1. Holy crap. I have become so hardened to the reality of who this team and organization is that I forgot what it was like to feel my own feelings. Then at the end of the game, my 3-year old started crying because he wanted the Redskins to win. You see, he is only three, so he has not witnessed first-hand the mockery that this team has become over the last decade. The Sixpack is my off-the-cuff, knee-jerk reaction post. While I won't mix words today, my hope remains that this organization can figure things out before my son shuts down emotionally. At least some of us have seen the burgundy and gold hoist the Lombardi Trophy. I pray that my son lives to see that himself.
2. We only dressed SIX offensive linemen yesterday? Is that right? (Honestly, tell me because I thought it was six with Montgomery sitting, but the Redskins changed their inactive list so many times before kickoff I lost track.) To me, that said everything I needed to know about the state of our franchise. Our WEAKEST area over the last handful of years has been our offensive line. I would argue that our offensive line has been worse than our receivers. We spent time, energy and resources over the offseason getting our line in an improved condition. Since Kory Lichtensteiger technically is in the rotation of linemen throughout the game, you would be hard-pressed to truly call him a back-up. I understand that the unavailability of Will Montgomery was an unforeseen situation. They flip-flopped between him and Perry Riley dressing prior to kickoff. They dressed Logan Paulsen and they clearly used him to help out Heyer on multiple occasions. I worry that they thought they could get away with the shortage there for a week since it was only the Rams. That is pure speculation of course, but let's just say that kind of attitude seemed to be on display everywhere yesterday. If they only had six, fine. But getting to the point of getting caught with only six is a joke.
3. This loss was a total team loss. We lost it everywhere on the field. Offense sucked, defense sucked, and special teams chipped in with a few gaffes that cost us mightily. I can't point to anything that happened that indicated we were ready to play the St. Louis Rams. Did they think this was a BYE week? Damn it, Kevin.
4. When Kareem Moore made that first-half INT, I thought it was a game-saving play. I thought it was the line in the sand that we drew (finally) before the game got completely out of reach. It was a great play. Orakpo chasing down Bradford could also have been a lasting image of a win that we fought back to get. Instead, missed tackles, bad footing, horrible penalties, ineffectiveness on 3rd down and in the red zone and Sam Bradford beating our blitz will go down for me as the memorable things from yesterday's game. That, and our best players simply blowing it.
5. Chris Cooley fumbled that ball. Who was working that instant replay booth...his grandmother? I thought the ball was clearly coming loose as he was going down. The INT thrown by Don Burgundy a minute later kind of cemented the issue though. In fact, turning the ball over on that drive seemed to be the only thing our offense appeared dedicated to doing. Way to stick with it.
6. Last week we were a blocked field goal away from being 2-0. Now we know the truth: we are a holding penalty away from being 0-3. Don't be sad today Redskins fans. Be PISSED. I said it last week: that game was a huge test for this team and franchise, and we FAILED MISERABLY. I keep making this about both the team and the organization. We have to, because there are clearly still some things horribly, horribly wrong inside that building if that is how we came out and played against a team everyone (not just Redskins fans, EVERYONE) thought we were much better than.