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Mostly bad in the Skins' final game of the year.

The good, bad, and more.

Good:

1. Evan Royster. If they can add a quarterback, some o-line help, and speed at wide receiver, Royster will be a 1,200-yard next year.

2. Run defense. Much better than last week's horrific performance.

3. Pro efforts from Orakpo, Kerrigan, Cofield, Young, and maybe 1-2 others. Other than that, pretty ugly.

Bad:

1. End of first half #1. Timeout with 1.22 left was stupid because it potentially would have left Philly with too much time left and it did. The 4th and 6 throw by Grossman was horrible.

2. End of first half #2. After the Orakpo-forced fumble, the Redskins decided to stab themselves in the eye with two forks. The Moss penalty is total lack of discipline. To throw the ball short of the end zone with no timeouts left is bad enough but to not know that the only move is to get up to the line of scrimmage and spike the ball as quickly as possible after that completion to Gaffney is amateur. We saw poor clock management multiple times this season....they better bring someone in that knows what he's doing before next season.

3. Pass protection. Awful.

4. Rex. His biggest limitation is his lack of mobility and feel in the pocket. It really limits the offense when pass pro struggles. Oh, the other thing...he throws picks. Just one today but got bailed on what would've been his 2nd if not for a questionable roughing the QB call. In his defense, he had no time to throw the ball all day long.

5. Special Teams. An incredible 5th blocked field goal of the year and a near-blocked PAT. Add to that, Sav Rocca's worst day of the year.

6. Officiating. The unnecessary roughness penalty call on Reed Doughty was one of the worst calls I've ever seen!

7. D-Hall. His attempted tackle on Chad Hall on the TD at the end of the first half was pitiful.

8. Terrible penalties. The Moss unsportsmanlike was the worst. The celebration-penalty on Stallworth was what 5-11 teams do.

9. OJ Atogwe. He had the interception yes but losing DeSean Jackson on Jackson's touchdown catch was a huge play. He's been a disappointment this year. Injuries have been an issue but he hasn't contributed much.

More:

1. 5-11, not too good.

Mostly bad in the Skins' final game of the year.

The good, bad, and more.

Good:

1. Evan Royster. If they can add a quarterback, some o-line help, and speed at wide receiver, Royster will be a 1,200-yard next year.

2. Run defense. Much better than last week's horrific performance.

3. Pro efforts from Orakpo, Kerrigan, Cofield, Young, and maybe 1-2 others. Other than that, pretty ugly.

Bad:

1. End of first half #1. Timeout with 1.22 left was stupid because it potentially would have left Philly with too much time left and it did. The 4th and 6 throw by Grossman was horrible.

2. End of first half #2. After the Orakpo-forced fumble, the Redskins decided to stab themselves in the eye with two forks. The Moss penalty is total lack of discipline. To throw the ball short of the end zone with no timeouts left is bad enough but to not know that the only move is to get up to the line of scrimmage and spike the ball as quickly as possible after that completion to Gaffney is amateur. We saw poor clock management multiple times this season....they better bring someone in that knows what he's doing before next season.

3. Pass protection. Awful.

4. Rex. His biggest limitation is his lack of mobility and feel in the pocket. It really limits the offense when pass pro struggles. Oh, the other thing...he throws picks. Just one today but got bailed on what would've been his 2nd if not for a questionable roughing the QB call. In his defense, he had no time to throw the ball all day long.

5. Special Teams. An incredible 5th blocked field goal of the year and a near-blocked PAT. Add to that, Sav Rocca's worst day of the year.

6. Officiating. The unnecessary roughness penalty call on Reed Doughty was one of the worst calls I've ever seen!

7. D-Hall. His attempted tackle on Chad Hall on the TD at the end of the first half was pitiful.

8. Terrible penalties. The Moss unsportsmanlike was the worst. The celebration-penalty on Stallworth was what 5-11 teams do.

9. OJ Atogwe. He had the interception yes but losing DeSean Jackson on Jackson's touchdown catch was a huge play. He's been a disappointment this year. Injuries have been an issue but he hasn't contributed much.

More:

1. 5-11, not too good.

Mostly bad in the Skins' final game of the year.

The good, bad, and more.

Good:

1. Evan Royster. If they can add a quarterback, some o-line help, and speed at wide receiver, Royster will be a 1,200-yard next year.

2. Run defense. Much better than last week's horrific performance.

3. Pro efforts from Orakpo, Kerrigan, Cofield, Young, and maybe 1-2 others. Other than that, pretty ugly.

Bad:

1. End of first half #1. Timeout with 1.22 left was stupid because it potentially would have left Philly with too much time left and it did. The 4th and 6 throw by Grossman was horrible.

2. End of first half #2. After the Orakpo-forced fumble, the Redskins decided to stab themselves in the eye with two forks. The Moss penalty is total lack of discipline. To throw the ball short of the end zone with no timeouts left is bad enough but to not know that the only move is to get up to the line of scrimmage and spike the ball as quickly as possible after that completion to Gaffney is amateur. We saw poor clock management multiple times this season....they better bring someone in that knows what he's doing before next season.

3. Pass protection. Awful.

4. Rex. His biggest limitation is his lack of mobility and feel in the pocket. It really limits the offense when pass pro struggles. Oh, the other thing...he throws picks. Just one today but got bailed on what would've been his 2nd if not for a questionable roughing the QB call. In his defense, he had no time to throw the ball all day long.

5. Special Teams. An incredible 5th blocked field goal of the year and a near-blocked PAT. Add to that, Sav Rocca's worst day of the year.

6. Officiating. The unnecessary roughness penalty call on Reed Doughty was one of the worst calls I've ever seen!

7. D-Hall. His attempted tackle on Chad Hall on the TD at the end of the first half was pitiful.

8. Terrible penalties. The Moss unsportsmanlike was the worst. The celebration-penalty on Stallworth was what 5-11 teams do.

9. OJ Atogwe. He had the interception yes but losing DeSean Jackson on Jackson's touchdown catch was a huge play. He's been a disappointment this year. Injuries have been an issue but he hasn't contributed much.

More:

1. 5-11, not too good.

For the 15th time in the last 19 seasons the Redskins will play a meaningless game in their season finallee.  Pathetic.  With that said, I'm a believer that they are in better shape as a football organization than they've been since the 2001 Marty Schottenheimer season.  Can they win today?  Yes.  Here's how.

1.  Young players are hungry and play with fight.  The Redskins have younger players trying to prove something and the likes of Royster, Willie Smith, Tyler Palumbus, Ryan Kerrigan, DeJon Gomes, Perry Riley, etc have so much to play for.  With an early start on New Year's Day of a meaningless game, the winning team is often the one most interested.  The Redskins have more players on the field with more to prove.

2.  Turnover winner may equal game winner.  The Skins have the worst turnover margin in the league at -15, the Eagles are 2nd-worst at -14.

3.  Run the ball and keep defense off the field.  T he defense was the culprit last week and it has been more often than people like to say.  241 yards allowed on the ground last week to Minnesota is far too many.  Evan Royster could have a big game in Philly and will need one to a) keep Rex protected against the Eagle pass rush which has been very good and b) keep the Skins' defense and Vick off the field.

Prediction:

Eagles 24, Redskins 23

For the 15th time in the last 19 seasons the Redskins will play a meaningless game in their season finallee.  Pathetic.  With that said, I'm a believer that they are in better shape as a football organization than they've been since the 2001 Marty Schottenheimer season.  Can they win today?  Yes.  Here's how.

1.  Young players are hungry and play with fight.  The Redskins have younger players trying to prove something and the likes of Royster, Willie Smith, Tyler Palumbus, Ryan Kerrigan, DeJon Gomes, Perry Riley, etc have so much to play for.  With an early start on New Year's Day of a meaningless game, the winning team is often the one most interested.  The Redskins have more players on the field with more to prove.

2.  Turnover winner may equal game winner.  The Skins have the worst turnover margin in the league at -15, the Eagles are 2nd-worst at -14.

3.  Run the ball and keep defense off the field.  T he defense was the culprit last week and it has been more often than people like to say.  241 yards allowed on the ground last week to Minnesota is far too many.  Evan Royster could have a big game in Philly and will need one to a) keep Rex protected against the Eagle pass rush which has been very good and b) keep the Skins' defense and Vick off the field.

Prediction:

Eagles 24, Redskins 23

The Redskins got Webbed at Fed Ex.  Everything looked good until they knocked Ponder out of the game and Joe Webb came in.  Similar to the trouble they had earlier in the year when Cam Newton ran option and they couldn't deal with it, same thing today.  And it wasn't just Webb...it was the running game overall for Minnesota.  241 yards on the ground are too many to give up.  With that said, the play of the game was the Banks touchdown that called back on an absolutely horrible holding call on Darrell Young.

The good, bad, and more.

Good:

1.  Evan Royster. He's the best runner on the team.  They're in good hands next year with Helu and Royster.

2.  Jabar Gaffney. He's become Mr. Reliable among the receivers.  Great touchdown catch.

3.  Brandon Banks. A threat today almost every time he touched it.

4.  Gano. He's made 14 straight kicks.

Bad:

1.  Run defense. Couldn't stop anybody and really struggled when Webb's option became a threat.

2.  Penalties. Too many with 8  including an offsides on a Minnesota punt giving them a first down and eventually a touchdown.

3.  The final drive. After doing a great job managing the clock perfectly to get the ball back down 7 with over a minute left, the Skins blew it by not gettting up to the line of scrimmage and spiking the ball quickly after a completion to Stallworth on first down.  Instead, the Redskins let the clock roll as they tried to get organized and subsequently snapped the ball when Rex wasn't looking and took a penalty and a 10-sec run off.  Terrible!

4.  No takeaways. Another lost turnover-margin game.

More:

1.  I had no problem with their decision to kick it deep after the Gano field goal that made it 33-26.

2.  Shanahan's first quarter challenge of what he thought was a Peterson fumble was a waste.

3.  The holding call on Young on the Banks' return was a bad call.  Next play, Rex threw the pick.  Major turning point.

Last week was a surprise and this week could be one for different reasons.  For the first time in about two months, most are expecting the Redskins to win today.  I'm not so sure.  Here's what they need to avoid...hum, the upset.

1.  Stop the run.  Minnesota has actually moved the ball well in recent games and they've done it primarly on the ground.  They can get big chunk plays in the running game with A.P. and Harvin.  The Vikings will try to control the ball and keep their very vulnerable defense off the field.

2.  Block Jared Allen.  Willie Smith did a nice job for the most part last week on Jason Pierre-Paul...he gets another big test today against Allen and his 17.5 sacks.  We all know enough to know that if Allen isn't held in check, a Grossman fumble is almost a certainty.  He can change a game....the Skins have to prevent him from doing it.

3.  Kick it out of the end zone.  The Vikings lead the league in kickoff returns courtesy of Percy Harvin's 36.3 yd average.  Don't mess around with him.  Kick it deep and don't let him have a chance.

Prediction:

This one will be a lot closer than most people think.  I like the Redskins but I wouldn't be surprised if they lost.

Redskins 30, Vikings 28

Many of you are upset that they won because of how it affects draft position but the truth is they played today like they've played since the Miami game....competitively.

The Redskins are 5-9 on their way to another non-playoff finish but this season's result was oh so close to being better.  If you put aside the stretch of "no-chance-to-win" football they played with John Beck at quarterback which resulted in three ugly losses, the Skins have had a chance to win every other lost game this year except the Philly game at home.  Both losses against Dallas were games they led in the 4th quarter.  They led against the Jets with 4 minutes left, had a chance to tie New England in the final 30 seconds, and they were down one point in the 4th at Miami.  I'm not suggesting that they are much better than their record says they are but I'm simply suggesting that there is every indication from recent performance that they'll have chances to win games down the stretch.

The good, bad, and more.

Good:

1.  Defense. One of the best days of the year for the defense.  Here's the list of reasons why...a) 10 pts allowed b) 3 interceptions c) solid coverage all day long d) 3 sacks and multiple hurries e) huge hits all day long.  Don't need to single one out on a day like today but of course if I did, Fletcher!

2.  Corners. Best day of the year for the Skins' corners.

3.  Wide Receivers. Not one dropped ball and plenty of plays after the catch.

4.  Rex's short memory. He's just not fazed by the interceptions he throws.  It's as if he doesn't remember them at all.  His TD throw to Moss was perfect.

5.  First-half 3rd down conversions. 6 of 9 in the first half on third down was the main reason they were able to overcome Rex's early picks.

6.  Darrell Young. He's terrific as a blocker, effective as a short-yardage runner, and not bad as a pass receiver.  They're better with him.

7.  O-Line. A nice job overall, especially on third down in the first half.

Bad:

1.  Not enough points. They could've and should've scored more.  And perhaps if the game had been closer in the 2nd half they would have had more of an urgency to score versus running clock.

2.  Safeties in coverage. Doughty and Gomes is not the pair you want in coverage although Doughty is effective at the line of scrimmage as a run-stopper.

Other:

1.  The Nicks drop in the first half was huge.

2.  Terrible challenge by Coughlan on the Atogwe inteception.

3.  I had no problem with the decision to go for the 4th and 1 late in the first half and no problem with the play call.  It would have been a 49 yard field goal and they were having success on 3rd and 4th and short.

4.  If Gano had made the OT field goal against Dallas, the Redskins would be a game out of first place with two left and they would own tiebreakers over both Dallas and the Giants.

The Giants have allowed 121 points and 1,470 yards in their last three games.  Think about that for a second and let it digest....the Giants have allowed 40 points per game and nearly 500 yards per game in their last 3.  Their opponents were the Cowboys, Packers, and Saints.  Amazingly, they didn't lose all three of them.  They beat Dallas.

Can the Redskins win today?  I think they can but they probably won't.  They've turned it over too much to close out games they've been competitive in like the last 5 in which they've either had a lead or been within one score of the lead in the 4th quarter.  To win, they have to do the following.

1.  Score 28 points or more.  The Giants will score a bunch on a Redskin defense that has gotten too many accolades for my liking.  The Skins' D has some nice pieces but is still short on cover guys.  Rex needs to play at a very high level and a balanced attack like last week when they threw it 34 times and ran it 33 times is a must.  Time of possession advantage will be important but might not tell the whole story because the Giants can score quickly. 

2.  Get RedZone stops.  The Giants are going to move the football but the Redskins need a few stops like last week forcing field goals.  Just a couple of forced field goals would go a long way to keeping the game competitive.

3.  Win the turnover battle.  Yeah...right.  They haven't done it in their last 14 games.  To win, they can't keep giving it away.

Prediction:

Giants 27, Redskins 24

For the 4th time in the last 5 weeks, the Redskins lost a game that was winnable. Miami was winnable. Dallas was winnable. Seattle was a win. They had a lead with 4:30 left against the Jets. Today, they were within a few yards of tying or having a chance to beat the Pats. Close but no cigar is the cry of a loser...I get it. With that said, they've played hard in the face of nothing to play for.

The good, bad, and more.

The Good:

1. The Offense. We don't say it often but the offense gave them a chance today. The Pats' defense is lousy but after a rough start, the Redskins got it rolling offensively. The running game was outstanding with Helu and Royster. This was our first chance to see Royster in significant regular season action and he was very impressive as a runner. Willie Smith and Mo Hurt on the left side did a very good job in the running game up front. Rex was sharp and was given time most of the day. The receivers did a nice job although there still aren't enough yards-after-catch.

2. Playcalling. As curious as it was last week when they strayed away from a balanced attack in the 2nd quarter, they stayed balanced today with 33 passes and 34 runs.

3. The Fed Ex Leap. Gaffney went into the crowd after his first touchdown and went in hard with no safety net. The fans caught on after that and Moss and David Anderson were greeted Lambeau-style.

4. Stephen Bowen. He's played a pretty decent level the last few weeks. He had half a sack and blew up the Pats 3rd and 1 late in the 3rd quarter.

The Bad:

1. The Officiating. The Fletcher penalty on Brady was bad. The Andre Carter penalty on Grossman was worse. The Wilfork hit on Royster who had not been touched yet on the ground may have been the worst of them all.

2. The Tackling. The Gronkowski play in the first quarter is the only example you need although there were plenty of others.

3. Another Gano Kickoff Out of Bounds. This must stop. Danny Smith needs to forget all the directional kicking and just have Gano kick it deep into the end zone. Giving Brady the ball at his own 40 is making it too easy for him.

4. Penalties. 8 for 73 yards. One of the biggest was the holding penalty on Hurt early in the 4th quarter which nullified a huge play to Moss.

5. Moss' hands. He's dropping too many balls. Could be because of the injury.

Other:

1. The Pats had two TD drops.

2. I think Shanahan would've gone for two if they had scored late.