bubba9497 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Week 5 preview Game of the week: Washington (3-0) at Denver (3-1) http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/dmoore/nfl/stories/100705dnspomoore.1c6d5623.html 3:15 p.m. Sunday, Broncos by 7 I'm not in the habit of trashing undefeated teams. I've found it makes more sense to wait until they lose and then pile on. But there are always exceptions. I know the good people of Washington are excited about the Redskins. When you live in a city dominated by talk of the GOP, the DNC, the CIA, the FBI and the FDA, the NFL offers a nice diversion. STOP. The majority of mainstream America doesn't hold the Redskins in the same, high regard as those inside the Beltway. Let's look at what Washington has done. • Beat Chicago. Big deal. There will be seven or eight other teams to make that claim before the end of the season. • Beat Dallas. Sorry. The Redskins didn't beat Dallas. The Cowboys blew it. • Beat Seattle. Only because a Seahawks field goal attempt bounced off the upright at the end of regulation. Beating the Broncos in Denver is another matter. Washington's legitimacy isn't the only angle to this game. It also gives us a chance to revisit the Clinton Portis-for-Champ Bailey trade. Portis returns to Invesco Field, where he racked up a ton of yards and touchdowns on the way to establishing himself as one of the game's best young running backs. But Portis has been more ordinary than special in his brief time with the Redskins. His slashing style hasn't meshed with the traditional smash-mouth approach of coach Joe Gibbs. Both sides have compromised this season to make the marriage work. Portis added seven pounds of bulk. Washington picked up a few new offensive linemen and tinkered with its blocking scheme. Still, Portis doesn't rank among the league's top 15 rushers. Bailey, meanwhile, is part of a defensive renaissance in Denver. The cornerback has two interceptions this season and returned one for a touchdown, giving him one more than Portis. Denver has replaced Portis with a committee of Mike Anderson, Tatum Bell (taken with the second-round pick that came with Bailey) and Ron Dayne that averages 144.2 yards on the ground. Quarterback Jake Plummer has gone two games without a turnover, a feat he was hard-pressed to accomplish over two quarters in his younger days. Which is not to say Washington doesn't have some positives going for it, as well. The defense is rock solid. Receiver Santana Moss is a big-play threat and the Redskins have converted 49 percent of their third-down opportunities to keep the chains moving. Still, I'm skeptical. But to prove that I'm an open-minded guy, if the Redskins beat the Broncos, I'll believe. At least until they play in Kansas City next week. KEEP AN EYE ON New England (2-2) at Atlanta (3-1) Noon Sunday, Ch. 11, Falcons by 3 – Was San Diego 41, New England 17 an aberration or a sign of the Patriots' decline? We will find out soon. You know the loss shook the two-time defending Super Bowl champions when coach Bill Belichick, who never uses injuries as an excuse, conceded, "There are some personnel issues there." Pittsburgh (2-1) at San Diego (2-2) 8 p.m. Monday, Ch. 8, Chargers by 3 – Steelers linebacker James Farrior watched San Diego destroy New England in Foxborough eight days after his team was unable to beat the defending champions at home. His assessment of the Chargers: "They damn near look unstoppable." If the Steelers figure out how to stop LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates, they will be the first. Cincinnati (4-0) at Jacksonville (2-2) 7:30 p.m. Sunday, ESPN, Jaguars by 3 – I know some people aren't sold on the Bengals, which is understandable when you take the last 15 or so years into account. And critics will point out the four teams Cincinnati has beaten this season have a combined record of 3-10. So what. Have a little faith. DON'T FORGET THESE Philadelphia (3-1) at Cowboys (2-2): 3:15 p.m. Sunday, Ch. 4, Eagles by 3 – People got it all wrong. It's not a story if Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens don't talk. It's a story if McNabb stops throwing to Owens. It doesn't look like that's going to happen. New Orleans (2-2) at Green Bay (0-4): Noon Sunday, Packers by 3 – The Packers will win a game, maybe even this week. But life is tough when you're one of only two winless teams in the NFL. "You can keep saying to yourself we're too good to be in this position," receiver Donald Driver said, "but the record is what it is and the numbers don't lie." Tennessee (1-3) at Houston (0-3): Noon Sunday, Texans by 3 – I sense an offensive explosion for Houston – relatively speaking. The last time the Texans' offense scored more than two touchdowns in a game came in a 31-21 win over the Titans on Nov. 28 of last season. Houston is even favored, which led nose tackle Seth Payne to put it all in perspective with this comment: "We're favored?" Miami (2-1) at Buffalo (1-3): Noon Sunday, Bills by 2 ½ – Don't talk to Miami coach Nick Saban about the problems facing the other teams in the AFC East. "What happens to everybody else has nothing to do with us, understand?" Saban said. "It's clutter and poison and lethal in terms of attitude development and thinking about the right things to get ready to play a game." I'll take his word for it. HOT TOPICS Deja Vinny Vinny Testaverde lost his job to Chad Pennington after a 1-3 start in 2002. Now Pennington is hurt, the Jets are once again 1-3 and Testaverde is back as the starting quarterback. Is this what they mean by progress? Excuses, excuses I wouldn't want to write with a sprained medial collateral ligament and bursitis in my right knee, much less play quarterback. But I'm not sure that explains the 10 interceptions and poor decisions made by Daunte Culpepper. Daunting debut San Francisco coach Mike Nolan must have a thing for wolves because he just threw Alex Smith to them. The rookie quarterback gets Indianapolis in his first start, followed by Washington and Tampa Bay. COLD FACTS No defense Far be it from me to say that the NFC West is soft. But six teams have already allowed more than 100 points this season, and three of them – Arizona, St. Louis and San Francisco – are in that division. Long odds At least one of the 13 teams with a losing record entering this weekend will make the playoffs. I know this because it's happened the last five years. Eight teams under .500 after Week 4 have made the playoffs since 2000. MATCHUP OF THE WEEK Mike Holmgren, Seattle vs. Mike Martz, St. Louis It wasn't long ago that Holmgren and Martz were revered as two of the brightest coaching minds around. Now, fans in both cities simply wonder what the two are thinking. Holmgren has been unable to build the team he expected since coming over from Green Bay. The Seahawks are a decent team, but they fall flat at too many key moments. Holmgren's play-calling hasn't helped. With the ball at the 33-yard line and 49 seconds left in regulation at Washington, Seattle ran twice and settled for a 47-yard field goal attempt that Josh Brown missed. The Seahawks lost in overtime, 20-17. "I just do what I'm told," veteran Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said to reporters when asked about the conservative approach. There is nothing conservative about Martz. The league's mad scientist comes under fire for trying to do too much, like that double-reverse inside the 10 in a loss to the New York Giants. But physical problems have left Martz fatigued. The fatigue Holmgren feels comes from losing to the Rams three times last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herrmag Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 It's really hard for me to argue with his point, although he can shove his sarcastic comments up his @$$. Until we beat a quality team away from home, expect nothing more. However, I'm very excited about the direction this team is headed. I think we will continue to improve every week, particularly offensively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenster95 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Still, Portis doesn't rank among the league's top 15 rushers. What a doofus. Among other things, the above quote is something Nunyo-esque. Portis is 17th in rushing yards cuz he's only played three games. He's 10th overall, ahead of Julius Jones, in yards per game. The other thing is that we're using Portis much differently than he was used in Denver. He's being used more as a power back here and that will tend to limit yardage totals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostRider Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Someone's still bitter after the Monday night game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamSneed36 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 First, if only 7 or 8 other teams beat chicago then that makes em a pretty good team and a playoff team in the NFC. Dallas, yea cant really say much except with how bad our Offense was our D did an amazing job. Seattle, we handed it to em. All game we dominated, except for a lapse in the 4th quarter. We slipped, the D slipped. Not sure that will happen again soon. This guy looked at the 20-17 over time score and saw the SC highlights, he didnt watch a second of the game itself. No one has notcied we are making a lot of progress quickly. We could easily bust out all over Denver or KC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenster95 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Someone's still bitter after the Monday night game. If Dallas blew it to a marginal 'Skins team, what's that make the 'Boys? And who did they beat? The Chargers, who were without Gates and who are a much different team right now. If they play them again at home, the 'Boys get blown out. And they beat the mighty Niners. Barely. Of course, they probably also "blew" that game against the powerhouse Raider team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Tater Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Calling the Dallas game the way he did and the Seatle game the way he did are mutually exclusive. The arguments he makes in support of his conclusion are invalid. Whether one agrees with his conclusion or not, his argument is not valid and therefore unprofessional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba9497 Posted October 7, 2005 Author Share Posted October 7, 2005 what a putz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinzelwashington Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 another hater on board.. whats up with all these people hatin on us.. believe us after we beat the broncos.. wait they'll believe us after the chiefs... smash mouth haters keep writing shiet about us.. just cause we beat their team already... hmm.. chicago.. we beat them by our d.. dallas. you guys didnt lose, we outplayed u til the last sec... seattle, um, we cough it up and they couldnt take advantage.. o well.. we win, its cause a lucky miss field goal. we lose cause brunell sucks. we dont got no offense.. all these wins and we still get criticize. until we win games we will be criticized- joe gibbs.. or not.. dont know, seems like there are more hater than congradulaters out there.. o well, we believe. thats all that matters... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terpfan Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Good God, please let us beat the Broncos. I cant take any more of this.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking Deadman Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Just keep hating us...... We thrive on your poor treatment of us and lack of respect. So far we're 3-0 and the Chip on the shoulder for the team and the Fans is just getting larger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windy City Skins fan Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Good points all. I'm nervous for this game of course. Denver's good. And I was losing a bit of confidence there just reading the article which I would attribute both to nerves and to just dreading the feeling of losing because this is seemingly a test. But, I do see progress. Learning-how-to-win progress. The Monday Night Miracle unified this team and instilled that mindset and I think they will come out against the Broncos and play their best game of the season thus far. Hopefully, it's enough for to stay undefeated after week five. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncos1 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Broncos will scalp the skins this week. No question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenster95 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Broncos will scalp the skins this week. No question. Kind of like they did with Miami on opening day, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranklinNoble Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Broncos will scalp the skins this week. No question. I'll still be here on Monday, win or lose, Bronco-boy. Will you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncos1 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 No mangina here, ill be back either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurseReversed Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 agreed, the guy who wrote that article most likely did not watch one second of any of our games. Hardly any of these so called analysts actually sit down and watch 30+ hrs of games every weekend thats why there analysis is always suspect. We are improving rapidly and even if we loose in denver as long as we play a solid game i will not be dissapointed...as much. This is one of the hardest games on our schedule maybe the hardest next to @philly. Denver is very good and if we were gonna loose any this year this might be one so dont take it to hard if they get lucky and eek out a win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncos1 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 The Miami game was great for Denver, being that the loss brought Denver down from the 4 game win streak in the pre season. Besides, wouldnt you much rather work the kinks out of your system early in the season then build from there? Good luck Sunday, cant hardly wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broncos1 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 agreed, the guy who wrote that article most likely did not watch one second of any of our games. Hardly any of these so called analysts actually sit down and watch 30+ hrs of games every weekend thats why there analysis is always suspect. We are improving rapidly and even if we loose in denver as long as we play a solid game i will not be dissapointed...as much. This is one of the hardest games on our schedule maybe the hardest next to @philly. Denver is very good and if we were gonna loose any this year this might be one so dont take it to hard if they get lucky and eek out a win. Nice to see an honest post behind enemy lines. Well thought out, excluding the term "lucky". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmorris Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 My email to Mr. dmoore Tell me that you can do better than this. • Beat Chicago. Big deal. There will be seven or eight other teams to make that claim before the end of the season. **No mention that they're a top 5 defense?? Ok. • Beat Dallas. Sorry. The Redskins didn't beat Dallas. The Cowboys blew it. **Here's a shocker--another skeptic out of Dallas. Seems more like sour grapes than objective reporting. That one hurt, hu? • Beat Seattle. Only because a Seahawks field goal attempt bounced off the upright at the end of regulation. **Seattle being the #2 offense in the league, who'd have never even got the chance at that field goal had it not been for a lucky bounce that led to an interception. Luck goes both ways, pal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky21 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 God are the Cowpies fascinated with us, or what? Can't hear ya from up here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illone Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Sweet, more motivational type for the locker room. Thanks Mr. Moore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Califan007 The Constipated Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Beat Chicago. Big deal. There will be seven or eight other teams to make that claim before the end of the season. Yeah..and the only teams able to beat Chicago so far are undefeated teams (Cincinnatti and Washington). They destroyed Detroit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLusby Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 There are 60 minutes of football the last time I checked at game time. We had two great plays in the Dallas game inside the 60 minutes and got the win. The Seahawk game is one where they always forget to say, "How Seattle got the ball in FG position". It's not like they drove down the field and earned a last minute kick. These reporters only report want they want to tell us, which is usually nothing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins11 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Let's face it. Dallas blew it against the Skins... they decided not to cover Moss in the last quarter, and deep passes are by definition lucky. Seahawks blew it too.. I mean of course, 47 yard field goals are supposed to be automatic, and that interception to set up the field goal was not fluky at all. Heck, even the Bears blew their game - they should have easily made us fumble another kickoff with Antonio Brown back there. We should be lucky not to be 0-16. :laugh: This is one bitter man, I love it. By the way, if the Skins suck so badly, why is this the "game of the week"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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