Game Girl

and you know the rest. Sigh. I'm getting so tired of this very non-linear process we are going through with this team. We're up. We're down. We're winning. We're losing. We're in overtime. We win -- jubilation! We lose -- agony. Questions. LOTS of angst.

WHAT is the deal with this team? I listened closely to the local sports talk jibba jabba today (I can't really deal with the national pundits, except when we win), and not surprisingly, they sound as confused as the rest of us these days.

Some say this team simply isn't very good. Others say we're heading in the right direction and just need a few more good players to push us into future playoff contention. Some are in Shanahan's corner, others seem to think he's a horrible personnel guy who's going to lead us into disaster ala our old pal Vinnie. Fans calling in today sounded perplexed, too. Some support the team, Shanahan and McNabb. Others want to blow the whole thing up (ACK!) and start from scratch. Again.

Where do I net out? Honestly, I'm just not sure. I was truly beside myself after that loss yesterday. Believe it or not, I think I was more upset over this loss than the one to the Eagles! This loss was close. But not really. This loss meant more, because we had a chance to pull closer to the Giants and Eagles and generate a winning record. This loss, quite frankly, pissed me off.

I was angry. I think I actually lost my voice from screaming at the TV so much. I mean, talk about the agony of defeat...when that Brandon Banks' touchdown run was called back, I nearly threw myself into the TV headfirst.

Enough, Redskins. Pick a side. Start trending "good" or "bad" so I can get on board and go with it. Either we're going to be good this year or we're not, so let's just get on with it already.

I don't have much energy left anymore.

Well, that was better, wasn't it? After the debacle against the Eagles on Monday Night Football last week, I was not exactly sure which team was going to show up yesterday against the Titans. The team that got "Vicked" on national television, or the one that looked like it was finally starting to come together before that weird benching of McNabb during the Detroit game a few weeks back.

THIS team pulled out a somewhat miraculous win yesterday, considering all of the injuries they endured before and during the game. (Jeez, anyone remember the body-bag game of '91?) THIS team -- down to it's last offensive lineman by the middle of the third quarter -- only gave up 3 sacks and gave McNabb a ton of time to throw the ball downfield. THIS team didn't get burned by Randy Moss, beat in the middle of the field on the short passing game, or give up a back-breaking fourth-down touchdown (THANK YOU for the push-off, Moss, and thanks to the refs for finally giving us a call!)

The team we saw against the Titans showed grit. Effort. Desire to win. They didn't quit after getting their butts kicked last week, even after the media and many fans began to question their unity and ability. They pulled together.

Was it coaching? Players working together? A fluke? I guess only time will tell. This week isn't going to be any easier...we've got the Vikings coming to town sporting a new head coach in Leslie Frazier. Seems like every time we play a team with a new coach, a new quarterback, or some other new wrinkle, we fall short. Remember that loss to Detroit last year against rookie Matt Stafford? Or that Rams quarterback from Harvard who had never taken an NFL snap? OK, I don't want to keep opening up old wounds, but seriously, we never seem to be able to adjust our game-plan when things change on the fly. Over and over again, we've lost to teams with new players, new systems, rookies coming off the bench, etc. So let's hope this week's mojo doesn't disappear.

But at least that Monday Night disaster is starting to become a distant memory!

Dear God, what a shellacking! Last night's game against the Eagles (can we even call it a game? Was the outcome EVER in doubt after the first play from scrimmage??) was such a debacle I'm not quite sure where to start. How about I begin by saying that for the first time ever, I actually turned off the Redskins game before it ended. And that is saying something.

I didn't quit during any of the Spurrier disasters. During the Patriots beat-down. Not even after the "swining gate" game of the Zorn-era. I have watched every single humiliating play, every bungled snap, every sack, fumble and strip-for-a-score we've had to endure around here since the good ole days of the 1991 season when I was in college and was so optimistic and naive, I thought things would be forever rosy...boy, did I have a lot to learn!

But last night, I simply couldn't take any more. It was bad enough to watch our defense get gashed, our offense sputter, and our coaches look befuddled. But to have to endure the obnoxious trio of Gruden (of whom I USED to be a huge fan of, until last night), Jaws and Tirico (whom I NEVER could stand, and last night sealed the deal) gush over Michael Vick and basically mock our team, players and entire organization...well, it was all too much.

I told you, didn't I? We ALWAYS lay an egg on national television. I believe, if I'm not mistaken, that Patriots debacle was a night game, too, wasn't it? Well, doesn't much matter. There've been enough others. See my post earlier yesterday -- I referenced Baltimore, Pittsburg and Dallas as games I could remember off the top of my head during which we embarrassed ourselves royally on national TV.

But really, wasn't last night just the worst game you can ever remember having to sit through? Maybe it was so spectacularly bad because we were all lulled into thinking that with Shanahan, Allen and McNabb at the helm, our team was actually headed in the right direction this year. Boy, I'll bet last night certainly cured you of that notion, didn't it? If that wasn't an indication that the way we've done business around here for, oh, the last 20 years simply DOESN'T WORK, then I don't know what would be.

It was bad. Oh, it was bad. So bad I had to walk out of the room on more than one occasion. So bad I refused to read any stuff coming over the twitter line or the Post Insider site. So bad I wouldn't answer any of the consoling texts coming my way. So bad I yelled at my husband, cursed more forcefully at the TV than I can ever remember, and threw things across the room. So bad, I had to actually quit watching. I just couldn't do it anymore.

So, where do we go from here? I'd love to say we go on to soundly thump Tenessee this weekend to make up for our misery, but really, how can anyone even say something like that after last night's performance? We'll be lucky to make it out of the season with any more wins at this rate.

Shhh...if you listen closely, you can just make out the faint sounds of hysterical laughter. Sounds like Jim Zorn, Steve Spurrier, Marty, and even Joe Gibbs to me. Even they never had it this bad!

I have no idea which team is going to show up for tonight's re-match with the Eagles. The team who totally dominated the Eagles back in early October during their first meeting...or the team who went out with a fizzle before the bye week with a loss to Detroit. That loss, by the way, looks even more depressing now, doesn't it? Yikes!

In any event, the fact that Donovan McNabb's agent is in town to supposedly garner a contract extention for his client today may signal that the turmoil and messiness surrounding McNabb's benching is firmly in the rearview. Or, it could just be a smoke screen, designed to get the monkey off Shanahan's back before another nationally-televised game tonight. Maybe they send the guy packing after the lights go out at Fed Ex Field tonight, and McNabb continues to play in the limbo-land he's been in for some time now.

Who ever knows with this team? For a while, as you know, I was so optimistic about our team, our leadership, our mojo, if you will. But now, I'm back to the basics -- feeling nervous, anxious and downright baffled about who this team is and what they are capable of. Back to crossing my fingers, closing my eyes, cringing, and yelling at the TV.

What I do know for sure is this: we've had a history of laying major eggs on national TV in the past few years. Those shellackings against Baltimore and Pittsburg still sting, don't they? So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that tonight looks better. That our team comes to play. That McNabb has finally "grasped the offense", whatever that means.

Please, let's not get embarrassed again in front of millions tonight!

Yesterday might be just a bad loss for the Redskins, who could (emphasis on COULD) go on to fix what ails them and redeem themselves this season. Or -- and I sincerely hope and pray this isn't the case -- yesterday could signal the beginning of the end for this season, and maybe the entire Shanahan era.

I can't believe I'm even writing this, considering I've been such a fan of Shanahan since he arrived here back in January and considering how large and in charge he has seemed since his coaching debut. I mean, until the last five minutes of the game yesterday, I was so optimistic that this team was headed in the right direction that I started to forget about the angst we've all had to endure up until this point...the misery, the fear, the worry that our team was headed in the wrong direction, by people in charge who didn't know what they were doing. Until yesterday's benching of McNabb, I had begun to put all that pain and suffering in the rear view and focus on enjoying football games again.

But then, I watched in dismay and anger and total disbelief as Rex Grossman -- REX GROSSMAN -- ran onto the field with the game on the line in the final two minutes of the game yesterday at the urging of his coaching staff, who apparently traded 2 drafts picks for a quarterback they clearly don't trust when the going gets tough. They pulled McNabb out when it mattered most, and then they stood there after the game was lost (which of course, it was, in truly UGLY fashion!) and said they thought McNabb wasn't as smart or capable as Grossman. WHAT??

How is this even remotely possible? How, in the space of 5 minutes at the end of a horrible game in Detroit, could Shanahan and his staff have fallen so far, so fast? Don't they realize the implications of the decision they made? Do they have any clue at all about the can of worms they just opened by pulling their starting quarterback -- a future Hall-of-Famer -- in favor of a washed-up 2nd stringer who coughed up the ball on his first play from scrimmage and wound up costing us the game (and possibly the season?)

This isn't Denver, folks. Or Houston. Things like this don't just fly under the radar here. This is the big leagues. Within 15 minutes after the final whistle, the words "quarterback controversy" had been uttered on every network and radio station both locally and nationally. This was major. Big time. A serious decision that goes WAY beyond winning or losing to Detroit. This decision goes to the heart of their personnel management abilities, their coaching acumen, their leadership. A decision like this, made recklessly, can lose or divide or RUIN a locker room. This is not something to be taken lightly.

I am hoping it was just a mistake. Something Shanahan and his son will revisit today and realize was an impulsive decision made in the heat of battle. I'm hoping they will come out today and apologize, say they made a mistake, and restore order and unity to the team and the fan base. Put McNabb back in charge of the offense where he belongs and let him lead by example. I'm hoping they squelch this "controversy" talk before it does further damage to the team they have been building with such painstaking care.

Stay tuned. If they don't...well, things are starting to look a lot different than I thought.