kleese Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Well, my two-game trip is winding down. Arrived in the northeast last Saturday, and I head back home this evening. It's been fun, but I've had enough of hotels and greasy food-- ready to get back home....although, not exactly ready to get back to work Before the trip, I figured we'd go 1-1 (just like we did when I made a similar trip last year), I just didn't think we'd beat Philly and lose to the Rams. Thoughts from the game yesterday: --As an out-of-town fan, I really try to soak up the atmosphere as much as possible. This was only my 2nd game at FedEx and 3rd Redskins home game overall-- it's generally much easier for me to see them on the road. --Call me a whine and cheeser all you want, but I LOVED the Club Section. LOVED it. We were in sec. 317, and yes, there were a few fans around us who weren't really into the game, but overall, the section was loud and filled with good fans. Sat next to a guy name Levi from Hungary. Dude was awesome! Screamed his tail off all game. He got pretty rowdy, and I'm not sure if he was able to make it home alive, but he had a great time. Personally, I'm kind of a quiet/nervous type during the game, and I think this bothered him some, but I did my best on third downs to make him happy. --Very pleased with the amenities in the club level. Not too crowded, very comfortable, and the AC was MUCH appreciated yesterday. It was hot as all get out--- I had to step out in the 3rd quarter and chug a few waters after I started feeling iffy. --Crowd was great all game, as others have mentioned. Very pumped from the start and did their best towards the end of the game. --Here's the funny thing....we didn't play horribly yesterday. The notion that one team in the NFL can be significantly better than another is antiquated. With very rare exception, there isn't much that separates an 11-5 team from a 5-11 team. People say, "how can they lose to the RAMS!?" Well, we aren't THAT much better than the Rams, that's why. Are we better? Yes, definitley. And even after the loss, I can say that with certainty. But we aren't so much better that we can afford miscues, etc... --Law of averages and human nature matters as well. No matter how many times it's said during the week, there is usually going to be an emotional letdown after a road trip like we had. Just the law of the land. And the Rams are better than they played the first four weeks. Add in a BYE week and a coaching change, and the Rams team we played yesterday was quite different from the one that played their early games. We weren't going to game 16 games without a turnover. I'd say we wound up with one too many for this game, but it was bound to catch up with us a bit. --Defense was fine all day long. It would have been nice to catch those INT's that Bulger tried to give us, but overall, the defense did the job. --The offense left us almost no margin for error. We didn't put it all together until the 4th quarter, and by then, we found ourselves with a 1 point lead very late in the game...that's dangerous. --I'm not going to rip Leigh Torrance. He was right with Avery, but the ball was way underthrown--tough play for any CB. Avery made a nice play on the ball. When you leave a team with an opportunity for one play to win a game, that's a risk you take. --I had a really bad feeling about the last kick. I pretty much knew Brown was going to nail it, even after the penalty. He's a good kicker, and it just didn't feel like our day. He made it easily. Probably had an extra 10 yards on it. --We did things yesterday that we hadn't been doing for four weeks. Penalties, turnovers, etc.... A lot of people are going to rip us for those things, but I think it's stuff that is simply going to happen over a 16 game season. Here's the question: Can we erase it and chalk it up to one bad week, or is it the beginning of a downward trend of play? I'm not sure about that yet, but I have a pretty good feeling about this staff and this team. --After the game, I sat in my seat for almost 25 minutes. Just sat there and didn't say a word. It hurt, I won't lie. It's my one game a year in DC (and there is no guarantee I'll make it back next year or the year after that), and I felt a sting. Sort of a sdaness that my trip was over and it ended on a sour note, with a painful loss. --Having said that, it was a beautiful day, and it was great to be surrounded by fellow fans. It's a special organization, even when we try to mess it up --The NFL is insane. FIVE games come down to the final play yesterday? Amazing. Redskins fans may have been a little naive to believe we were above all that craziness. --Disappointed, but not crushed by any means. The four game winning streak, gives this team a bit of a mulligan in my book. I kind of figured we'd lose at least one of these games against lesser teams. Kind of nervous that it came in the first game, but I'm fairly confident this team can bounce back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigyim Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Kleese, I'm reminded of 2003, when the Patriots ripped off 15 straight wins on their way to the Super Bowl. Their last loss was to the 5-11 chuck-n-duckers of Steve Spurrier. that always reminds me that "any given Sunday"...things like this can happen. I'll just root that it can happen again to NY tonight, and move on to Cleveland next Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LD0506 Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Glad to see a post this morning from one of the stalwarts kleese, sounds like a good time in spite of the final score. All things considered, I still prefer a loss to the Rams and victories over the Saints, Cards, Eagles and Boys than any other permutation. Those are all wins that may easily matter for playoff seeding, I am doubtful that the Rams will be there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfitzo53 Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Glad to see a post this morning from one of the stalwarts kleese, sounds like a good time in spite of the final score.All things considered, I still prefer a loss to the Rams and victories over the Saints, Cards, Eagles and Boys than any other permutation. Those are all wins that may easily matter for playoff seeding, I am doubtful that the Rams will be there. This is a good point. It may look bad to lose to the Rams, but this was probably our least important NFC game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'KanSkinFan Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Kleese~ Was fun to read about a fan from Hungary~ was he a Redskin fan? Well Kleese, you won't have to apologize for picking the Rams this week~ and neither will I. This was one of the 3 I said the team would lose to this season~ prior to the season even starting. So, if I am correct~ and I hope I am correct, this loss will fade into a memory of "oh well"~ Hail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted October 13, 2008 Author Share Posted October 13, 2008 Kleese~Was fun to read about a fan from Hungary~ was he a Redskin fan? Well Kleese' date=' you won't have to apologize for picking the Rams this week~ and neither will I. This was one of the 3 I said the team would lose to this season~ prior to the season even starting. So, if I am correct~ and I hope I am correct, this loss will fade into a memory of "oh well"~ Hail[/quote'] Yes, he was a Redskins fan and seemed to know quite a bit about the team and the game. The entire game was a big party for him all day-- a few times, I think he was the only one invited He was yelling, dancing, jumping, and he even accidentally punched me in the mouth once. It was funny. The loss fades into the "oh well" category as long as we beat the Browns. You can blow off a less to an inferior team if you bounce back the next week--especially at home. But if we lose to the Browns, then our 4 game win streak is neutralized and I will definitely begin to seriously worry. I totally agree that I thought we earned a mulligan in ONE of the the next 3 games....but by losing the first one, we put the pressure on ourselves to get the job done the next two weeks. 6-2 heading into the Puttsburgh game is great. NO complaints at all. 5-3 heading into the Pittsburgh game is not good at all, but not a total disaster--- I will view it as a missed opportunity. 4-4 heading into the Pittsburgh game our 4 game streak was officially a fluke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Pregame...heading into Philly from NJ......Watching Warm-Ups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 More pregame stuff.....Stags83 and his girlfriend...coolest people you could ever meet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Some more pre-game and actual game pics......Redskins taking a knee....Philly fans leaving the stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Final Score and VICTORY in Philly......entering FedEX for Rams game...my friend with SuperSkin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Redskins players entering the stadium, Club Level, pre-game.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 More pre-game.......That's me in the Rocky jersey......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Game Pics...and the last pic is Levi the Hungarian!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 As you can see, updated this thread with pics from the two games. Met some great people along the way, had a great time, despite the disappointing end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gortiz Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Kleese, I'm reminded of 2003, when the Patriots ripped off 15 straight wins on their way to the Super Bowl.Their last loss was to the 5-11 chuck-n-duckers of Steve Spurrier. that always reminds me that "any given Sunday"...things like this can happen. I'll just root that it can happen again to NY tonight, and move on to Cleveland next Sunday. amazing ... I didn't think anybody else thought of that. Was that the year they opened the season losing 31-0 to a division rival on the road??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 amazing ... I didn't think anybody else thought of that. Was that the year they opened the season losing 31-0 to a division rival on the road??? Yes, but I'm not ready to start preparing for a historic run yet either.....I'll give them a mulligan for sure, but a few small red flags were also raised last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stags83 Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 kleese The pics didn't come out that bad after all. We represented the SKINS well in Philly!!! Disappointing loss to the Rams but it is a long season. Every year it seems as if we go into a midseason funk. We have a great opportunity to really shut the door on the cowboys and make up ground on the Giants. If we PLAY!!! Hail To the SKINS!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted October 15, 2008 Author Share Posted October 15, 2008 kleeseThe pics didn't come out that bad after all. We represented the SKINS well in Philly!!! Disappointing loss to the Rams but it is a long season. Every year it seems as if we go into a midseason funk. We have a great opportunity to really shut the door on the cowboys and make up ground on the Giants. If we PLAY!!! Hail To the SKINS!! Yes, we did our part in Philly for sure buddy. The NFC East took it on the chin last week and now everyone (Skins included) looks more vulnerable. I don't think we'll be able to survive a prolonged mid-season funk like we did in 2005 and 2007 this year. I'd like to see us hammer the Browns and Lions the next two weeks to ease those doubts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stags83 Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Well you definitely look vulnerable when you give the ball away three times (all in scoring position). However the good news, the skins COMPLETELY dominated the Rams. I am still very excited about this next game. Just PLAY!!! Hail to the SKINS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoney26 Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Good post kleese. I missed it when you first posted it. Always love your posts. Glad you guys represented in Philly. Sucks we couldnt pull out the win for your trip. I go to every game, and it stung. Couldnt imagine traveling that far for your only game of the year, then losing in that fashion. We'll get'em next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TL8583 Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 Very good read. Sounds like you had a good time, even though we lost to the Rams. I must admit, I was pretty angry that they lost that game. For some odd reason it gave me flashbacks of last year - giving away games we shouldn't have. I'll admit that I had to listen to half of the game on the radio (on route to my great nephews birthday party), so I didn't actually see the way they were playing. But I can understand you saying that you were disappointed, not mad. I felt the same way last year after the game in Dallas. I felt like we played really well, so I was more disappointed than mad. It's nice to hear from you and others on this board that it really wasn't shades of last year - just my perception. He was yelling, dancing, jumping, and he even accidentally punched me in the mouth once. Was he dancing when he accidentally punched you in the mouth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted October 16, 2008 Author Share Posted October 16, 2008 Good post kleese. I missed it when you first posted it. Always love your posts. Glad you guys represented in Philly. Sucks we couldnt pull out the win for your trip. I go to every game, and it stung. Couldnt imagine traveling that far for your only game of the year, then losing in that fashion. We'll get'em next time. Yeah, the "sadness" I felt was that I knew it was my only home game of the year, and unless something very odd happens, my last game to see them live this year, period. My wife and I are expecting our first in February, so I imagine it won't be quite as easy making a football trip for the third year in a row next year Right after the game, I took a quick look at maybe trying to sneak back up there for the Dallas or NYG games......but I'd like to stay married, so it ain't gonna happen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleese Posted October 16, 2008 Author Share Posted October 16, 2008 Was he dancing when he accidentally punched you in the mouth? I'm not sure if I'd call it "dancing" actually....random, violent, somewhat rhytmic muscle spasms is more like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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