Game Girl

Well, we lost. To the Colts. At home. During primetime. But you know what? I don't feel so badly about the whole thing. I mean, yes, would I prefer to have beaten Peyton Manning on that last drive with 2 minutes to go in the fourth quarter last night? Would that have been a statement that all of the changes this team has endured since last January are finally starting to pay off? (And would it have spurred on those contract extension talks for Donovan McNabb a little bit?) Yes, of course. But there is no shame in losing the way we did last night. As Joe Gibbs was so fond of saying, we fought "our guts out". I'll say it again, and I'm starting to sound like a broken record, I know, so bear with me here: this team has HEART! They competed until the bitter end last night. They were in that game all the way through the fourth quarter. And you know why they lost? They beat THEMSELVES!

That's right. It wasn't Manning's arm or Dwight Freeney's spin moves that killed us last night, although both were a factor. What really hurt us was, well, US! We dropped 3 more interceptions which could have stopped the Colts from scoring. If we catch even ONE of these, we win. We missed a long but still make-able field goal, and if we make it, we at least tie and force an overtime. We had ample opportunities to put that game away last night, and we squandered every single one.

So yes, a loss is a bummer. But this loss, in particular, gives me pause, and dare I say, hope...because we didn't get blown out by a superior team. No, we kept ourselves from winning through our own inability to put the Colts in the rearview. We lost to a team with whom we were evenly matched. Our team needs to learn how to win those close games. We need to learn how to put our foot on the jugular of our opponent, even a team like the Colts, and keep the pressure on.

And we've GOT to learn to catch those interceptions!!!