REDSKINS- An Inside-the-Beltway Perspective

Posted by Geoff

I saw a street walker in downtown D.C. on Friday wearing a Redskins cap with feathers sticking out of it every which way. Who knew that the hat would be so prophetic of the Redskins’ out-and-out assault on the psyches of Eagles fans in a game that should have easily gone to the home team?

The way the NFC East has shaken out thus far just doesn’t make sense.

The Eagles are a better team than the Redskins. The Eagles offense should be able to rely on Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, and DeSean Jackson to put up 35 points every week.

The Cowboys should be able to blow out the hapless Cincinnati Bengals. That bears repeating…the Cowboys should be able to destroy a winless team that barely scraped by the Cleveland Browns.

The Redskins shouldn’t be able beat any of the teams in their division. The Redskins certainly shouldn’t be able to beat the Eagles if Santana Moss is held without a catch all game.

Eli Manning isn’t ready to lead his team to victory on a consistent basis. The Giants shouldn’t be able to overcome the loss of the their two best defensive lineman to retirement and injury.

Here’s how to make sense of the year so far. Go back and reread the last four paragraphs and add these two words at the end of each sentence: “on paper.” That’s the thing about the Cowboys and Eagles…they’re better on paper than they will ever be on the field. And the reverse is true for the Redskins and Giants. We could attribute this to coaches. We could attribute this to luck. But what it really boils down to is killer instinct. The Redskins and the Giants have it; the Cowboys and Eagles don’t.

Of course, the news isn’t all bad for the Cowboys and Eagles. They still have two of the best teams in the NFL. They just need to find a way to play the rest of the season on paper.