Earlier this week, the Washington Post ran an article enumerating a list of suggestions that the team might take to improve their 2-4 standing. In the wake of handing the Tennessee Titans their first win, it looked like a lot of the old "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic"--although, in those deck chairs' defense, the Post failed to mention that there have been times this season that some strategically placed deck chairs might be capable of offering Mark Brunell pass protection superior to that of his animate counterparts.

One suggestion we would have made: why not dunk Danny Sixflags in a large body of water, the way the Puritans did with the witches in Salem? Then, if he doesn't drown, we could beseech him to use his Satanic powers to help the team in some fashion. Because if yesterday's result is any indicator, the Redskins, even playing well, might not be able to beat the lion's share of the teams remaining on their schedule. Teams that just might be...you know--better.

What can we say? Against the Colts, Washington played hard. On a day when rushing yards were hard to come by, the Skins ran better. They needed to win the time of possession game, and they did. They needed to lay some serious wood on Peyton Manning, and they did. They committed no turnovers. They allowed only one sack. They got major special teams contributions. And they went to the locker room at halftime with a lead on the road against an undefeated team.

And yet...it took the Colts less than a quarter to issue a major course correction. The Colts ran three clinic drives right down Washington's throat to turn a game of nip-tuck excitement into a rout. Fifteen plays, two-hundred yards, with Manning breathing life into the "bloodied but unbowed" cliche and breaking the back of the defense. And during that period, Washington's offense retreated into its sadly typical dormant state, gaining a paltry 33 yards.

As frustrating as it was to watch, it had to be much worse for the team, who evinced their own frustrations with a slew of costly penalties--some of which, coming before halftime, seemed to foreshadow what was to come. Derrick Frost inexplicably drew a second half unsportsmanlike conduct penalty because he went after the refs for calling back a good free kick--pretty much the behavior of a player whose team has found good plays to be in short supply.

With their playoff hopes nearly gone, Washington will take its bye week. It couldn't have come at a more opportune time, as the Redskins will have to figure out how to play at least as well as they did for a half on Sunday against an array of teams that might simply, in the final analysis, be merely better than they are. They resume play at home against Dallas on Guy Fawkes Day.