the St. Louis Rams. They won. We lost, but our losing was incidental to their winning, and not an explanation of it. There's really no point discussing whether or not one team is better than the other, as the matter was settled on a field favorable to us, unfavorably. The Redskins are: 0-1 against the St. Louis Rams.
What this also isn't is my complete thoughts on the game. I've been either flying or in airports for the last 8 hours. I'm exhausted. I did not have access to the game and thus, like I imagine most people had to do back in the middle ages, received all my information on the game exclusively second hand from strangers wandering about. What is that, you say? Field goal kills game? Fuck, there I said it.
I am cranky and not at all composed. But, my brief box scored postgame thoughts are as follows:
- If you want to explain a 19-17 loss at home against a team most observers thought you were destined to defeat, look no further than 3:1, which is our turnovers:their turnovers. Uhh, I don't even know if that's right. I look at NFL.com's total turnovers and it says we have three. I click to the box score and it says four players fumbled and lost the ball: Campbell, Pete Kendall, Casey Rabach, and Chris Cooley.
- Who is not to blame? Clinton Portis, who said winning FedEx Ground Player of the Week for his performance against Philly just wasn't enough. His numbers were a Fantasy Football wet dream: 21 carries, 129 yards, 2 touchdowns. No fumbles.
- There is no such thing as a moral victory, as people only claim them against tangible, real, actual loss. One can have better statistics than the opposing team, though they are meaningless. But, in case you're curious, we had more TOP, 168 more yards (or, 84% more yards than the opposing team), fewer penalties and golly I don't feel the least bit better about what. just. happened. Teams that protect footballs win. Teams that don't lose. St. Louis protected the football better.
- There is a player in this league with the last name Incognito? And we know that because he called attention to himself by saying something naughty to a ref? You will read about this.
- Everyone who fumbled should be ashamed, whoever you are. Pete Kendall is better than that. Casey Rabach is better than that. Jason Campbell wasn't better than that last year, but let's get over it. Chris Cooley is definitely better than that.
- Not to be fatalistic, but I sure hope this team wasn't looking past the St. Louis Rams. Our net points thus far in the season is 9 points, which is two points lower than it was going into this game. We haven't handled anybody, yet. The difference between a 4-2 Redskins team and an 0-6 Redskins team is, really, 20 points. We need to settle down.
- What was medium about this game?
I really shouldn't be writing extensively about a game I didn't watch, especially while cranky. This is where you guys can complain about the results, we'll try and explain them together throughout the week. I'm not feeling especially lined with silver, but we're still 4-2, meh.