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It took Joe Gibbs a few minutes to get to his point, but after only a couple cursory questions, he was able to say that, yes, the guys sure did “play their guts out” yesterday. It’s become a mantra of his, as though we’re rooting for a team of underdog high school kids and what matters isn’t whether they win or lose, but how they play the game. No matter the futility, the mind-boggling play calls, the penalties, the turnovers — Gibbs always likes to emphasize what should be the bare minimum expected of a professional organization – that they try their best every time.
We didn’t hear many of those comments last week when the undefeated Patriots made the Skins look like they were those high school kids. But just one week removed from that relentless drubbing, Gibbs pulled out his tried-and-true explanation yet again, this time to describe a 23-20 overtime win over the now 1-8 New York Jets.
In truth, it was a game that revealed the same thing Michael Wilbon, Thomas Boswell, and others have been pointing out all season: there are 2 great teams in the NFL, half a handful more very good ones, and then the rest, slugging it out each week and getting lucky enough times to reach 9 or 10 wins and scrape into the playoffs. After beating the Jets on Sunday, the Redskins find themselves just in the top half of “the rest,” 5 wins midway through the season but only one over a team with a winning record.
So what happened yesterday? The Jets’ Leon Washington returned the opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown, and the Skins drove the ball well but could only manage field goals. Down 17-9 at halftime, after letting the Jets drive the ball methodically on two 10+ play drives, the Skins came back for a stronger second half. Clinton Portis found bigger and bigger holes en route to 196 yards and a TD on 36 carries, and the defense managed to actually force a couple punts and even jar loose a big fumble that resulted in the go-ahead touchdown. The one-yard leap by Portis was followed by a diving two-point conversion from Randle-El, and Washington had a 20-17 lead.
The Jets followed it up with a composed drive for the tying field goal. Jets rookie QB Kellen Clemons took the reins, converting a couple tricky third downs and escaping for some nice plays with his feet. New York got the ball back to start overtime, and, first play from scrimmage, were already in Skins territory. The D produced their biggest stop of the game, and when the Skins got the ball back, it was all downhill running — the kind of football that makes Gibbs salivate. When fourth-and-inches halted the drive near the Jets 30 yard line, Gibbs called in Shawn Suisham and his kick just cleared the bar and gave Gibbs the win.
Which puts us back where we were before the Patriots loss, dreaming the possible dream of a playoff berth while still struggling with … well … just not really being all that good. But the Skins did show opportunism — in a well-worked onside kick to take momentum, in pounding a tired defense with a relentless running attack late in the game — and a will to win. While it’s becoming more and more apparent that this team has not really improved at all since the playoff “run” of two years ago, at this point it appears they’ve returned to that kind of form.
Skins fans can’t possibly have delusions of grandeur anymore. We can’t be fooled by talk that we “have too much talent on offense” to struggle like this. We can’t be fooled by inflated defensive numbers that put our defense in the league’s elite. Gibbs would most of all like to fool us into thinking that the Jets, the Dolphins, and the Cardinals are quality teams, and that it’s hard to blame a team that “fights their guts out.” The road gets rougher from here (two games vs. the Cowboys still remain) and it’s going to take something more than guts to get this team to the playoffs.
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hey, to this Skins fan, a W is a W