Anybody Remember?

[LoyalSkinsFan]

Anyone remember Bill Malinchak?

He's the special teams guy during the George Allen years that had a penchant for blocking punts and kicks. In 1976, Allen even coaxed him out of retirement just to take part in the playoffs. He ended up blocking a Danny White punt that year to help us to beat the Cowboys and advance. Troy Vincent is no Bill Malinchak, but the certainly helps to make the point of just how important special teams and defense are.

Remember Lavar Arrington? Of course you do.

He's the linebacker that ran back an interception for a touchdown a couple years ago that became the turning point of our season. He provided the spark that the team needed to propell forward successfully.

Remember that pit-of-the-stomach, sick feeling you had just prior to the blocked kick yesterday?

I do.

That's the same feeling I've had every single time the Redskins fall short of their goals. That feeling of resignation....that realization that regardless of what they needed to accomplish that day, they just didn't get there. That's the same feeling I had after the botched snap a few years ago that dashed both ours and Norv Turner's hopes at the end of the Tampa Bay playoff game.....that's the same feeling I had when Clint Longley did his dirty work that long ago Thanksgiving Day....that's the SAME feeling when Mike Alstott scored (not really) from one yard out to beat us a year ago...and it's the same damned feeling I had following every one of those third and long plays that the Cowboys were able to convert yesterday.

And yes, it's the same feeling I had when Brunell handed off AGAIN to Portis on third and short with about 30 seconds to go in the game...seemingly playing not to lose, rather than playing to WIN.......thus setting up Novak's miss from 49 yards out.

I sat there yesterday and watched the miracle happen. I screamed so loudly and suddenly that my four year old daughter ran out of the room and the neighbors phoned to make sure everything was okay. Like everyone else that cheers for this team, I am basking in the glory of yesterday's improbable win.....

....but......

...what now?

Does this game prove to be the catalyst that launches us to the playoffs? It's not unreasonable to think that we could make them, after all.

Or, is this game just a quick flicker of light in an otherwise dark season? Brunell performed reasonably well....strong, actually. Yet, the points just weren't there. In 1983, we set records for scoring....averaging something like 35 points a game. We had two offensive touchdowns yesterday. And that was what we now consider a GOOD day. Oh, how are expectation have been lowered....

Oh, the defense and special teams stepped it up when it really mattered...I guess. But if you think about it, not really. In the end, the Cowboys got into scoring position very easily...and were it not for the heroics at the end, today we'd be singing the same old song about how they couldn't make the critical stops when it truly mattered.

And, am I the only one who thought that Tony Romo sits to pee, for all his youth and inexperience, generally looked comfortable back there? When things clicked, the Cowboy offense looked effortless. I wish I could say that about ours. Even when the Redskin offense works these days, can we ever say it looks effortless? I'm not sure if that's an indictment of the system, or of Brunell....but something's just not right. I like Brunell, actually, but even though he played reasonably well yesterday and we ended up winning a hard-fought game with our arch rival, I'm just not sure he played well enough to make me a true believer.

In the end, I'm sure that many Redskin fans will be on cloud nine this week...after all, we beat the Cowboys and may have resurrected our season....and I'm sure that a lot of last weeks' apocolyptic talk will be tempered by the win yesterday...but MY fear is that it could turn out to be just a misdirection.....a juke.....an imposter, if you will.

'Cause no.....as much as I want to believe....I just don't think that we're in a position to forget how we felt last week. I just don't think we're out of the dark yet. I just don't think we can afford to forget how we felt as Vanderjact lined up to kick that chip shot yesterday.

I really don't want to be a downer....I really want to see us run the table..starting next week with the Eagles.

But....

I think we need to remember.