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(photo by Brian Murphy)

1. “Still The Same” by Bob Seger

The Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-24 to win Super Bowl XXVI back in 1992 in a game many ‘Skins fans will never forget.

Unfortunately though, things haven’t been the same since that fateful day when the franchise brought home the third Lombardi Trophy.

For much of the last 20 years, the Redskins have been downright mediocre (or worse). Head coaches, coordinators and quarterbacks have all come and gone, but the results seemingly remain the same.

Sadly, that’s the only way to spin Washington’s embarrassing 23-0 loss to the Bills in Toronto — yet another low point for an organization who continually finds ways to sink lower and lower.

A once-mighty franchise, led by Mike Shanahan, one of the most well-respected head coaches in the NFL, couldn’t even muster a meaningless field goal against a Bills team that had never won north of the border.

But in what’s become a disheartening tradition of late, struggling teams find a way to get back on track against the Redskins — so Buffalo won their first game in Toronto, picked up their sixth-straight victory over Washington since that Super Bowl loss and shut out a Shanahan-coached team for the first time in his NFL career.

In fact, the only other time a Shanahan team has been blanked was when he was a receivers coach for Denver back in 1984. That’s how far back you have to go to find another performance as disappointing as this one on Shanahan’s resume.

Sadly, it’s not been that long for the Redskins.

Less than two years ago, Washington was shut out in a 17-0 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in the second-to-last game of the Jim Zorn era.

Good times.

2. “Wasted Words” by The Allman Brothers Band

Quarterback John Beck made his second-consecutive start for Washington, and it went about as poorly as humanly possible. The man who received ringing endorsements from every Shanahan on the coaching staff was as bad (if not worse) than anything we’ve seen from Rex Grossman during his time in town.

Just how offensive was the Beck-led offense?

Well, for starters, the Redskins had 11 possessions against Buffalo. Only four of them lasted more than five plays.

Six drives ended with a punt, two ended with interceptions and the Redskins turned the ball over on downs twice. Add in a blocked field goal attempt and what you’re left with is a steaming pile of crap that makes ‘Skins fans long for the days of a bingo caller running the show or Al Saunders’ 700-page playbook.

There have been about a thousand quarterbacks who have taken the field for Washington since the franchise’s last Super Bowl win, and you’d be hard pressed to find another outing this dreadful. For everything that was written about Grossman or Donovan McNabb or Jason Campbell, each of them was able to at least move the chains and put points on the board from time to time.

Beck finished the game with 208 passing yards, two interceptions and a QB rating of 53.6.

For the season, Beck has completed just 58 percent of his passes with one touchdown pass and five turnovers and a QB rating of 69.9.

Anyone who thought he was going to come in and suddenly transform the Redskins offense into something special … well … it hasn’t happened yet. And honestly, for all the talk of Beck’s mobility, the only time anyone has seen it in action is when he’s chasing down one of his own fumbles.

The guy is garbage and the offense is nonexistent with him running the show.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

1. “Big Picture” by T.I.

One week after a disappointing loss to a last-place team, the Washington Redskins traveled to Carolina for a chance at redemption.

On the surface, the rebuilding Panthers – with just three wins in their last 22 games – were just what the doctor ordered for a Redskins team in dire need of a victory.

Carolina was in the midst of a three-game losing streak and just 1-5 on the year, so if ever there was a winnable game on the schedule – this was it.

Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton came into the contest tied with the recently benched Rex Grossman for most interceptions thrown and the Panthers were 29th in the NFL inrushing defense.

All the Redskins needed to do was get off to a quick start, which would force an overly aggressive rookie to take chances while playing from behind and then seal the game with a healthy dose of the ground game.

Instead, Washington stunk up the joint in the first half, once again, and let a doormat team hang around until the opposing offense got going.

Redskins players were careless with the football on offense and the defense reverted back to the first half of the Eagles game when they appeared incapable of getting off the field.

The Panthers found success in both their running and passing games, and a once-promising season appears to be on the verge of a complete collapse for the burgundy and gold.

Carolina’s 33-20 victory over the Redskins isn’t going to be easy to move on from. Not when head coach Mike Shanahan’s squad was so thoroughly outclassed from start to finish by a team that the rest of the NFL has had little trouble handling.

2. “Nothingman” by Pearl Jam

Heading into the game, all eyes were on Redskins quarterback John Beck, making his first start since 2007.

After providing a spark to Washington’s offense in the fourth quarter one week earlier, the hope was the 30-year-old signal caller would build off of that effort and finally show the Redskins offense that it’s okay to put points on the board.

And statistically speaking, Beck had his best day as a pro. He completed 22 of 37 passes for a career-high 279 yards with two touchdowns (a four-yard run and a seven-yard pass to tight end Fred Davis).

But he also turned the ball over twice, never really challenged the Carolina defense and at no point resembled anything other than a mediocre quarterback.

Late in the first half, the Redskins offense had roughly 80 yards on the ground to go with 70 yards in Panther penalties. And what about Beck and the passing attack?
The career backup had a grand total of 17 passing yards, which is nearly impossible to comprehend in today’s pass-happy NFL.

While seemingly every other team in the league is moving the ball and scoring points at will, the Redskins could barely muster two first downs through the air.

The offense was still unable to find any sort of rhythm, was painful to watch and the kicker was still the team’s most consistent weapon.

For all the angst Grossman has caused ‘Skins fans this season, his stats against Arizona and Dallas earlier in the year were remarkably similar to what Beck racked up against Carolina.*

*Seriously, look at the numbers. Grossman threw for 291 yards with two touchdowns and two turnovers against the Cardinals. Beck threw for 279 yards with two touchdowns and two turnovers against the Panthers. Grossman completed 22 of 37 passes for 250 yards against Dallas. Beck completed 22 of 37 passes for 279 yards against Carolina. Like it or not, they’re the same player.

So feel free to talk yourself into just how much better Beck is than Grossman, but leave me out of it. Neither quarterback is any good and if Redskins fans are lucky, neither quarterback will be in town this time next year.
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(photo by Brian Murphy)

1. “Gotta Have It” by Kanye West and Jay-Z

The Washington Redskins had the unique opportunity to effectively end the Philadelphia Eagles’ season with more than two months remaining on the schedule.

The Redskins also had the chance to avenge last season’s lopsided loss to Philly while showing the rest of the NFL that this year is different and that these Redskins can handle the spotlight.

Unfortunately, Washington was unable to take advantage of the situation and instead of silencing the critics and getting revenge on a divisional rival, the Redskins are left searching for answers after a disheartening 20-13 loss to the Eagles.

Philadelphia came into this contest with a 1-4 record and the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Coming into the game, the Eagles were getting beat in the trenches on both sides of the ball, defensive players failed to execute something as simple as tackling a ball carrier consistently and quarterback Mike Vick had a turnover in 12 straight-games.

All the Redskins had to do was get off to a fast start to make Philadelphia play from behind, and there was a good chance that the burgundy and gold faithful would have enjoyed a front-row seat of the beginning of the end for Andy Reid and the Eagles.

Of course, nothing is that simple in Washington. So naturally, the Eagles jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first half and held on for the win.

And while there’s plenty of blame to go around after a loss, one Redskins player did his best to ensure where the bulk of the criticism was directed.

2. “I’m Not the One” by The Black Keys

What do Tom Brady, Mike Vick and Rex Grossman all have in common? Each quarterback has finished a game this season with four interceptions.

But while the Patriots and Eagles remained confident in their starting quarterbacks, the same cannot be said for the Redskins. Not after Grossman completed twice as many passes to Eagles defenders (four) than Redskins receivers (one each to Jabar Gaffney and Donte Stallworth).

In three quarters of action, the artist formerly known as Sexy Rexy completed nine passes on 22 attempts for 143 yards with zero touchdowns and four interceptions. That’s good enough to earn a 23.7 quarterback rating and an early trip to the showers.

“Bottom line is you have a good day or you don’t,” said head coach Mike Shanahan. “We’ll take a look at the film and try and talk about where the mistakes were in the reads and those types of things. Right now everybody knows that if you have four picks in a game good things aren’t going to happen.”

Amazingly enough, this isn’t even Grossman’s only four-interception performance – the nine-year veteran threw four picks against Arizona back in 2006.*

*You might remember this game for it’s memorable post-game rant by Grossman’s head coach Dennis Green.

“You’ve just got to flush it,” Grossman said of his disappointing performance. “There are so many times in this league that you face adversity for one reason or another that you’ve got to go back to your core beliefs. I believe in myself no matter if the whole stadium doesn’t or the coaching staff doesn’t.  Whatever the situation is, I believe in myself that every single play I’m going to get it done. So, I fall back on that.”

While that’s all well and good, I’m not so sure anyone else in town has quite as much confidence in Grossman after this dud of an outing.

Watching Grossman’s performance spiral worse and worse with each passing game, it’s nearly impossible to build a case for The Rex Cannon to take the field again anytime soon.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

1. “Don’t Bring Me Down” by OK Go

The St. Louis Rams have basically been a doormat since quarterback Kurt Warner went back to bagging groceries, and yet, in each of the last three seasons they’ve given the Washington Redskins as much trouble as any team in football.

In 2008 and 2010, the Rams defeated the Redskins in what was essentially the low point of the season, and in 2009, the Redskins narrowly edged St. Louis in a 9-7 barn burner.

Because the football gods have a sense of humor, these two struggling franchises met for a fourth consecutive season* in a game that could conceivably be referred to as a “must-win” for Washington.

*And eighth time these two teams have squared off since 2000. The only other two non-divisional teams who seemingly face off that often are the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. Somehow I think that’s a more enjoyable match-up for the football-watching world.

The Redskins did, in fact, hold on to win 17-10, but it was far from perfect.

2. “I Can’t Turn You Loose” by Otis Redding

Washington’s offense — especially the passing game — never really seemed to have any sort of rhythm against the Rams, which is especially troublesome when you factor in how disjointed the offense was a week ago in Dallas as well.

Quarterback Rex Grossman did nothing to quiet the vocal minority of ‘Skins fans who think the team would be better off with John Beck (or anyone other than Grossman) running the show.

The ninth-year pro completed 15 of 29 passes for 143 yards, with a touchdown, two interceptions and a quarterback rating of 48.5.

In his last three starts,  Grossman hasn’t had a QB rating over 80, a completion percentage over 60 and he’s turned the ball over six times. How the Redskins are 3-1 with their quarterback giving them so little, is beyond me.

Take, for example, Grossman’s stats in the pivotal fourth quarter in St. Louis — one completion on five attempts for eight yards with two interceptions.

If you’re wondering how a team can nearly blow a 17-point lead in roughly 10 minutes, Rex is your answer. He forced ill-advised passes to receivers who weren’t open. He never looked comfortable in or out of the pocket. Basically, Grossman had a day all of us would rather forget.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

1. “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” by Gnarls Barkley

Washington Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall was so frustrated in the moments after his team’s fourth quarter collapse to the Dallas Cowboys that he couldn’t take it anymore.

As Hall turned the corner into the Washington locker room, he stripped off his jersey and shoulder pads and slammed them to the ground as violently as possible.

Ten minutes later, when the media was finally admitted into the post-game locker room, Hall was still steaming.

He went off on the official who called him for a back-breaking 15-yard penalty for allegedly grabbing Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant’s face mask.

“That was a [expletive] terrible call,” Hall said. “I told the ref he’s going to [expletive] lose his job. I told the ref, ‘That might have been the worst call of the game.’ He’s going to get some demerit points for that call because that wasn’t no face-mask.”

Hall then sounded off on his defensive coordinator Jim Haslett’s decision to blitz both safeties on 3rd-and-21, leaving the cornerbacks alone in coverage on the game’s decisive play.

“Sooner or later, somebody is going [expletive] figure it out,” Hall said of Haslett’s blitz-happy mindset. “You don’t have to be a [expletive] rocket scientist to figure it out after a while.”

While most of his teammates did a better job conceiling their frustrations, it was clear that the Redskins were left searching for answers after falling to the Cowboys 18-16 on Monday Night Football.

2. “Blame Game” by Kanye West (feat. John Legend)

The truth is, the Redskins defense does have a legitimate reason to be more than a little cranky after this game.

Any time you keep an opponent out of the end zone, you’re supposed to win the ball game. Dallas failed in all three attempts in the red zone – even bumbling away a golden opportunity when the Cowboys had the ball on the 2-yard line.

But six field goals were enough on this night because the Washington offense never really got things going.

Look at it this way, after running back Tim Hightower scored on a one-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Rex Grossman to go up 16-9 in the third quarter, the Redskins offense never made it past midfield the rest of the game.

Their final four possessions went like this: punt, punt, punt, fumble.

The offense never looked comfortable. The passing game, which has been a joy to watch so far this season, looked out of synch.

The potent ground game, led by Hightower and rookie Roy Helu, was missing in action.

The offensive line, which had fared well for the most part in the team’s two wins, never created any lanes for the running backs.

And Grossman was flustered by an aggressive Dallas pass rush enough to turn the ball over twice – and he probably should have been picked off two more times because he kept trying to force passes to receivers who weren’t open.

Basically, it didn’t really matter who had the ball. No one looked prepared to take on a hated divisional rival on primetime television.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

1. “Down” by Pearl Jam

The Washington Redskins narrowly defeated the Arizona Cardinals 22-21 Sunday in a game that was far from perfect.

For the second straight week, the Redskins got off to a slow start at home. Instead of just trailing 7-0 after the first quarter though, Washington decided to spice things up and also commit two turnovers in the opening frame.

One week after Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman threw for 305 yards with two touchdowns and a sparkling 110.5 quarterback rating against the New York Giants, “Bad Rex” made a cameo.

The first two Redskins drives were a combined 19 plays for 112 yards, but neither put points on the board. The first drive ended with Grossman forcing an ill-advised pass into coverage and the second drive came to a halt when receiver Anthony Armstrong deflected a Grossman pass into the air and it was also intercepted.

Despite the fact that the Cardinals offense had the ball for exactly two minutes and six seconds in the first quarter, they held a 7-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

If you wanted to make the case that the Redskins were suffering from a hangover after last week’s emotional win over a divisional rival, I couldn’t really disagree.

If you argued that Washington was suffering a letdown game against an inferior opponent, I could see your point.

However you wanted to spin it, the Redskins were well on their way to giving away another winnable game thanks to mental lapses and self-inflicted wounds.

2. “You Don’t Know Me” by Ray Charles

For the second week in a row, the Redskins were able to put together a drive when the game was on the line.

In the season opener, Washington was able to mount a five-play, 80-yard drive right before halftime to tie the game at 14-14 the very next drive after the Giants regained the lead. Momentum had shifted in favor of the visiting team and the Redskins offense answered the call.

Against Arizona, the Redskins faced an equally grim situation. After allowing a 73-yard bomb to receiver Larry Fitzgerald to give the Cardinals a 21-13 fourth-quarter lead, the Redskins offense stepped it up once again.

Grossman orchestrated a 13-play, 73-yard drive that was capped off by a fourth-down touchdown pass to wide out Santana Moss to cut the lead to 21-19.

Had the offense come out in either situation and gone three-and-out, Washington likely loses the game. But this team, unlike any in recent history, is able to move the ball in the most crucial moments of a game.

When the spotlight intensifies, this offense doesn’t wilt under the pressure of big-game situations. Say what you will about the guy, but the Redskins couldn’t finish drives when Donovan McNabb or Jason Campbell were calling the shots.

Under Grossman though, this offense is actually capable of something special. And that’s not something most ‘Skins fans thought would be possible so early in the 2011 season.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

1. “Against the Wind” by Bob Seger

With all eyes turned to our nation’s capital, the Washington Redskins did the unthinkable by soundly defeating the New York Giants 28-14 in a statement game for the home team.

The Redskins had lost nine of their last 10 games against the Giants, with each game seemingly coming down to the same issues – a slow start, a lack of a running game and turnovers.

If Washington was finally going to emerge victorious against their divisional foe, these three areas would seem to be vital.

So what happened? The Redskins, once again, stumbled out of the gate – failing to score against New York in the first quarter for the seventh straight game.

When Giants quarterback Eli Manning scored his fourth rushing touchdown of his career just over five minutes into the game, it appeared that Washington was settling in for another disappointing loss.

But things have changed with the burgundy and gold. No longer are ‘Skins fans forced to cheer for a bunch of overpriced malcontents who are happy to cash in their checks while losing each and every Sunday.

This team might not be star studded, but they’re players who specifically fit the system head coach Mike Shanahan wants to run. And best of all, these guys have heart and actually care about putting forth actual effort.

2. “Smooth Operator” by Sade

Led by quarterback Rex Grossman, the Redskins were able to put together three substantial drives in the first half.

The first was a 10-play, 61-yard drive that ended with a missed field goal by Graham Gano.*

*After going 10 for 10 in the preseason, Gano missed his first attempt of the regular season. Of course he did. Too bad Shayne Graham isn’t still a free agent. The team could sign him once again to scare Gano into being good again.

The second drive was an 11-play, 66-yarder that was capped off by running back Tim Hightower’s one-yard touchdown run.

And the third drive was a five-play, 80-yard drive right before the half that ended with receiver Anthony Armstrong hauling in a six-yard reception to tie the game at 14-14 with 37 seconds left in the half.

That final drive was singled out by linebacker London Fletcher as the turning point in the game because it gave the Redskins momentum going into the second half even though the team was far from perfect through the first two quarters.

The running game still was struggling to get things rolling and the offensive line wasn’t exactly doing their best impression of “The Hogs,” but Grossman stepped up when his team needed him most and was the difference maker on this Sunday.

Consider this – Grossman has thrown for 300 yards four times in his nine-year career. Three of those efforts have come in his five games with Washington.

A few more days like this and the good folks in Chicago, Houston and anywhere else where Grossman’s name has been dragged through the mud might have to come up with a new punching bag.

Because, as center Will Montgomery put it, the Grossman leading the Redskins offense these days isn’t some talent less hack. He’s a “smooth operator” who knows better than anyone how to run Kyle Shanahan’s offense efficiently.

Oh, and just for the record, a certain Minnesota Vikings quarterback threw for a grand total of 39 yards on Sunday. Just thought I’d throw that out there.

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