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NewCliche21

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  1. NewCliche21
    I'm sitting here in the press box with a personal conflict.  I want us to win, yes.  But I want us to win a Super Bowl.  This year, unless we have a Gibbs-like turnaround or 2012 going from 3-6 to 10-6, ain't that year.  We had high hopes out of the gate, the offseason seemed to be drama-free for the most part, it looks like we got something special in Scary Terry, and for the most part the draft seemed serviceable at least. 

    Of course we started off with our starter-by-salary-only hurt, but at least we had McCoy with the steady hand.  Oh, wait, he's still hurt?   Um, okay, who do we have now?  Keenum?  Wasn't he in Minny and replaced by the other guy who used to be wearing number 8 here? Uh, okay, I guess that's fine.  Colt will be back any minute now, right?  Oh, that's a negative, too.  Well, we have that Haskins guy we drafted, but we'll sit him like the Jags and Giants are doing with their rookies.  More on that in a minute.  Then we have Williams holding out, us refusing to trade him for a ship ton of picks like Miami did, while he takes up the cap.  Reed gets hurt because why not and then we sign a couple of placeholders while our next big homegrown signing in, number 75, starts playing at 75% and then gets injured because, again, why not?

    I'll change my name to Francis so that I can be frank:  This ain't going well.  Everything was fantastic when we were up 17-0 against Philly in their house, and it's just been a steady trajectory of suck since then.  With rumors swirling about this game potentially being the last straw for Gruden, it's not going well.

    And on the other sideline?  All those LOL's at taking Jones at #6 have turned into quite chortles while our rookie sits behind a five-turnover game by the new guy.  Our coach is making excuses that our team has new players, which is the same for 31 other teams, and that we've got to execute.  The Giants, though, benched a two-time Super Bowl MVP (in case you weren't sick to your stomach by this team already) in order to start Daniel Ten Cents or whatever they're calling him.  Their alleged once-in-a-generation running back goes down, and now they look better than ever.  What do we do?  Have our once-in-a-draft running back get injured while our Hall of Fame back, um, sits?  I mean Thompson's on my fantasy team so there's some selfish plus to that, but, okay?

    And of course injury bug.

    So, this comes back to the conflict between the angel and devil on my shoulders.  Do we win today and really make a run at it, going 16-3 to win the Super Bowl?  Nah, the brownie I ate wasn't the special type, so I don't see that happening.  But do we want to beat the Giants just because Giants?  I guess.  But something that this team has really robbed of us is any real hope, replaced by a passionate apathy and a team logo of shoulder shrugs.

    So, we'll see.  Nobody's gotten hurt at warm ups so far, so we've got that going for us.
     
    Let's see if anything else gets going today.
     
    INACTIVES:

    McCoy
    McLaurin (replaced with Harmon)
    Colvin
    McKinzy
    Roullier (replaced by Bergstrom at center)
    Scherff (replaced by Martin at right guard)
    Reed (Obviously Vernon Davis at TE)
     
    This does mean that Robert Davis is active and Dwayne Haskins is our #2.  If Keenum plays like he did last week, then be ready to see Haskins on the field.
     
    Fun note:  If Haskins takes any snaps today, then he will be the SIXTH quarterback since November 2018:

    1)  Smith 2)  McCoy 3)  Sanchez
    4)  Johnson 5)  Keenum  
    Fifteen minutes until kickoff, and we had no visible injuries during warm-ups.  Woot.
     
    FIRST QUARTER:
     
    Let the stupid begin.  Stupid pass on that pick, RIDICULOUS decision to not decline the hold leads to a first down for NY at the 19.
     
    And we're five minutes in and we've already had a pick, a dumb call to accept a failed third down, and given up a touchdown due to a miscommunication.
     
    More self-inflicted BS.  The Giants dominated that quarter as we had ten or fewer plays from scrimmage.
     
    Atrocious start, and the trajectory isn't pointing up.
     
    SECOND QUARTER:
     
    Let's see if we get a different result.  Keep in mind this drive started at their six, and at the beginning of the quarter, they're on our 44.
     
    And at 12:01 left in the half, touchdown.  An unbelievable amount of stupid in penalties.  No update on Norman yet.
     
    Norman back.  Hell of a hit by Settle and a pick by Dunbar at the 8:17 mark.
     
    And the Haskins era begins at 6:35 left in the half.
     
    Haskins with four good minutes, including that 14-yard scramble, rookie miss to Davis.
     
    END OF THE HALF:
     
    Well, this looks pretty bad.  Having the spark with Haskins was good, and he's already out-playing Keenum.  Unfortunately that's like being the tallest of the Seven Dwarves, but he was pretty okay.  Nobody expected him to light it up.

    When it comes to the defense, we've got two picks on Daniel Jesus, but we keep extending drives and they're destroying us on TOP.  The biggest problem?  Penalties, specifically holds in the secondary.
     
    It still doesn't feel like a win is coming, but it feels like maybe the tide is turning with the team.  Hopefully we will be able to play a little less stupidly and we'll see what that brings.  Still doesn't feel like we're doing too much right to outweigh the dumbass mistakes.
     
    Let's hope that Haskins lights it up once we get the ball back.  Giants receive at the half.
     
    THIRD QUARTER:

    Well, Haskins threw his first TD pass, just to the wrong team.  We continue to have an ungodly amount of flags.  Stupid, stupid flags.  I feel like they can just take the burgundy out of our uniforms and just keep the gold, since that's the only impact we're having today.

    Haskins is not lighting it up like Jones did, but folks, remember that this is how a rookie typically plays.
     
    FOURTH QUARTER:
    And with pick and loss number 4, we're out.

    The battle for Tua begins Week 6.
     
    ____________________________________________________________
     
    Well, here's at least something good with some of the fans here in Not New York.  And that's @TK giving the finger to this stadium so I have permission. #dontbanme

    There were quite a few out there tailgating at about 9:00 (they open the gates at 8:00), probably twice as many as there were on Monday Night since, you know, nobody not wearing a Bears jersey was there after halftime.
     

  2. NewCliche21

    King of the Phil(ly)

    By NewCliche21,

    I know, I know, that's a terrible title.   However, I've only been to one game here at the Linc, and we won.  Division championship in 2015, a thing of beauty.  I'm also 2-0 while writing these things.  At the same time, I was at the Monday Night Massacre/McNabb's Payday, so don't get too ****y. Philly has been fun-ish.  We went to Geno's to get some world famous cheesesteaks Steak-Ums.  More overrated than any free agent signing we've had since, well, you know.
     
    No matter what this turns out to be, it'll be a nice break from all of the distractions off the field.  #yourenotwinningoffthefieldbruce  It's been something that's divided us intensely, and I'm glad that we can all agree that we're scared ****less about the ramifications of this game.  A few weeks ago we are two games up, Dallas is faltering, Philly is doing poorly, and Giants gonna Giants.  Now?  With a loss today, we're in third place in the division.  I mean, that's, ouch.  Some of us can see the bright side in the deepest cavern, and others of us only see shadows while staring at the Sun (I happen to fall into the latter category).   This game means everything.  It's not a tone-setter, it's as Code Red as Tampa three years ago.
     
    It's definitely nice to see Thompson and Crowder back.  I hope that Stroman can defend Wentz, because he's gonna get picked on all day.  And that  #86, you gotta cover him.  As @TK said, that number is dangerous for both sides.  A big problem is actually following through on that.  We knew that Cooper was going to get the ball, but our safeties (I love ya, DJ, but ugh on Thanksgiving) were more like safety valves.  We cannot let that happen, even once, against this Eagles team that has Sproles returning.
     
    As you've already read, Inactives:
     
    Sudfield
    Maddox
    Mills
    Hicks
    Warmack
    Mailata
    Pryor
     
    Quinn (ugh!)
    Dunbar
    Perine (forgot he was on the team)
    Marshall
    Howard
    Ioannidis
     
    So some hits on both sides.  Both secondaries need to really bolt down to give their respective teams a chance (don't worry, I didn't tell Philly that).  Oh, and then there's that Colt McCoy guy.  With a non-zero number of practices with the ones, hopefully he can actually do something.
     
    With 38 minutes to go, it's not looking much better than FedEx.  I even heard cheers when our boys ran out.
     
    Well, that's it for pregame unless something else happens.
     
    With 13 minutes to go, the stands are maybe half full?  Nothing to Josh Norman's standards for sure.
     
    With three minutes to go, we are at about 2/3 capacity.  All levels on the home side look full, but other than that it's not impressive.
     
    FIRST QUARTER
     
    7:31 Zach Ertz with the insane false start.  Except not.  So touchdown.
     
    Well, looked like typical Redskins.  A little  help from the refs for the Eagles touchdown and then for two straight, and wasted, first downs.  But Doctson did something.  So at lest we have that.
     
    SECOND QUARTER
     
    McCoy hurt.  Sanchez in.  Peace out, season.
     
    And I'm wrong.  Colt's first play after coming in, touchdown.  Sanchez's first play after coming in, touchdown.
     
    Longest run in Redskins history.
     
    At 4:03 - And a fourth down stop?
     
    Sanchez with a nine-play, 40-something drive ending in three points.
     
    At the half, the team is showing some grit.  Two bad calls by the refs led to 14 Philly points, the non-call on Ertz on their first touchdown and the ticky-tack roughing the passer by Stroman.  Moreau looking very, very good today, which is a relief.  Josh Norman needs to tackle, not strip.  It's costing us yards and on the Sproles run cost us seven.
     
    Overall we're doing better than I thought we would.
     
    THIRD QUARTER
     
    Off to a bad start.  McCoy out for the year.
     
    The rest of the third was also bad.  Another injured lineman, down to zero reserves.  Moreau injured after being awesome all game.
     
    This isn't going to end in a win for us, unfortunately.
     
    FOURTH QUARTER:
     
    And it just keeps getting worse.  Sanchez, Sanchez, Sanchez.
     
    That was awful.  In all ways.  I don't know how it could've been worse.  I'll finish this up later, emotions are too high in being too low.
  3. NewCliche21

    A Giant Test

    By NewCliche21,

    It's been quite a trip so far up here in the Big (No Eli) Apple.  Google Maps decided to see how many U-turns I could make in a one-mile radius.  The waitress at the restaurant decided to see how long I would wait until my hangry came out (45 minutes for a grilled chicken sandwich?!).  Then the Ambien decided to see if I could function after taking it, I could not from what I remember.  Oh, and then I managed to pull a muscle in my neck either while I was saving kids from an orphanage on fire or while adjusting a shower head.  Let's just go with the former.
     
     
    Oh yeah, we have a football game, too.  I know, I know, we're 4-2.  The Giants are 1-6.  So I'll say what we're all thinking:
     
      
     
    Sitting here in the box, I'm looking down on a 1-6 team, both figuratively and literally.  Just before our game, they get rid of Eli Apple (wrong Eli) and Snacks.  We've got AP hitting on all cylinders and likely making history today, with 26 yards he'll be moving to 9th all-time in rushing yards, passing Tony Dorsett.  So that's a win no matter what since we'll be moving a Cowboy down the list.  Suddenly Kerrigan and Preston seem to be starting to remember that they're on the team, and the Giants have an offensive line that is underperforming.
     
    However, it's the Redskins.  The Giants have won four games in the past two years, and two of them have been against us.  That's not a distinction that is something to brag about.  At the same time, Dak was 5-0 against us until a random penalty and an upright saved our win. To sandwich that point, we are the one win that the Colts have.  Another thing to not brag about.
     
    If we want to win, then today we've got to not let it come down to lucky plays, yellow flags, and a regret about cutting Dan Bailey.  We play well with the lead, but there's not a lot to look to in order to have faith that we can come back from behind.  We're going to need to avoid looking at our record or theirs and getting some sort of ****iness, something that seems to haunt us after a win.  We will need to stay after Eli and get him to make mistakes.  With our depleted secondary, it's had to trust that we can cover Beckham, Shepard, and Engram.  Oh, and they have some running back who can catch the ball.  Man, just thinking about that, how the hell are they 1-6?
     
    As of this writing (11:37), inactives have yet to be announced.  Expect Crowder to still be out in case you drafted him in fantasy.  Thompson is a game time decision in case you drafted him in fantasy.  I bet you can guess which Redskins I drafted.
     
    As the game starts and things are announced, I'll update this.  In the meantime, HTTR.
     
    And right before I post this, inactives are announced:
     
    Quinton Dunbar
    Samaje Perine
    Kenny Ladler
    Casey Dunn
    Geron Christian, Sr.
    Jamison Crowder
    Brian Quick
     
    Mo Harris is in for Crowder, and Moreau is in for Dunbar.
     
    About an hour until kickoff and the Giants punter looks great.  Hopefully we see a lot of him today.
     
    With 49 minutes to go, the stadium looks like people thought it was at Washington.  Basically nobody here.  We'll see what it looks like once we get underway.
     
     
    During warm ups Richardson has looked very comfortable.  No noticeable holding back or wincing.  Same goes for Thompson.
     
    With ten minutes to go, stadium is maybe half full?  Something like 90/10% Giants fans.  Crazy since they're 1-6 coming off of a 3-13 season.
     
    FIRST QUARTER:
     
    Not quite sure how to feel about this quarter.  It's great that we're up 7-0, but that'st he danger of this offense.  Control the clock methodically, but then it takes two seconds for the other team to throw a bomb and flip the field along with the momentum.
     
    SECOND QUARTER:
     
    I'm quite sure how I feel about this quarter.  Smith, man.  Smith.  Throws seem off target, happy feet, not keeping his eyes down the field.  I don't know what's up with this offensive line.  They're supposed to be amazing, but they're in their Halloween costume of Swiss Cheese lately.  It's nice to see Doctson playing well along with Reed.  I just can't be happy about this lead even though it's only halfway over.  Hopefully Jay adjusts at halftime (LOLOLOLOLOL), because this just isn't the team that we've seen.
     
    THIRD QUARTER:
     
    I feel like we can copy and paste this each week.  No adjustments, defense still plays well, and we don't score a touchdown.  Unfortunately Peterson has a very rare fumble that gets returned a mile, and we start the fourth quarter with the ball on the Redskins 41.  We seem to be winning on the field, but the scoreboard makes me very nervous.  Again.  Every damn time.
     
    FINAL:
     
    Well that fourth quarter was actually pretty fun to watch.  Peterson got a hell of a TD after being denied the whole game.  Our defense showed up, except for Norman not getting that pick, costing me like 12 points in fantasy (I was playing against Engram).  Somehow we are 5-2.  It doesn't feel like it, does it?  Somehow it feels like a struggle every time, but man, aren't we used to that struggle regardless?
     
    The difference this year is that we are no longer snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, we're actually coming out on top.  I was just down in the locker room and at the press conferences (except for Smith, he was late, because he's Alex Smith), and there's a different feel.  These guys know they're not performing to their peak, but they know they're only going to get better.  It's a lack of satisfaction that I have been dying to see.  Jay's not happy with close endings or miscues on offense.  Adrian's not happy with how little he's seen the end zone (not in a selfish way; guy's the nicest person I've ever met).  DJ isn't happy with anything which is awesome.  The whole team won't be happy until, as DJ said, we're winning Super Bowls.  
     
    DJ said today, and I'm paraphrasing very poorly, that today's victory is nothing.  The other four are nothing.  Channeling his inner Iverson but in a good way, he said that we haven't yet won the division, won a championship, won a Super Bowl.  We're 5-2 and have the Falcons to focus on.
     
    Well, DJ, for the first time in a very long time, it feels like we're on the edge of our seats and on our way.
     
    Hail.
     
     
     
  4. NewCliche21
    VICTORY!!
    Redskins 29 - Giants 27
     

     
     Well ladies and gents, here we are.  Coming into New York (except not, because it's New Jersey, but who wants to admit they're in New Jersey on purpose?), we sitting here 0-2, last in the division, while the Giants are sitting pretty (pretty ugly) at 2-0 with a division win.  My my how things turn so quickly, and that's the goal today.
    With a win today, we're right back in this.  That'll put us at .500 in the division and put some wind at our backs when we come home to face the Browns.
    So far, it's been a hell of a time up here.  Going to the Redskins Rally with @TK, we walked past Trent Williams in the lobby.  Keep in mind, I'm not one to get opportunities to see players, so I pretty much was "NBD" on the outside but "OMG!!!!!" on the inside.  Rinse and repeat as I met Cooley, Doc, Bruce, and Larry Michaels.  Yeah, it was a good time.
    Just finished up breakfast and I got to rinse and repeat walking by Sonny and meeting Doug Williams.  I'm 32 years old and feel like I'm a quarter of that age (probably still the same height).  The Rally was a really good time, but now I'm sitting here in the press box waiting for the game to start.
    Warm ups look like warm ups, but for all of our Fashion Police, we're in white tops and burgundy bottoms.  I usually don't care too much about that stuff, but it helped our run in 2005, so why the hell not?  Not much interesting going on right now, but we're 80 minutes from turning this season around.
    I'll update throughout the game, probably at the quarters.
     
    ANNOUNCEMENT OF INACTIVES
     
    EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Washington Redskins have announced the following inactives and lineup changes for today’s game against the New York Giants:
     
    The Redskins declared the following players as inactive: 
    o   No. 2 QB Nate Sudfeld
    o   No. 18 WR Josh Doctson
    o   No. 38 CB Kendall Fuller
    o   No. 50 LB Martrell Spaight
    o   No. 72 DE Anthony Lanier II
    o   No. 74 G Arie Kouandjio
    o   No. 97 DE Kendall Reyes
    The Giants declared the following players as inactive: 
    o   No. 8  QB Josh Johnson
    o   No. 23 RB Rashad Jennings
    o   No. 27 S Darian Thompson
    o   No. 73 T Marshall Newhouse
    o   No. 82 WR Roger Lewis, Jr.
    o   No. 97 DT Montori Hughes
    o   No. 99 DT Robert Thomas
     
    Well seven minutes before kickoff the stands are not that full, maybe 2/3, especially on the 50.
     
    With 6:00 left in the first, down 14-3.
    Breeland is out for the game with an ankle injury.  Did not look good from up here. 
    With 25 seconds left in the first, it's 14-6.  Cousins looking better but still not good enough.  Can't trade touchdowns for field goals.
     END OF FIRST QUARTER - Not looking happy.  Bashaud out, and that muffed punt seems like it popped the balloon before it even inflated.  Really need to turn this around on this third and 8 to begin the second quarter.
    Not sure how many more happy moments we'll have, but that :32 drive was beautiful by Cousins.  Need to see more of that if we want to win, today or ever.

     END OF FIRST HALF - Story of the day is still the same.  Cousins looking like a shell of 2015 except for three great throws.  Unfortunately, those great throws for him are expected for QB's getting $19.95M.  He's not getting it done, but somehow it's still a one-score game.
    Tendencies so far are frustration on defense and frustration with number 8.  We're also doing our usual when it comes to the penalties.  Not really sure why it's going this way this year, but we're being consistent.  Injuries haven't been our friend with some of the guys in the box calling this another bodybag game.  Breeland, Hall, Jackson, who's next?
    And then by my count are 35 drive-killing penalty yards.  Not sure how this keeps happening either, but at least we're beating the Giants in that department.
    Despite how this game may be feeling, we're still in this and we get the ball at the half.  Hail.
    Note: Last Redskin to get reception and interception in same game, Christmas Eve, 2000 was Champ Bailey
    Halfway through the fourth and we've got ourselves a ball game.  Really need to start taking advantage of the opportunities that we're getting.  Seven for us on this drive would make a lot of people feel a lot better.

     FINAL UPDATE: Well I went a little silent after basically eight thousand things happened in a row, and then the game ended.  This team has a scrap to them, ladies and gentlemen, and boy did it come out when it mattered.  We finished with 29 points off of seven scoring drives, and that's nothing to sneeze at.  Going forward, we sure want to see those 29 become 49, but it seems that maybe we're wrong about this team. 
    Having a more public platform to state this from, I'll take advantage.  Too often here do we have members cheer against the team in order to say "I told you so."  Man, being wrong is absolutely fantastic.  After we traded two touchdowns for a field goal in the first quarter, I thought that we were going to lose. I didn't say it in the Game Day Thread or in this blog, but I thought we were done.  We were 0-2 at the Meadowlands where we never win with an offense that was oozing incompetence and players were dropping like flies.  And you know what?  I was wrong.  Our backups came in, the team got some motivation and some insane plays from Reed, Way, Crowder, and Dunbar, and now I sit here listening to Giants fans being unhappy because we beat them in their house for the first time since 2011.  It sounds like Heaven.
    We overcame adversity and instead of floundering in our losses, we went out there and done won the damned thing!  Our defense was porous and allowed six scoring drives for the Giants, but they also came up with huge turnovers to give our offense a shot.  Speaking with Josh Norman after the game, he told me that watching new unheralded guys was just amazing, like he's been there.  Specifically Dunbar and Cravens, Josh was beaming like a new father.
    Not sure if it picked up on the audio, but Trent Williams said he was "stunned" when he got the call to shift over to left guard.  Maybe it was because he was standing next to him, but he was very happy with how Ty did taking over.  I missed the beginning of Gruden's conference because in the press box getting down to the players/coaches is like trying to get a new XBOX on Christmas Eve.  Both Gruden and Cousins were very happy with the team's resilience, but something I did like with Gruden is that when he was asked about what the hell happened before the half, his smile instantly disappeared.  He was very unhappy with how that was handled, and you couldn't even tell that he had just won the game.  It's good to see that the team takes the same approach to fixing mistakes win or lose.
    A couple of random facts that I may be the only one finds interesting:
    1)  The Giants had a player ejected after breaking a rule put in place due to Beckham's behavior against Norman last year.
    2)  Quinton Dunbar now has two interceptions in the Giants' endzone.
    3)  Quinton Dunbar's interception was an Odell Beckham-like one-handed grab.
    4)  Giants fans.  I mean, just look at 'em.
     Got some audio up in the downloads section and trying to get some more up later.  In case you watch Norman's press conference, I'm the guy awkwardly asking the second-to-last question because why not?
    Hopefully today is the start of something fantastic and we can keep it going next week at home versus Cleveland.
    Hell of a first win, guys.  Now let's just get 16 more.
    HAIL!
     

     
     
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