DCist Predicts: Redskins vs. Eagles

I don't know about you, but I enjoyed a Sunday devoid of heartbreak, frustration, incomprehension, incompetence, and the ungodly combination of the four. It was a restful day, one which got my week off to a nice start. Of course, that will all change tonight -- when the Redskins new play-calling system proves to be the glorious failure we all knew it would be in a 24-9 loss to the visiting Eagles -- but at least we're one day closer to the following weekend after it does.

Have you all heard about the new system? Sherman Lewis, recently burdened only by the wrath of angry elderly women at a Michigan bingo hall, is now calling plays instead of head-coach-for-the-moment Jim Zorn. Of course, Lewis doesn't know all the Redskins' blitz-pickups and blocking schemes, so his play-calls get funneled first to Sherman Smith, the offensive coordinator (natch), and he then passes them along to Jason Campbell. So it's a little like a game of telephone, in front of 90,000 70,000ish screaming fans, on national TV. Did we mention that Zorn nearly had the "temptation of overriding when necessary," as well? It's virtually a guaranteed recipe for disaster, or at least a host of wasted timeouts.

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb and his teammates were upset last week against a woeful Oakland team. Now, I think it's perfectly reasonable to ask whether Washington is worse than Oakland (though the Raiders' shellacking at the hands of the Jets yesterday indicates otherwise), but I know the Eagles are 1) much better than they played last week, 2) definitely much better than Dan Snyder's "fantasy" squad, and 3) absolutely much better than his real one. Tailback Brian Westbrook makes a habit of tearing up division rivals, and this should be no different as Philly tries to establish the run after bailing on it so early last week at Oakland.

And as for the Redskins? The sizable and admirable efforts of a few -- Fletcher, McIntosh, Orakpo, Cooley, Carter, if we're naming names -- aside, there are no good answers to any of the very significant questions being asked of this team. They play an ugly brand of football, and manage to play it pretty badly. I, for one, will be shocked if they win this game. But then again, I am shocked Jim Zorn still has a job, so anything's possible.