Seriously…. what a beauty carpet. George Allen speaks to the Redskins back in 1977

I liked his ability to block out bad plays and to go for the big play, but unfortunately those qualities can’t overcome a crippling tendency to turn the ball over.  Its a good quality that he can forget throwing a brutal interception and move on to the next play, but its not one you want to see in action 4 times a game.   He just makes too many mistakes.

This Redskins team is going to win games based on a strong defense and a decent special teams unit (which has the potential to be very good if Gano can continue his recent hot streak).  They need a quarterback who can manage the game and not put the defense in horrible positions.  Can John Beck be that guy?  Who knows at this point, but Rex Grossman clearly can not be.  It was easy to defend Grossman’s errors when he was putting up 300 yard games and the Skins were putting up points, but over these past three games the passing game has faded and all that remains are the constant turnovers.

Grossman is what he’s always been, a mistake prone inconsistent QB who will cost you more games than he will win for you and who has the mobility of a three toed sloth.   Will Beck be any better?  We just don’t know, but its time to find out.

I like Rex Grossman.

I may end up regretting it in a few weeks or heck, maybe Monday night.  But I dig the guy.

He’s got guts.  That 4th down TD pass to Santana Moss took balls.  For years we’ve had either had bad QBs (Donovan McNabb) or wimpy QBs (Mark Brunell, Jason Campbell) who would take the check down route every 2nd play.  Grossman’s 7.7 yard per attempt dwarfs anything we’ve seen in Washington in years.  (Its also way above anything Grossman’s done before so who knows if it’ll last)

There’s no doubt that Brunell or Campbell would’ve dumped that 4th down pass off to the Helu or Gaffney.  McNabb would have tossed it into the ground .  Grossman rolled the dice and helped won the game for the Redskins.

Yes, he also had a brutal interception.  Its highly unlikely that he’s going to turn into some superstar QB at this point in his career.  But he seems to be able brush off mistakes, and heck he’s kinda fun to watch.

The 2010-11 Washington Redskins finished with a 6-10 record.

Its quite possible that the 2011-12 Washington Redskins don’t finish any better, but even without an improvement in wins it may end up being the turning point that Redskins fans have long awaited.

This isn’t your Vinny Cerrato Redskins.  There are nine guys from 2011 draft alone on this years roster, during the Cerrato reign it would take three drafts to even draft nine guys.  Add in Willie Smith, an undrafted free agent, and the team has ten first year players on the roster.  There are 25 players on the opening day roster with less than three years of experience in the NFL.

The Redskins actually have some depth, particularly at running back, wide receiver and linebacker.  There are still a few soft spots on the roster, defensive tackle is thin beyond Barry Cofield and the interior offensive line positions could use help, but this is a much deeper team than in recent years.

The defense will be better than last year.  The players remaining on the roster are more accustom to the 3-4 and Ryan Kerrigan should provide a 2nd pass rusher that the team lacked last year.  You’d expect an improved special teams season as Rocca should be better than the awfulness of the 2010 punting carousel and Gano will either improve or find himself on the street quickly.

But despite those improvements, its all going to come down to Rex Grossman at the QB position.  This team should be able to run with anyone (assuming Kyle Shanahan doesn’t abandon the run as quickly as he tended to last year in his play calling).  There are a billion receivers still on the roster and seeing as the 2010 season opened with Joey Galloway as a starter, its an improved bunch.  Even if Chris Cooley can’t go, Fred Davis is a capable tight end and the line should at least be reasonable.  But can Grossman deliver?

When evaluating the Redskins QBs in 2011 most analysts seems to forget that the 2010 QB play wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire.  Donovan McNabb had more interceptions than touchdown passes last year.  Grossman doesn’t have to be Drew Brees to be an upgrade over McNabb’s 2010.  But if the Redskins want to be in the playoff hunt this season, Grossman is going to have to play better than he did in his last starting gig way back in 2006.   Grossman isn’t going to be an elite QB, but the two most recent QBs to lead the Redskins to the playoffs were Todd Collins and Mark Brunell.  You don’t need a superstar to make the playoffs if the other aspects of your team are strong, but you do need someone decent.

So that is all we ask of you Rex Grossman – be decent.  If he can deliver that maybe 6-10 can turn into 9-7 and a shot at a playoff spot.

This week, I’m going a little different; we’re doing the Upset Pick of the Week first.  To me, the biggest upset of the week wasn’t who WON a game, but by how big they won.  Oh, sure, Washington losing to San Francisco was an upset, but it wasn’t a huge one.  Bigger that way would be Minnesota beating the Giants, or Miami beating the Jets.  Bigger still is Indy over Tennessee, but bigger than those are the POINTS that some of the winners scored (even in games they were expected to win, but it would be close).  But I can’t easily use those game; sorry, San Diego over Denver is a POINT victory, and I can’t track that, so I have to go with Indy over Tennessee, seeing as how that was a “close” game with a huge point difference.  Kudos to cooooooley, Veretax’s pick, Star City Sportzkatz, Fletchskins, Tidewater Picks, chris horton hears a who, lostnbigD, stuck in the ‘tah, BRAGGIN-RIGHTS, Texas Redskin, and Pizzatown for picking Indy; I’m not sure anyone thought it would be that big of a point difference, but there you go; you get my final 2008 Kudos, folks!

This week was a good week for most players, with 11 points being the most commonly done point total; a couple of players did better, however, wtih 12.  A. Fishman’s picks, coooooooley, and El Guapo all scored that magical 12 point total, earning weekly Props.  Congrats, guys.

Last, but definitely not least, are the season leaderboardwinners for the 2008 season… and it was an exciting finish.  Going into the final week, our leader had a commanding lead, but he didn’t have a good week at all, while the 2nd place player had an excellent week, taking ALMOST all of the margin… but it was only ALMOST all.  Our first place winner, with 161 points, is Hot Stuff Coming Through.  He’s closely followed by LAST years winner, A. Fishman’s picks, with 160.  Dallas’s total ineptness to the Eagles cost Star City Sportzkatz a tie for third, as did Seattle’s loss to Arizona for chris horton hears a who; both finished in a tie for fourth, one game behind our third place winner, cooooooley, who finished with 159 points; they finished with 158.  The “Billdoza” line is set at 6th place this year with 157 points; I figure most very good players will beat me, the rest will be close.  7th place went to El Guapo, with 156, 22209 came in 8th with 155, Tidewater Picks came in 9th with 154, and rounding out was Texas Redskin, with 152.  All told, our top 11 players were within 10 points of total victory for the season, and our top 16 players were within 16 games (one week).  Notably, our winner from two seasons ago, we want dallas, came in 12th, with 150 points.

Lee has promised prizes to our top three winners… and I want to congratulate them again:

Hot Stuff Coming Through, #1

A. Fishman’s Picks, #2

coooooooley, #3.

Props for our season winners!  HAIL!  You guys will need to contact Lee with your info so that he’ll be able to send you your prizes. From Lee – please leave a comment on this post with a valid email address and I will contact you for details to get your prize out. Or you can email theredskinreport gmail com

This week’s player of the week props go to coooooley and Tidewater Picks with 11 picks; that’s a good week when a number of minor upsets pulled quite a few players off their “A” game.  Three others were nearly as good, with 10.  Special notice to Tidewater picks; he didn’t get his picks in before the Thursday game, so he only had 15 games to go, and he picked Philly (cooooooley picked Washington).  Regardless, both earned this week’s Weekly Player Props!

This week’s Upset Pick of the Week is an easy one… with all the doom and gloom in Redskins Nation the last few weeks, especially after calls for the firing of Jim Zorn after last weeks debacle, Washington’s defensive domination earned Washington Upset Pick of the Week honors; hey, if Jason Taylor could have performed like that all season, we would have a substantially better record.  And if everyone except cooooooley, Texas Redskin, Pizzatown, Veretax’s Picks, stuck in the ‘tah, and Sundayisforfootball had picked the Redskins, they’d have a better record, too.  But those are the folks who did, earning Upset Pick of the Week Kudos.

 What with the shakeup in weekly records the last few weeks, we’ve had some juggling in our season league leaderboard.  While Hot Stuff Coming Through has nearly cemented his season victory with 152 points, last year’s winner A. Fishman’s Picks has gone from also-ran to a somewhat shaky second place with 148 picks; the reason his position is somewhat shaky is because there is now a three way tie for third, at 147, between Star City Sportzkats, cooooooley, and chris horton hears a who; any of those could easily move into second with an exceptional week.  In addition, even those four may not get second or third, as two more players are just a single game back at 146, and could easily jump into second or third with a good week.  However, those are our current season leaders, and deserve their props this week!  Remember that there is but a single week left to play, so get in it to win it and finish strong!  Oh, and from my family to all of the rest of you in Redskin’s Nation, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah.  Next week comes the big announcement of our season winner!

Upset pick of the week was pretty upsetting; I don’t even need to tell all of Redskin nation what that game was.  Two folks were pessimistic enough to see this upset coming, earning them Upset Pick of the Week kudos, I miss Schroeder to Bryant and Fletchskins (hmm, maybe that’s how they got the 12s?)  At any rate, Kudos to them for the upset pick of the week.

There’s a bit of excitement near the top this week in our season standings; Hot Stuff Coming Through fortified his position with 11 wins, stretching his lead back to three games with two weeks left, at 143.  A. Fishman’s Picks and chris horton hears a who, tied in second, both only picked up 9 wins, allowing the rabid horde below them to tighten the series for the final two weeks; in the meantime, Star City Sportzkatz 12 win week allowed him to tie A. Fishman’s Picks and chris horton hears a who with 140 points for the season, for a three way tie for second.  Four other players are within 4 points of one of the coveted spots, as well, allowing room for a late season surge, but they still need help in order to steal one of those coveted spots, though it’s starting to look like 1st place is in the bag for Hot Stuff Coming Through.  Kudos to all four of our leaders, and don’t forget to get your picks in in time for the Thursday night game!

A. Fishman’s picks led the way this week with 13 picks, a simply outstanding run, and possibly cementing him one of the three coveted winning berths.  However, chris horton hears a who, stuck in the ‘tah, Fletchskins, and I miss Shroeder to Bryant all managed to post 12 win weeks, keeping the game close.  Quite a few players managed to pull out an 11 as well, but for this week, Props to A. Fishman’s picks for his weekly win!

Upset pick of the week is a near no-brainer.  The Giants have looked like world beaters, and the Philadelphia Eagles have looked like the world… so you expect the World Beaters to beat the world, and the Giants to rip Philly…. funny way the ball bounces, though, as Philly pulled up a win that kept their playoff dreams alive.  A few players predicted it, lostnbigD, Veretax’s Picks, and Terp4Life.  Kudos to these guys for the upset pick of the week!

Last, but not least, we have our season leaderboard.  Last year at this time I started the final leaderboard, with all the players listed so that for all posterity they could be shown; I thought about doing it, and said, nah, I’ll post the final leaderboard at the end of the season, so we’re going to stay with the top three players (or at least the top three SPOTS).  For the umpteenth time, Hot Stuff Coming Through is ensconced on our leaderboard… however, the top has seriously trimmed, as his starting to be commanding lead shrunk to a single game as the standings at the top became much tighter.  Hot Stuff Coming Through now leads the pack with 132 points, followed by A. Fishman’s picks and chris horton hears a who, both at 131.  Separation from the “pack” is 3 games; that can be made up, but time is starting to get low.  Twelve people are within ten picks of the leaders, but they need to pick up the pace to get one of those prizes!  Props to our leaders, and remember to get those picks in!

Just as the Redskins game was neither as close as might be thought, nor as bad as the doom and gloom crowd are moaning, this week’s Pigskin Pick’em results are misleading; while there are four games separating this week’s winners from the lowest picks for the week, those picks in most cases made all the difference.   This week’s winners were A. Fishman’s picks, Star City Sportzcatz, Hot Stuff Coming Through, we want dallas, and lostnbigD with 11 points out of the 16.  That’s pretty good indeed, so props to our weekly winners.

Upset pick of the week was last week’s “Hottest Team in the AFC”, the New York Jets, losing to the erratic Denver Broncos.  The old adage of “don’t believe your own hype” seems to have been in full force here!  I miss Schroeder to Bryant and Tidewater Picks didn’t believe the hype; both of them correctly predicted Denver’s humiliation of Brett Favre’s team.  Kudos to both of them for the Upset Pick of the Week!

Last, but definitely not least, is our stretch run at the championship.  This week saw the first time this season where our season leader has had a distinct separation between him/herself (yes, some of the players are female) and the pack, with Hot Stuff Coming Through taking his already decent lead and expanding it to four points, at 123; while that’s still surmountable, it’s starting to become a winning edge, and is only a mere three points below the full season total for the season champion from two years ago, we want dallas.  However, below that we have a little bit of a shakeup in the (for the last two weeks) solid ranking at #2 and #3.  chris horton hears a who is still in second, but with a tenuous one game lead for the position at 119.  At #3, we now have a tie, with last season’s champion A. Fishman’s picks pulling into a tie (and owning the tiebreaker) over 22209 at 118; a number of other players are close behind, with 9 more players in the next 6 points.  It’s still possible for nearly anyone to win who has been playing all season, but some of the folks who haven’t been as diligent are already, like the Lions, out of the picture.  As we make our way through these last four weeks, we’re setting up for a furious finish!  However, props to our season winners, and I’ll pick up next week again.