Redskins Hold on Against Cowboys, Give Shanahan His First Win

The Mike Shanahan/Donovan McNabb era began last night with a 13-7 win over the Dallas Cowboys. It was a sloppy game that was more a Dallas loss than a Redskin win, but they are still 1-0.

It was a rather odd game for the Skins offensively. They never were able to get the running game going despite Shanahan's ability with the running game. McNabb's numbers look pretty average going 15/32 for 171 yards, but he managed the game very well. You watched the game and saw the offense keep making plays and then at half time you wondered how they had not managed to get it into the end zone. As he settles into this offense he will continue to improve.

One of the biggest improvements was the offensive line. They allowed a single sack all night and McNabb was able to scramble out of trouble on occasion, something Jason Campbell was certainly not able to do. Rookie Trent Williams played extremely well for his first game. There were a few rookie mistakes, but those were to be expected. There were other times when he literally blocked a defensive lineman 10 yards down the field.

Defensively the Redskins looked stout until the last almost game winning drive. This really was due to bad play calling from Dallas. They completely abandoned the run despite how well Marion Barber was running against the 3-4. Everytime they took out defensive linemen and brought on the blitz, Barber ran straight up the middle for 10-20 yards. Yet the Cowboys decided to force the pass. LeRon Landry had an incredible game with 17 tackles, but the Cowboys never challenged the Redskins deep which has been Landry's Achilles' heel. I am certainly thrilled with the game he had, but I worry what this means for Houston. Will he cheat up again to get high tackles and shut down the surprising Arian Foster who rushed for 231 yards and 3 touchdowns? If he does then Andre Johnson is going to embarrass him all day long.

What was encouraging about the defense was the outside rush. Brian Orakpo looked incredible. He was held all night long because they had no answer for him. This leads me to the minor controversy of the end. On the last play of the game, Tony Romo was forced out of the pocket and threw to Roy Williams for the game winning touchdown. The play, however, was negated by a holding penalty. Since there was no time left on the clock, the game was declared over. Yes, I understand the argument that referees should not decide a game, that on the last play the referees should put away their whistles. Very true. But there is a line that Alex Barron, the player who held Orakpo crossed. You cannot commit a blatant penalty and expect the referees not to call it. Watch it, Barron was strangling Orakpo. He held him by the neck because there was nothing else he could do. This is not controversy what so ever. It was the right call.

I thought all summer that Dallas was overrated, but I never really knew what we were going to get from the Redskins. In all probability Houston is a better team than what we saw against Dallas, so this Sunday will be a much bigger test for the Redskins. It will give everyone a much better idea of where this team stands.

McNabb's Ankle Still Sore, Cause for Concern?

Donovan McNabb will not play in the Redskins' final preseason game against Arizona the team has announced. There is no real reason to be concerned about his anlke at this point, however. Coach Mike Shanahan rarely plays his starting quarterback in the final preseason game and there is no real point in risking further injury to your starting quarterback. So this ankle injury is probably nothing to worry about, but it does bring into question what the Redskins will do if McNabb should go down sometime during the season.

Throughout his career, McNabb has had injury problems. McNabb has been a starter since 2000 and has only played 4 full seasons out of 10. He is also 33 years old, which is older for a quarterback. He will gradually become less mobile and more injury prone. The question is if the team is prepared to play 2, 3, 4, or even 5 or more games without him.

Along with McNabb, the team also acquired quarterback Rex Grossman as the backup in the offseason. Grossman used to start for the Chicago Bears and the team made it as far as the Super Bowl. He, however, was less than impressive. Most people thought Chicago made it in spite of Grossman, not because of him. While I feel very comfortable with Grossman as a backup, the question with McNabb starting is whether I am comfortable with Grossman starting 2-5 games a season. Backups can be tricky because a quarterback that you feel comfortable with playing several games usually leaves to start for another team. A good example is Matt Cassel. In 2008 Tom Brady was injured in the first game of the season and Cassel had to start for the Patriots the rest of the year. He led the team to 11 wins and was immediately traded to Kansas City the next season to be their starter. The Redskins used to have Todd Collins as a backup and he played extremely well every time Jason Campbell went down and more importantly he played well when he was needed to start, but he was released by the team in March. The reality is that Grossman will probably need to start 2 games this season at least and the team cannot afford to lose every game in which he plays. Judging by his preseason performance, however, he has yet to fill me with confidence.

So while McNabb's ankle is no reason for concern and Grossman appears to be an excellent backup quarterback, what I wonder is whether he is good enough to lead the team for an extended period of time. With McNabb as the starter, that is the role Grossman will have to fill as the backup.

Donovan McNabb Continues Trying to Build the Redskins

Former Eagles' running back Michael Westbrook just visited the Washington Redskins and is now headed to Denver for another team visit. Westbrook was invited at the behest of his former teammate Donovan McNabb, the newly acquired Redskins' quarterback. Despite the fact that the Redskins have already signed Larry Johnson and Willie Parker this offseason to backup Clinton Portis, McNabb thought Westbrook would be just a super fit. Mr. McNabb, with respect, please focus on throwing the football and let the front office worry about what players to sign.

Since coming to the team, McNabb has suggested bringing in loudmouth wide receiver Terrell Owens and now Michael Westbrook. Now I understand that McNabb was brought in to be a vocal team leader, that I have no problem with. As a prominent leader and acquisition for the team, the Redskins cannot simply discount the suggestions he makes, but the reality is that McNabb has not played a single game for the Redskins and his suggestions stink.

As soon as I heard McNabb talking about Owens I was terrified. If there was any owner in the league that would over pay a controversial wide receiver who constantly drops the ball and struggles to make an impact it would of course be Daniel Snyder. While Owens clearly has talent, he expects to receive a superstar contract and the offense to revolve around him. At this point in his career Owens is a number two receiver and deserves a comparable contract. He will never accept that and so he finds himself currently out of a job. Snyder has a history of overpaying big name players (Deion Sanders, Albert Haynesworth, etc) and so I thought this might happen. Luckily the team came out and said they had no interest.

McNabb, however, is talking again! To be fair, I thought Westbrook would be a great acquisition when the offseason began. Portis is getting older and the team needed a more reliable backup than Ladell Betts and Rock Cartwright. I think Portis is still good enough to be a great running back in the league, but last season made it clear he needed another running back to handle some of the offensive load and take some of the pressure off. Westbrooks' injury concerns are what led him to be cut by Philadelphia and I think his future in the league will be as the number two running back. This made him a great fit for the Redskins. Now he's not. The team should be dismissing this as quickly as they did with Owens, not inviting him to visit. Washington's need for a running back ended when the team signed both Johnson and Parker. Both will contribute, both will make an immediate impact, both have already signed, and both will struggle for as many carries as they feel they should be getting. Both of these players are former starters who were let go by their former teams. Sometimes starters can struggle accepting reduced roles. I expect that by the end of the season, between Portis, Johnson, and Parker, one of them will be unhappy believing their talents are not being fully utilized. Now you're talking about bringing in a fourth running back? This makes no sense.

McNabb was signed after Johnson and Parker. He knows he has three backs ready to play and he is still talking about Westbrook. What does this say about the confidence he has in the running backs? What must Johnson and Parker be thinking now that McNabb is talking about bringing in another guy? I understand trying to help out a friend, but McNabb has been a Redskin for about a month. He has not played a single game. He is also on a team with a new head coach and new general manager. The Redskins do not need McNabb talking about who he thinks they should bring in.

Because McNabb is a quarterback and very talented, he is constantly interviewed and what he says quickly becomes very public and teams have to take note. I hope that the Redskins brought in Westbrook just out of respect for McNabb and are not seriously considering signing him. If they do, the Redskins will have two or three upset running backs by the end of the season thanks to a quarterback who has yet to prove himself in DC.

McNabb Traded To Redskins in Curious Move, Could it FINALLY Be the End of Campbell?

On the day of Tiger Woods' press conference and baseball's opening day (Nationals already coming out swinging with an 11-1 loss to Philadelphia) the big story in Washington is...football. Last night the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins reached a deal sending quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Redskins for a second round draft pick and a fourth round pick in 2011 which could turn into a third round pick.

This trade caught many completely offguard. Last week Oakland and Buffalo emerged as the front runners and even if they couldn't close the deal, who would have expected that Philadelphia would trade McNabb to a division opponent? The Eagles will now have to face the best quarterback in franchise history twice in 2010 as both teams are in the NFC East. Usually teams will not make big trades within their division. Take for example, Green Bay, who refused to trade Brett Favre to a team within the NFC Conference in an attempt to avoid playing against him at all. But Philadelphia decided to take the plunge after McNabb's agent made it clear that he did not want to go to Oakland or Buffalo. Still, you have to wonder. Ok, so it was clear Philadelphia wanted to move forward with Kevin Kolb so McNabb needed to go. That's understandable. But even with McNabb making objections and encouraging talks with Washington, Philadelphia still needs to look after its best interests. I'm sure that Philadelphia could have found someone outside of the division willing to make a deal other than Oakland and Buffalo so why help make a division opponent better with a major trade? If Philadelphia really made this deal strictly because of McNabb's wishes, that's honorable I guess, but it's pretty foolish.

Another possibility is that they know something that the rest of the NFL doesn't. I'm not into conspiracy theories, what I'm saying is that Andy Reid and the Eagles' organization know McNabb better than anyone in the NFL. They may be expecting a dramatic drop off in play, which would explain setting up a Kolb/McNabb matchup and putting together a trade package that included a 2011 draft pick. Just a thought.

What also made this deal surprising was the fact that this did not seem to be the route the Redskins were taking this offseason. With quarterbacks Sam Bradford, Jimmy Clausen, Colt McCoy, and Tim Tebow all available in the draft and the Redskins in full rebuilding mode, most expected the team to bring in a young quarterback to replace Jason Campbell or at least force him to perform. Instead they brought in a veteran quarterback who most likely has already peaked.

This trade will certainly change their tactics come draft day. Both Bradford and Clausen have met with the Redskins, so perhaps head coach Mike Shanahan didn't see what he wanted to out of the pair. In any case, the Redskins now have to take an offensive lineman with their number one pick. There can be no debate here. Their offensive line was absolutely atrocious last season. McNabb is 33 years old, which is advanced for most NFL players, and has been plagued with injuries throughout his career. Without building that offensive line up then the Redskins are playing with fire. They need to start taking a look at Russell Okung from Oklahoma State, Trent Williams from Oklahoma, and Bryan Bulaga from Iowa. Any of the three would provide a major boost to that weak offensive line.

So was this the right move? One worrying aspect is that this trade reeks of Dan Snyder. Trading for a big name player already in his 30s as a quick fix? I certainly hope this is the work of Bruce Allen and Shanahan, but it really seems to have Snyder's finger prints all over it and we've seen how well those moves have worked. Even so I like this trade if the Redskins follow through and build that offensive line. If they don't then this trade was a waste of time, draft picks, and money. McNabb can't take the kind of beating Campell did last season. While McNabb may be a more mobile quarterback, this does not make up for the complete lack of consistent blocking up front. Sitting with that number four overall pick, the Redskins may well find themselves having to choose between an offensive lineman and the real popular Ndamukong Suh, but they MUST ignore the flashy pick and take what they need. I like this trade only if you get the line to protect McNabb, otherwise it's only a matter of time before Campbell is called in as McNabb is carted off the field.

A lot of curious thinking allowed for this big trade. With one trade the Redskins took a big step forward towards making themselves competitive again. I've been very vocal with my criticism of Campbell and I truly believe he was holding this team back. I will also admit, however, that the offensive line was an even bigger problem. Bringing in McNabb means nothing if they do not continue to improve on the line because McNabb cannot handle the pressure and the beating he will receive throughout the season without it.