Game Girl

God, I'm exhausted. My voice is shot, my muscles ache from being so tense for so long, and I'm in serious need of something to help me calm down. It's been nearly 12 hours and my heart is still racing. Wow, that game against the Texans was intense!

OK, we lost. I know, I know...we not only lost, we blew a 27-10 lead and let the Texans storm back to score 20 unanswered points in the 4th quarter (and overtime) to beat us after our offense really put on a show -- something many of us haven't seen around here in a LONG time. And yes, our front 3 didn't get much pressure on Matt Schaub, our safeties gave up too many critical pass plays (including that killer 4th-down touchdown play to Andre Johnson that was akin to a dagger right through my heart!), and we had a totally make-able field goal blocked that probably would have ended the game for us. I hear you. And I know. It hurts.

But let's talk brass tacks here for a moment: did anyone really see this team turning around like they have so quickly? Did we really, as fans, believe Mike Shanahan, Bruce Allen et al would have been able to take that disatrous mess from last year -- the guys that went 4-12 under "groovy" Jim Zorn -- and mold them into this group of players who are motivated to win, care about the game, and take obvious pride in wearing the burgandy-and-gold? I have incredible faith in the Shanahan regime, and from reading my earlier posts, you know I'm a Shanahan believer, but not even in my wildest imaginings did I forsee such progress this early. It's been an amazing and happy surprise.

So, while we're all a bit let down today, and feeling the pain of all the what-ifs: what if we hadn't had that field goal blocked? What if we hadn't jumped off-sides and been able to score that touchdown in the fourth quarter? What if Gary Kubiak hadn't taken advantage of an archaic NFL rule and decided NOT to ice our kicker? Remember to try to remain optimistic. This loss is NOT like losses in recent years' past. This one doesn't spell doom. It doesn't reek of horrors yet to come. The Redskins are off to a GREAT start...the best one, in my opinion, in a good 10 years or so (remember, Marty started off 0-5!), and there is still a whole season of football left to play. Our team is going to improve. But we finally have a team of professionals, from top to bottom, that we can be proud of, and to me, that takes a least a little of the sting out of last night's loss.