Coming into this weekend’s game against the Seattle Seahawks, the Redskins have a little to buzz about. Their dramatic, come-from-behind victory in Dallas went a long way in sating fans’ appetites for victories. Santana Moss has put up a pair of fantastic games at wideout. The defense: as good as it gets. And even though the NFC East hasn’t presented a team that’s likely to bring home a championship this year, the division seems poised to offer up a return to the nasty, internecine rivalries of old—and the Skins have found themselves, if only for the time being, as top dog.
It’s been a while since the Redskins have given their fans an opportunity to feel pumped-up about their team’s chances. While most teams hate an early season bye week, in this instance, it game the players and fans a chance to savor that long-forgotten flavor a little bit longer. But beware of irrational exuberance. Clinton Portis enthused to reporters this week, “We just found out we’ve got an incredible deep-ball game, and the first game we found out that we can just run over people. So now we’ve got to combine that, and I think it’s going to work out.” Hmmm. Not to naysay, but two successful downfield completions do not an incredible deep-ball game make. And while Portis tenaciously wore down the stout Chicago defense in the second half of their week one tilt, setting up a strong passing game in future contests is going to largely depend on Portis getting the running over people underway from the get-go.
Beyond that, the black cloud that is the Patrick Ramsey Predicament darkened the daylight over Redskins Park this week, when the New York Jets called looking for a trade. The Jets are set to start Brooks Bollinger at quarterback after regular starter Chad Pennington and back-up Jay Fiedler went down last week with shoulder injuries. The Jets have, of late, proven to be pretty regular partners-in-trade, but the Redskins nevertheless rebuffed their advances for Ramsey.
The Washington Redskins are 8-4 lifetime against the Seahawks, and stopping their excellent runningback Shaun Alexander is going to be a key to notching the ninth win. Alexander has rushed for five scores this year, and is gaining ground at an ungodly 5.6 yards per carry. If the Redskins, who are slightly favored in this game, go 3-0, it will be the first time since 1991. (1 p.m., at the Jack)
