TK Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23954-2003Nov30.html Close Only Counts In Horseshoes By Thomas Boswell Monday, December 1, 2003; Page D01 When an NFL team is winning close games time after time, it's often attributed to the intangible character of the team, the leadership of individual stars in the clutch and the quality of the coaching, especially the head coach. So, when a team with indisputable talent like the Redskins loses seven out of eight games to incinerate its season, and almost all of those defeats are in close, excruciating defeats where fourth-quarter chances are lost, where should we look for the causes? Help me here. It's a tough one. Could it be -- hmmmm -- the inconstant character of the team, lack of leadership from key stars and basic limitations in the coaching, starting at the top? The Redskins were left bewildered, frustrated and -- like any highly touted team that crashes to 4-8 -- in danger of tearing themselves into dysfunctional pieces after another late loss, this time 24-20 to the .500 New Orleans Saints. For the third straight week, the Redskins held the lead in the fourth quarter and lost it. But this time, unlike the previous defeats, they were not on the road against a contender but at home against a scuffler. Yet they lost. No one in Burgundy and Gold even pretends to have answers. Which is even less encouraging than the pretext of answers. "Don't know what to say," said Coach Steve Spurrier in what has become a disconcerting postgame preamble to his general remarks. "Had a chance. . . . Couldn't hold it. . . . Guys played pretty hard. . . . Didn't get it done. . . . This [1-7 streak] is a new experience for a lot of us, trying to win the close ones. We've not done very well at it, especially the last three weeks. We've just got to keep pushing . . . trying to get over the hump. . . . We're in a bad habit right now. If something bad is happening to us, we're not making anything good happen to overcome it." Twice, Spurrier said, "You saw the game." This is usually coach code for "find the culprits." In other words, inspect the players, more so than coaches. In the Redskins locker room, at least two starters, asked what was wrong with the team, said that they "couldn't say" because they would prefer to keep their jobs. This is jock speak for "the-coaching-ain't-too-wonderful." "We have the talent here to stay together and work it through. We don't want to break this team up and start again," said tackle Jon Jansen. Asked point-blank if that could be done with the current coaching staff, he said, "That's a question I can't answer." This Redskins team needs to catch a break, find a one-week hero or meet an opponent that's even more snake-bitten than they are, because brutal losses, piled up like winter cordwood, can destroy any team, much less one as highly paid and endlessly scrutinized as this one. Can you say Giants? They're 4-8, too, and if Washington is miffed, then the Big Apple must be in human-sacrifice mode by now. Ironically, in the last two games, the player who may have best exemplified a winning attitude is the one who has gone out of his way to take blame for defeat -- backup quarterback Tim Hasselbeck. True, he hasn't played terribly well -- 15 for 30 for 150 yards in Miami, then 22 for 42 for 231 yards yesterday with one interception in each game. But he sure hasn't stunk either. Which may be remarkable since he's only been a Redskin for five weeks. "Some things are going well. I'm seeing the field well. I'm not a scrambler, but I can move around. That was part of my game in college. I've seen my brother [Matt] running around some. And I seem to be able to do that," said Hasselbeck. "But I had two big plays that I didn't make in the fourth quarter." By that, he meant two third-down incompletions. The first was on an audible to a deep fade route by Laveranues Coles that he overthrew badly out of bounds. The second came on a difficult scramble to his left that almost ended with a 35-yard gain to the Saints 25-yard line. But his pass hit Patrick Johnson just an instant before the ball was blasted out of Johnson's arms. "If I could just have gotten it there a little sooner," said Hasselbeck, as he walked out the bowels of FedEx Field after the game. "You can say, 'Oh, we're right there. We're so close,' But that's not right. In this league, games are decided by inches every week. When you have a chance to make a play, you have to make it. That's the difference between winning and losing. 'Close' doesn't do it." The best-known Redskins have been the least visible in the fourth quarter of recent games. LaVar Arrington hasn't retired, has he? He's supposed to be the team's biggest hitter, its defensive playmaker. As the Panthers, Dolphins and now Saints marched down field to snatch games, where has he been? And has he gotten any help from Jeremiah Trotter, who was once an all-pro. What is he now? Has he been seen? At 4-8, it's time -- actually, well past time -- to ask, "If these guys are so good, why don't they do something when it matters?" Unfortunately, Champ Bailey, who may be the team's best athlete, did far too much in this game, getting flagged for interference calls of 40 and 14 yards at crucial times. The first, when he was beaten deep by Joe Horn, took the Saints out of a hole at their 16-yard line and ignited an 84-yard touchdown drive. Horn burned him again in the third quarter for a New Orleans first down at the Redskins 3. Another touchdown resulted. "That [second interference] was a questionable call," said Spurrier who, no matter how the defeats gall him, never shifts blame to an official or, for that matter, to anybody. "On the first one, I did what you're supposed to do [when you're badly beaten]. Grab the guy or do something [to prevent a touchdown]," Bailey said. "The other one . . . that was a [bleep-bleep] call. I was holding my ground and he ran right into me." NFL teams face different sorts of challenges at different times. Sometimes, they're the pleasant sort -- like finding out how far you can go in the playoffs. At others, the battle is simply to find out if you can finish the season without quitting on the team, the coach or yourself. It's tempting. At 4-8, disintegration is always the path of least resistance. The Redskins were actually at a very similar point in their history long ago. They hired a college coach with no NFL coaching experience, but an enormous reputation for offensive football -- Otto Graham, the Hall of Fame quarterback. His teams in '65, '66 and '67 became progressively more infamous for finding ways to lose close games despite enormous talents such as Sonny Jurgensen, Charley Taylor, Bobby Mitchell, Jerry Smith, Sam Huff and Chris Hanburger. They'd lose by whatever it took: 10-13, 30-31, 14-17, 13-17, 21-27, 37-42, 10-13 and 21-24. And when they didn't lose, they'd find a way to squander a win and tie, 20-20, 28-28 and 35-35. Each year under Graham got worse (7-7, 5-6-3 and 5-9) until he was fired. The Spurrier era is on a similar downward slope. On Sunday, the Redskins wore throwback uniforms, trying to change their luck by changing their look. Ironically, they picked the uniforms that the team wore from '65 to '69. Yes, the Otto Graham period when offense was the gospel, but a downward spiral of infuriating narrow defeats became the rule. History may not always repeat itself, but it sure tends to rhyme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 And let's not forget hand grenades! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba9497 Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 "Could it be -- hmmmm -- the inconstant character of the team, lack of leadership from key stars and basic limitations in the coaching, starting at the top? ' what a load of crap this guy writes. It doesn't take a gensius to see the delevopment the team is making. Yes we are taking some lumps and close loses are fustrating, but it is far from the choke job this hack is trying to protray. Superior talent? we have two rookie back up OL a back up center, our #2 wr was injured and out the second half, and we started a backup qb. This was the first game we had a full rb core. on DL we don't have any play makers, and smoot and bailey are playing injured. So point out the superior talent to me again? The Saints have the #1 offense, with McAllister, the top NFC RB, Horn a top 5 receiver, and one of the better OL. Their defense is ranked #9 coming into to todays game. We had several bad calls go against us, a few on key plays of 2 Saint TD drives. But hey it is just piss poor coaching... what a doofus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeletor The Invincible Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 Hm. I like Boswell a lot. That article is right on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn X Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 Agreed, Skeletor. The bottom line is that if Spurrier doesn't have the Skins in the postseason by next year, it'll be "happy trails" for him and rightfully so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius J. Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 true enough, but until that time, he deserves as much support as possible. If we are not in the playoffs next year, it will be time to get rid of him. (barring seriuously huge unforseen circumstances) -DB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn X Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 Absolutely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.