Opinion: Skins Dominate Giants. Good or Bad?

Boo Hoo

This is a pretty touchy topic right now. The Skins are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, so fans immediately start thinking draft spot. Well, some fans anyway. There are basically two sides to this argument. You either can't wrap your mind around the idea that losing games can be a positive, or you want the Skins to lose out the season in order to improve their draft pick. Here's what I think.

What is the goal for the season? The entire reason the NFL exists, besides for profit obviously, is to get to the playoffs and win the Super Bowl. If your a player, you've probably lived your whole life with that goal. Girls dream of their perfect wedding, kissing the man they have waited for their entire life. Football players dream of that perfect season, kissing the shiny Lombardi trophy they have waited for their entire life. Perfect analogy? I tend to think so. That being said, teams will never tank a season for a draft pick. As much sense as it would make for the future, no team with that mindset will be successful no matter how many number one draft picks they "earn". Therefore, should we be happy that the Skins crushed the Giants for the second time this season? Absolutely. I loved the way they played. I hate the Giants and their "if we played the Redskins 100 times we would win 99 of them" attitude. And more importantly, I hate watching the Redskins play awful football. So, when the season ends prematurely and we start to look at draft picks, winning is still the number one goal, and a higher draft pick is merely the silver lining of a late season loss.

You'll never see me complain about at Redskin victory, no matter when it comes during the season, but don't look for me to jump for joy and talk about how this team is turning it around either. They are just finally playing football without the pressure of the fanbase needing success on their backs. Until they learn to play with that pressure. This team will struggle to play at the level we saw this past week on a consistent basis.

So what do you guys think? Glad they pummeled the Giants? Or are you pissed that we are moving down the draft order? Share your thoughts.

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Williams and Davis "Lucky" to miss just 4 games

2,000 players were tested for illegal drugs during training camp this past offseason. 11 "unlucky" players were dumb enough to get caught. Of those 11 players, only 2 were dumb enough to get caught AGAIN. Naturally, both of those players are Redskins. Because of a technicality from the lockout, these players will only receive a 4 game suspension, rather than the usual full season.

Fred Davis and Trent Williams. You could make the argument that they are the two best young players on the offensive side of the ball. You could also make the argument that they are the two least intelligent players in the entire National Football League. When I first heard this story, the beaten down Skins fan in me thought, no big deal, we're not making the playoffs anyway. Reading more and more about it, I decided, this is absolutely unacceptable. We are a team trying to rebuild. The word rebuild is thrown out there a lot in this town, and it's most widely interpreted connotation is related to what happens on the field. Well, unfortunately for this town, we have as many problems off the field or court, as we do on them. So the term "rebuild" applies to what happens on gameday, and the 6 other days where these players have the free will to be where they want and do what they want. As far as marijuana is concerned, I don't find it to be a big deal. To me, it's much like alcohol. Some people can handle it, some can't. If you can't, you should probably stay away from it. When you fail three drug tests in the NFL, you can't handle it. When you are the only 2 players out of 2,000 initial failures to receive discipline, then you just flat out don't care.

Fans as well as the media will talk about this all day today and then sparingly throughout the year, but what about the rest of the team? How do Trent Williams and Fred Davis go back into that locker room without their heads down in embarassment. When you have a locker room full of guys busting their asses to get better and keep the team from being cellar dwellars, what do you say to them at this point? The first time their names are called out, a simple "my bad" probably sufficed. Weed isn't that big of a deal when used sparingly, the second and third times, I can't see an acceptable excuse. These two players have a lot of work ahead of them if they want to make this up to the team. Forget about the fans, they'll find something else to complain about soon enough. The players in that locker room are the ones I feel sorry for.

This blog will be the last time I reference this situation. To me, the players that are actually able to wear a Redskin's jersey this weekend deserve my attention. Trent Williams and Fred Davis aren't even allowed in the stadium.

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Happy Thanksblogging

You can thank ricky for this picture..

Today is Thanksgiving, my absolute favorite holiday. 


For that reason, I will do a quick blog brushing upon the Skins and the Caps before I begin the festivities. I am thankful to all our readers, because without you guys, I wouldn't have the $4.52 earned by this blog. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, lets get to the Caps first.


Also, my fellow blogger Ricky said I need to take it easy with the girl pictures. What do you think?




CAPS



The Caps won their second straight last night against the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 in overtime. Jason Chimera is having a breakout year for himself and not many people are talking about it. He is silently leading the team in goals with 8 on the year. Chimera is in his third year in DC after being traded from Columbus. He is easily the fastest skater on the team, and probably up there with the best in the league. Chimera has been part of arguably the most productive lines this year alongside Brooks Laich and Marcus Johannson. What did Jason have to say when finally asked about the solid year he's having? 


"Well, I've just always had it," Chimera joked. "Was just going to wait until my later, mid-30s to get it going. I don't want to peak too early. I want to keep playing until I'm 45 so hopefully I'll keep on getting better."


Easily one of the best lines I've heard from a Caps player. Chimera is a workhorse who never seems to get tired, and will continue to play his game regardless of the score. I would love to see him keep this up.
As for the the entire Caps team, I like where they're going. Their shot total is climbing, averaging 36 shots a game in their last 5, and they have put up 4 goals in each of their past 2 wins. The key for them will be to stay motivated and take every game personally. I think Ovechkin is trying his best to be a leader, which is interfering with his style of play. He doesn't want to be suspended, or be a shot hog. You can see that he looks for the pass just as much, if not more, than he looks for the shot. This is good and bad, but I think we would all like to see him get a little more selfish. I also like the amount we are hitting the past two games. The first time we played Winnipeg, we mustered a laughable 5 hits. Last night was a completely different story, as they wrecked the Jets for 35 hits. The hit total shows effort and hard skating. The more we hit, the easier it is to dictate the style and pace of the game. I hope this trend continues, because skating hard and shooting the puck has been our game the past couple years, and it looks good.




SKINS




The Skins are stuck this season because of the lack of stability in the quarterback position. Everyone knows that the quarterback of the future simply is not on this roster, and that's a tough pill to swallow, especially for veteran guys like London Fletcher. This is a time of year for the Skins where they will be playing for their jobs. Young guys like Evan Royster will be given an opportunity to showcase his skills, and players like LaRon Landry who can't stay healthy will be looking to prove their worth. I like the framework we have on the defensive side of the ball and it would do well to keep it intact, and add to it. So hopefully we can work something out with Landry, who is a restricted free agent after this year. And for those of you who think he's the same guy on and off the field, check out Mike Wise's article on Landry's Leadership for Life program. 
The Redskins finish out the year with games against Seattle, the New York Jets, New England, the New York Giants, Minnesota and Philadelphia. Definitely not an easy schedule by any means, which means the heart and soul of this team will be tested each and every week. A lot will be revealed about their character, but it will be a struggle to finish out the season with more than 5 wins.


Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hit up the comments section with your thoughts on where each of these teams are and where you want them to go. I'll be eating food and watching football all day, and hopefully you all will do the same. 


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