First Sunday of 2009 NFL Season
Ah, after a long spring and summer, the glory days of fall return. Once again millions gather around the tube and in parking lots to celebrate, what I feel is the real, American pastime. Not baseball mind you, the other American pastime. Football. 11 vs 11. Offense vs defense. I formations, 4-3 set, a hundred other wonderful phrases and numbers that confuse girlfriend’s, wives and fiances the world over. If you haven’t guessed it, I am a football fan. Washington Redskins are my team. Yes, they disappoint every year. But I’ve been fans of them ever since I was a boy when my family would gather and watch and cheer. I was watching in the glory days of Gibbs when superbowls were every few years. I was a fan during the terrible 90′s when Norv, now in San Dieago, just couldn’t figure out how to win. I am a fan today with Zorn, the quarterback coach given an unbelievable shot to head coach status.
How will the redskins do this year? I’ve heard there’s a review over at profootball.com that says they make it to the Superbowl against the Steelers. Ahem, what? The Superbowl? Maybe in 3-4 years, a new coach and a new owner, but this year? I’ve also seen some more reasonable 10-6 with a playoff berth. Why am I not jumping on the Superbowl bandwagon? We have a 2nd year head coach who makes questionable calls during a game. It’s a factor for sure. Jim Zorn was on fire in the first half of last year but cooled off in the second. Some say it was the much harder season, which does have some merit. But you can’t argue with some crazy calls he makes at times.
This year the Skins increased their defense greatly adding Albert Haynesworth as a free agent and Brian Orakpo in the draft. Those are very good moves in my opinion. Another good move we made is not going after two very controversial players. Terrell Owens(though i think this may have been a mistake) and Michael Vick (stay away, just stay away). I actually thought that Owens would have been a good pick. I think he has something to prove this year and his mentoring of our younger receivers would only be good. Then again, if we had gone after him, we’d have to carry six receivers, no way could we keep Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly and give up on Marcus Markou. As for Vick, well, nuff said.
What we did really poorly was go after two quarterbacks, not get them, and then stick with Jason Campbell. Now, Jason is a stand up guy, he didn’t let it get to him, he didn’t complain about it at all and he decided to go out an play some good football. I have to take my hat off to the guy.
The final analysis of the skins. We have a great defense, certainly top 5 I think this year overall. We have a receiving core. Not solid but also non-existent in years gone by. And I think Thomas and Kelly are going to do something this year. Not sure what but something. Hopefully it’ll be catching the ball. Campbell’s arm is strong if not accurate. Once he gets that accuracy down, he’ll be fantastic. The only worry, and perhaps the most important, is that battered offensive line. Will it hold up? Protecting the quarterback is crucial in any offense. If we can do that, and Campbell can get some control on that arm, we just may make a 10-6 season. Superbowl? Well, who knows. As a skins fan, I of course want us to be. As a football fan, I have to say, realistically its not likly to happen.
