REDSKINS - A Cowboy fan blogging on behalf of your team???

Posted by Taz:

So for now, I am doing double duty as the Redskins blogger. I know, I know – you probably think I am the most unqualified person you can find to blog on the Redskins. And that may be true, but on this blog I am the most qualified by default. Chris can’t do it because he spends all his free time writing a short novel’s worth on the Giants (see below only if you have 15 minutes to kill). Alli can’t do it because she only cares about other teams to the extent she can make fun of them. Right now, all her energy is focused on complaining about the Eagles' draft (why do they trade picks for the future? It's not like they have no holes that a 1st rounder could not fix). And did you see that I just used 3 negatives in one sentence? I really shoud be posting as little as possible. But unfortunetly, all 6 of you readers will be stuck reading my inane posts until our Redskins guy grows a pair and starts posting.

This whole “blogging on behalf of the Redskins” thing is somewhat weird. Not just because I am a Cowboys fan, but because I truly do not know that much about the Redskins. Doing this actually makes me realize how little I know about the NFL. I mean, I can pretty much name the whole roster of the Cowboys and discuss them at length. I once named half of the Seahawks offense in a vain effort to impress a girl (she ended up hooking up with a former roommate, something I did not find out until the next morning when she appeared in my room partially dressed in his clothing, but that's really neither here nor there). And I know that Drew Brees is from Austin, TX because in high school I watched his team of rich white boys destroy my high school team of rich white boys in the Texas state football quarterfinals.

What I realize is that my NFL knowledge is selective. I know a bunch about some things, but not a bunch about most things. So I look at this as an opportunity to learn about another team.
In case if you are wondering – here is what I know about the Redskins: 1) Dan Snyder seems to find a way to ruin a proud franchise; 2) at this point in this career, Joe Gibbs seems to be better at owning a racing team than coaching foobtall; and 3) the Redskins have some good players.

I mean, if any team in the NFC East seems to be overlooked these days, it is the Redskins. The Eagles have had a recent run of success before last year’s debacle of a season (note I am defining “run of success” as losing in 3 NFC championship games and 1 Super Bowl – something expected for the one team in the NFC East that doesn’t have a Super Bowl win when the rest of the division has at least 3 Super Bowls on their resume). The Cowboys had a 13-3 season plus Jessica Simpson to get everyone’s attention before their usual playoff flameout. And the Giants somehow won a Super Bowl with a ton of DEs and a QB who finally jumped from the “liability on offense” level into the “bus driver” category.

But there is some talent on this Skins team. Jason Campbell looks better every time I see him. The defense is pretty solid, and there are some offensive weapons that are pretty good (Portis/Betts and Cooley). There certainly are issues (age of many of the starters, the long-term effects of Sean Taylor’s tragic death), but they are a team that could do some damage in the NFC East and the NFL as a whole.

I think the rest of the NFC may overlook them, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this team gets 10 or 11 wins. Here are a few things I think will be key issues next year:

1) Jim Zorn – besides the fact that his name sounds like an imitation Bond supervillain, there are a couple of legitimate questions. First, he has never been a coordinator, only a QB coach. How will this work out? Second, how will Jason Campbell adapt to the West Coast offense?

2) Receivers – it took until week 10 for a Redskins WR to get a touchdown. Will Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly solve this problem?

3) Dan Snyder – can he keep his paws off the team enough to let his football guys do what he pays them the big bucks for?