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Perhaps Canada is best left to ice hockey and Celine Dion.
This was a tough loss today, against a very good football team. The Redskins got beat in every statistical category that matters: total yards, turnovers, time of possession, penalty yards, first downs…you get the point.
This has been a disappointing stretch for a team that, at the bye week, was in first place in the NFC East. They have yet to win in this quarter of the season, and the November and December schedule looms large.
Yes, the Redskins are dealing with injuries, but that’s not much consolation in a shutout. This was the first time in Mike Shanahan’s head coaching career that he was shut out in a game. The last time that the Redskins were shut out in a game was Week 16 of 2009 against the Cowboys. This game was held in hostile territory against a high-flying team, but the Redskins certainly had their opportunities, and simply didn’t make the most of them.
Perhaps the greatest sense of hope can be found by looking across the field at the far sidelines, to see the meteoric rise of the Buffalo Bills. Respectfully, this is a team that has wallowed in mediocrity for much of the 2000s, until things have magically clicked this season. On offense, they have a journeyman quarterback that’s finally putting it all together. Clearly, they struck gold with Fred Jackson at running back, who has already eclipsed 1,000 yards from scrimmage on the season. At receiver, the Bills have young, fast playmakers, and they have a line up front that gives them time to execute on offense. This was a similar cast of characters that went 4-12 last year. With their fifth win today, they’ve already surpassed that in 2011.
Youth is an X-factor in the NFL, and it can only be harnessed as much as it can be trusted: irregularly. But these are the types of games, against the type of playmakers, that show Redskins coaches what the team has. These are the types of games, against the type of playmakers, that teach the young Redskins players how to better prepare next time. It’s not pretty, but it only counts for one loss. The last three games only count for three losses. The important element is how this team responds to these losses down the stretch.
There’s a lot of reason to believe in what’s happening in Washington, even after a disheartening loss.
I can’t wait to get home, and I’m kissing the ground when we land in Washington. So long from Canada: Redskins 0, Bills 23.
Brian Tinsman 
Brian, I am truly in awe of your optimism. (Not being sarcastic) I myself am the optimistic type but it is getting harder every week to stay positive. I live in Texas (from VA) 😦 and it is already difficult to be a skins fan here. The cowgirl fans are no help. Without depth, I feel we have been and will be in these types of situations with mass injuries. Just my thoughts!!!
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@skinsfan_4ever-
I’m not sure that that’s a compliment today, but I appreciate it. I guess that’s just the way that I look at sports. If a team is my team, I don’t find in twisted pleasure in watching them lose. I don’t find any pleasure in railing against team. I don’t agree with the Philadelphia mentality. For me, I have to find a reason for hope. I have to find a reason to believe, because if I don’t, then what are we doing here? If there’s nothing to look forward to and nothing to be gained in defeat, then why bother? There are always negatives in a win, things that you need to fix or do better next time. On the flip side of that, there are always positives in a loss, things that you can fall back on for next time. It’s incumbent on me to give the full picture (which I did), but also to find some of those reasons to believe. I never write anything that I don’t believe, and I’m not trying to insult anyone’s intelligence–that’s just the way that it is. I take these losses at least as hard as each of you. Hang in there Redskins Nation.
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sickand tired of this crap..how did Mike and Kyle get hired?especially Kyle..what a joke….not watching games anymore….had it with this pathetic team….time for Snyder to sell…not much of an owner, as history shows…go back to computers, or whatever it is u do….Go packers!
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Brian, are you for real, man??? Take the rose-colored glasses off, please! The Redskins SUCK right now. Let me break it down:
(1) The offensive line is being manned by guys who look like they should working the door at Club 40/40
(2) The secondary is a complete embarrassment. LaRon Landry makes hard hits…twenty yards downfield. Landry probably has the worst cover skills of any safety on any level of football. I can’t remember the last time I heard Reid Daugherty’s # called. #22 looks like he’s afraid of contact. Was DeAngelo Hall even on the field?
(3) They need to keep Barry Coefield off the field. The middle of the defensive line looks like the Holland Tunnel. The Bills are not a physical team, yet were able to run at will, especially up the middle.
(4) John Beck is not an NFL-quality starting QB. He’s a decent game manager when the Skins play from ahead and he’s not called on to make exceptional plays, but when do we ever play from ahead? To go into a season with Grossman and Beck as your options at QB is unforgivable. This is a case of Shanny’s huge ego leading him to believe he can make caviar out of chicken feathers.
(5) The WRs create absolutely no separation at all, which leads to Beck standing in the pocket with the deer-in-the-headlights expression, until a 371 lb. DT with no prior sacks comes crashing down on him. Seriously, Beck has virtually no feel for playing QB and no “clock” in his head. At some point in the NFL, even bad pass rushes eventually get the QB, if he’s stupid enough to hold the ball for 7-8 seconds, which Beck does with regularity.
Brian, I know you’re a writer and have to write something, but you’ve got to be kidding when you say “But these are the types of games, against the type of playmakers, that show Redskins coaches what the team has.” Wasn’t Shanny’s first season, last year, the “weeding out” season. This is now his second season. He stated after the preseason that the roster turnover now reflects the type of team he wants to shape. If he’s still trying to figure out what the Redskins have, then what the hell has he been doing the past season and a half???
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Yeah a litltle too optimitistic. Long time skins fan and yes I agree the team in general has a better vibe then the past couple of years, we have some youth, Beck is the guy for the next couple of years and should have started game 1, but with the injuries, we have no depth, the line can not protect beck to give him anytime to throw the ball, and no one to throw it too, no one to block for Helu or Torrain to run through holes. So yes it looks better then the negative crap last year, but in the end the result is still the same. We cant beat crappy teams, we get spanked by great teams, and we look ugly against good teams, and somehow make terrible teams look like the Green Bay packers. We always give the winliess teams there first win, its just an ugly team that is young, some positive vibes around it, but damn its tough to be a skins fan for the past 6 years.
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skinsfan_4ever i feel sorry for you dude (being in texas and all) but i feel more sorry for the skins,being from washington DC i have been a long time skins fan and i had the chance to experience the skins superbowl win in 91 even though i was only 11,and the feeling one had as a skins fan back then is clearly not the same feeling one may have now, i mean as a present day skins fan there is a feeling of hopelessness regardless of who skins bring in,regardless of what players take the field there is always a feeling of hopelessness i mean if you look at the skins all around roster there is some talent present NOT ALOT!!!!,but there is some talent scattered here and there but even if skins miraculously had a tom brady with a probowl offensive line and a larry fitzgerald andre johnson and the whole packers offense with a 2000 ravens defense,there would still be a feling of hopelessness in the skins organization ,and yeah you can make an excuse and say “oh were just rebuilding,shanahan is still getting his personel together, blah blah blah blah”but the truth is no matter who dress in a skins jersey there will always be a hopeless feeling and a hopeless atmosphere in washington,and i honestly think that the skins are cursed(im just gonna put that out there)i mean a true to life mad a bad deal with some bad deal decisions kind of curse just looming over the redskins maybe its snyder maybe it was something jack kent cooke did before he gave the team up but there is with out a doubt a curse hovering over the skins.if you look at everyone the skins brought in the door with there schemes and new regimes all came up short of a successful organization,now that which defines success is a whole different topic but the skins definately fell short of it for atlest a decade now…….now with all that being said i just want the whole skins nation to know that i have a 100’000 passenger yacht all gased up waiting at the dock of the chesapeake so if you ready to jump ship then lets go cuz im already there…..no more HAIL TO THE REDSKINS i think its appropriate to say TO HELL WITH THE REDSKINS.
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Where was the game plan? Pass all day? What a joke. Snyder… pay attention.
This is what you get for hiring a father son combo. Cut your losses and get someone good
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Im in DC/MD and it sucks to be a skins fan for the past 10 years for sure, dallas fans get us, ravens fans get us and Philly fans get us, not a good spot to have a sh***y laughable team for years and years that can win shit and lose to the rams, lose to the winless lions last year, lose lose and more lose, then if we win its by some mircale or field goal. We have not had a strong team in years. Like I said before Rex was the worst choice of all, but on top of that when we play real teams like Green Bay, or Patriots, we look like a fucking high school team. Even in our own division, which is weak as hell, philly makes us look like a joke, crappy dallas always beats us down, its very very hard to stay optimitsitc, I agree. I do feel Beck is a way better QB though, and the only reason he is holding the damn ball is because no one is open. Yes theres a couple he misses, but he either gets no time or his WRs are not getting open, so he goes to davis, or would be cooley and davis. Rex just threw the shit into covered people which is why he had a million interceptions, beck is playing smarter, has a better arm, but were not giving him time and we do not have any outstanding players to win these games, its simple Fitzpatrick isnt a better QB, just look at what he has to throw too, the guys are freaking wide open, then we miss the tackles, then we cant stop the run. Now look at the time Tom Brady, Fitzpatrick, Aaron Rodgers, Ponder has to throw the ball. They can take the reads, find the open guys and make the passes. When mcnabb was here, he was getting mangled, Rex cant scramble, so he throws picks, Beck is there for 8 seconds because theres no where to go with the damn ball. THen we cant run it, lose hightower, have no deep threat, no one respects the redskins and hasnt for a 10 years, its a joke a very very sad expensive ass joke, to pay that money to see a game and watch the trash they put on the field for the money they get paid. Thanks GOD WE HAVE HOCKEY IN THIS TOWN and a real team like the caps and real owners and managers that know what the hell there doing to compete and be in the playoffs. FOR THE REDSKINS. PLAYOFFS, WHATS THAT????
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ron, the reason for the hopeless feeling has been created by the owner Dan Snider. I think he has total say-so but not total knowledge of players & pro-football as a whole but I think it is his way or the highway.
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Brian, if you have any influence with the skins then get snider to release the choke hold on the whole team & we will see results on the positive side. no doubt in my mind.
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We can sit here and speculate about snider all day but that’s not going to do any good. One word for the performance yesterday – pathetic. We need to focus on the offensive side of the ball. We’ve got to build that offensive line and get some debth there and get a franchise qb with our first pick in the draft.
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Hankerson got a catch today! Hooray! Also, Ryan Kerrigan is emerging as a future leader. Hopefully Royster is activated next week.
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The games we’ve won have come against teams with a combined record of 7-14. Five of those wins belong to the Giants. So 3-1 after 4 games was a mirage, and I fell for it. I always do!!!
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Why does this team stink so much? What is the excuse this week? Both quarterbacks stink…I never thought I would say that Jason Campbell is a better option.
Tim Hightower get out before your career is ruined also. I mean honestly how does one franchise continue to be so bad every year. It is a shame when a fan would accept 8-8 as a successful season.
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This is good I dont have to waste anymore Sundays watching the Skins it is rockfish season and I have been stopping fishing to come home to watch a team that cant produce. Riggo is correct both Shanahans suck
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According to those two “announcers” Jerkinson and Bluff the only glory days were when they played–but as a disenfanchised Colts fan all I can say is waaaaaaaa! It ain’t Dan Snyders fault it’s Shanahan and his kid. They have blinders on and think because they lucked into Elway in Denver that success was all their doing. Crap–blame belongs to the Shanahan and his staff. The players want to perform but have no leadership on the side lines. Watch their antics and body language they are busy worrying about something other than football
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3 & 13
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That would be ok with me because we would defiantly get our franchise qb !!!
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Honestly just play Grossman at least someone can catch his passes Beck is playing awful.
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I am so disappointed at the teams play yesterday. I have heard nothing but excuses from the team the last couple of weeks. They aren’t even playing like they belong in the nfl. Cooley has been off for six months and after the season starts, he decides to get his knee repaired. The bills came into the game with 4 sacks, but we allow Beck to get sacked nine times. Can Landry cover anybody, and how did Kevin Barnes and Lee Doughty even make it to the nfl? Has anybody seen Phillip Bucannon, or is he still with Barry Bonds associates? Does the offensive line even have a clue to what their job is? Donte Stallworth needs to learn how to tie his shoes before he can learn to catch or run a route, but that’s wishful thinking. Why cant our recievers get any separation? Why cant Jabar Gafney hold on to the ball? It is very disheartening to watch us loose week after week. You respond to the media with a nonchalant attitude. You are letting your fans down. I believe in this team, they seem as if they don’t believe in themselves. When the starters go down, the subs should be as equally prepared. Can somebody step up, can somebody ignite that feeling of competitiveness that us fans still possess. Can we at least walk away with our dignity and say at least we left it all on the field? I know people that play flag football with more passion. So will we save our season, or will the Skins let us fans deal with the frustration loosing another season?
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Brian,
What team does Angela Rypien play for currently? Since she is a QB, maybe the Redskins should try to lure her to Washington and sign her to a FA contract. She must be at least as good as the three or four we have now.
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@Frank Gentry-
She plays for the Seattle Mist. She’s far better looking than the rest of the bunch
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Sunday’s game was beyond disappointment!
Mike and Kyle need to find a new way to earn a paycheck. Neither Father nor Son should be in Washington. The coaching staff, who simply stood on the sidelines was worst than the players, who sat on the benches. There was no enthusiasm, or encouragement for the 11 players who were on the Field. The Redskins need a coaching staff who can motivate themselves and the players to win!
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I agree that the Redskins suck right now. However, Beck is holding to the ball too long. Grossman is not nearly as mobil, but at least his release is much faster. Both suck, but Grossman is the lesser evil. If Beck is our starter from game 1 we would be 0 and 7 right now.
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Brian you know I have been a skins fan for 43 yrs. and since snider got the team ( 93 or 4 ) the whole skins system seems to make same errors year after year & that is getting used up starters — lately mcnabb, grossman & the latest choice. Snider tried to buy a super bowl team in the nineties & did not even come close It seems there is no kind of system in the skins to develope young players with potential. Campbell was an attempt that didn’t work. Skins had the winners when Beathard had control & built the team & not Jack Kent Cook. Don’t have that edge now & won’t have unless snider backs off. I do appreciate your enthusiasm & optimism & wish the skins do come back to be competitive.
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