Go Young, Old Man

There’s not much left to say about the Burgundy and Gold’s season at this point; we all know the same thing. Mike Shanahan’s return to head coaching status in the NFL has not gone particularly well or as planned. What’s the saying? “Same old Jets”?

But at least the drama is gone, for now anyway. I’m not sure if the loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will become a loss that becomes an omen; the kind that sinks a team into a morass. They are "game" almost every week, and particularly after a monstrous outing. So there’s no reason to think they’re going to come unglued, but I haven't seen anything that makes me optimistic, based on the current "business model."

According to the product that Shanahan and Co. have put on the field, one could argue, they could have a worse record. And, one could argue, their record could have been better, but regardless, whether they won a few more close ones or lost them; they would not be a different team. They are a slow moving dinosaur that still has cunning and a will to survive, but one that has too few teeth to be taken seriously by it’s foes.

So, perhaps it’s better, even though more painful, this team lost this week. Because, with the quick-fix direction Shanahan and Allen have chosen, each win corroborates the misdirection that is their heading. In the new NFL, ineptitude and futility are the friends of the aged; Ashburn needs to get younger ASAP. I can only see the fortunes of Ashburn changing, when the methodology changes.

When you look at New York, Philadelphia, and Dallas, you realize pretty quickly, how far behind this franchise is to their divisional rivals. Vick, Manning, and Romo are quarterbacks that are entering their prime years, that fact alone keeps Washington in a precarious position. Unfortunately, for the Burgundy and Gold the mountain that Donavan McNabb must climb continues to grow. The question you have to ask; can McNabb get ahead of the tectonic movement? I’m not overly confident next year’s expedition that apparently will be led by McNabb will be able to get out of base camp.

Big Al, Everybody's Friend

In the end, we all do what’s best for us. Some of us have no problem cutting in line and taking our chunk straight off the top in plain view of the entire world, then sleep like a baby full of mother’s milk. Some of us take our sliver from an edge on the bottom, obscure to everyone and everything, but an electron microscope, and then suffer guilt for days. It’s pretty obvious Albert Haynesworth belongs in the first category, but usually,  the obvious, me-first type people are not particularly well liked by the folks their attitude affects the most --- their peers.

Big Al is an anomaly in this regard. I’ve yet to hear a person in his workplace disparage him. They all agree; he didn’t work hard enough, didn’t buy into his role, was inconsistent with his play etc. etc. But nary a player or coach has lashed out at him personally. In fact they all have gone out of their way to say they actually like him, and this includes Jim Hasslett, the defensive coordinator. Some have said they wish they could still be playing with him.

The fact Haynesworth can pull off this feat, defies human reasoning. If you put yourself on that team in general and the defense specifically, whether as a coach or a player; and consider Big Al’s contributions on the field and how they’ve been described in practice, wouldn’t you be frustrated and resentful of him? As a player, I would be resentful, because after last year and the perceived culture at Ashburn, his way of doing things would be a continuation of the angst and heartache. He would be preventing me from trying to gain some respectability and relevance by winning!

When a coach says, “We’ve got to do what’s best for the team,” he’s actually saying, ”We’ve got to do what’s best for me,” of which I have no problem.  But, to constantly segregate a player from his teammates as Shanahan did with Big Al, yet, force that player upon them, is counter-intuitive. It seems the very authority Shanahan tried to instill, he unwittingly undermined. By keeping Haynesworth in close proximity to his other players, could they have become victims to a reverse stockholm syndrome if you will, and started identifying with the captive?  In the end, the players were ultimately left unhinged and confused.  

To be this long into a coaching career and not know what’s best for you, and therefore the team, says a lot about how the future may unfold.

The Last Crusade

There has to be a sense of hopelessness in Ashburn right now. Shanahan must be reeling; he has coached up a poorly performing football team. With seven minutes to go in yesterday’s game the shot of him on the sidelines indicated a guy who had lost his will to resist, and I think he’s in trouble.  I also think the team knows he has no answers, just platitudes: “Keep on working......doesn’t happen overnight..... we will get there, it’s going to take some time, but we will get there.....I promise you that.”  It is Christmas, and in that spirit, let me toss out this wreath.  No one is outwardly insubordinate yet, save Old Unfaithful.

For Shanahan the offseason cannot come soon enough. His first year in Washington will go down as a boondoggle. Between Bruce Allen and himself they have delivered this franchise into yet a different level of incompetence. At this point, it’s hard for me to see the Burgundy and Gold as a better team than last year, or even as a better organization.

How much of this is Shanahan’s fault is debatable. He wanted the thirty four defense, and he did hire his son to become the offensive coordinator. I don’t think it’s any secret this offense is as bad as last year’s version, the only difference is they don’t have the obvious bungling and intrusion of ownership. But, because it’s not obvious does not mean it doesn’t exist. Unfortunately for the Shanster, just like in every law enforcement bust, they’re always wanting the next guy up the ladder. Until Bruce Allen or he decides to roll over on someone, Shanahan shall remain the fall guy.

I’m not sure if Shanahan knows the depth of his responsibility to the thousands and thousands of fans. If he does not deliver and the slide continues, his misguided stewardship will not only stain his legacy and his son’s advancement in this league, but it will reignite the rebellion that was doused with his hiring. These are tense times in Ashburn and regardless of how handicapped Shanahan might be with the albatross that hangs from his neck, it’s not unlike Indiana Jones in the movie “The Last Crusade”; he must choose wisely. He is definitely in an undesirable position. 

"Please Don't Keep Me Wonderin' No Longer"

No one knows why the Burgundy and Gold continue to play this maddening type of football, and I’m tired of pretending I do.  I would contend, the facts indicate they have not improved as much as most of the teams they have played so far this season. From what I’ve seen so far, they will not become a playoff team this year.

Seven clubs, Dallas, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Detroit have gotten better over the course of this season. Houston, Tennessee, and Minnesota are on par with Washington, and only if they were to play Tennessee again would I feel comfortable predicting a victory. How has Shanahan perfected the unusual ability to appear to be in a lot of these games, yet end up losing, or perhaps more frustrating, winning on the last play to make everybody believe they have finally put it all together? Are they on the cusp of the long awaited resurgence, or is this the same  irritating charade? 

There is no palpable offense, and although the defense has played well at times, when it positively, absolutely has to get there, they falter. The special teams are the only unit of this team that plays reasonably well. If it weren’t for Brandon Banks, what would their record be? After looking at Bank’s 77 yard punt return in slow motion, it was apparent Byron Westbrook had a hold that would have affected Banks return; it obviously was not called.

The attitude and energy they have  played with seems to be adequate most of the time. I do believe the coaches are putting in the effort, as well. What it comes down to is Shanahan. He’s in a new environment after a year layoff. He has imported his son’s offense, as well as changing the defensive front to a thirty four. He also brought in a lot of aging players, and then we hear how long it takes to perfect his brand of football on both sides of the ball. By the time they get it, won’t they be too old to contribute at the level that’s needed in the NFL?

We’re seeing more of an infusion of youth. That is good. But isn’t the only reason we’re seeing them because the older players have either been injured or just not able to play at an acceptable pace? 

Shanahan, like all of us, is not beyond self doubt; the longer his offense stays mired in ineptitude; eventually he will begin to ask himself, “Can I still coach at this level?”  His team’s play cannot be what he imagined it would be at this point of the season. There are so many questions to be asked, and we’re not the only ones with inquiring minds. Right now, he too, only has questions. It is reminiscent of Steve Spurrier after his  5-11 season, ”Not too good.”

You've Got to Feel It

Washington showed up yesterday and won a game off Tennessee that was not necessarily a step in the right direction, but more importantly a step. After last week’s demoralizing loss to Philadelphia, nobody was sure they would be able to get out of bed, and nobody would have been surprised, if they had kept swirling in the maelstrom created by the Eagles.

For the time being, it seems they are still willing to play for Shanahan. Thanks in large part yesterday to the ineptitude of the Titans, the determination of the offensive line, and perhaps the season changing strip for a fumble six plays into the game by Lorenzo Alexander.

Defensively, they had a good plan and executed it very well. They did not allow Chris Johnson to get behind them and they frustrated Vince Young the entire afternoon. However, this was not a well played game by Washington’s offense; they played their usual underwhelming game. As well as the line played, they could not get McNabb to step up to their level of play, and this is going to be problematic into the foreseeable future. 

As this game went down to the wire and eventually into overtime, McNabb’s comportment never rose above the Alfred E. Newman, “What me worry”, and it’s not that he needs to worry as much as he has to be in the immediacy of the moment. If he does not possess this simple but elemental quarterbacking characteristic by now, do you really think Santa’s going to bring it this year for Christmas?

After ten games he is, who, I thought, he would be, sporadic and under involved with the offense. His growth as an NFL quarterback has been stunted, and he is inchoate. One could opine he is an unwitting Trojan Horse, sent to Washington with malice and prejudice by the Eagles organization. I did say opine.

Of course everybody is going to resurrect all the platitudes, when talking about Donavon McNabb. Is it possible three weeks ago in Detroit, Shanahan knew after eight weeks what it took Andy Reid eleven years to admit; McNabb isn’t as edgy a quarterback as a lot of people would like to think. 

I shouldn’t be too critical though, as it doesn’t look like the “Gunslinger” will be back in the Twin Cities next year, and considering the way they like to promote and market in Ashburn; I’m feelin’ a whole lot better about Number 5’s extention. In fact I take back everything I just said. Kinda!