Week 6: St. Louis at Washington

We spent so much of our Redskins-related time getting after Joe Gibbs last season that we didn’t really see this year’s Redskins resurgence coming. Of course, that probably has something to do with Gibbs, the Bible-quotingest, Nascar-cheatingest, screen pass-callingest septuagenarian ever to nap through a third quarter. With the exception of newly acquired DE Jason Taylor, who has barely played this season, the Redskins are essentially the same team that they were at the end of last season. And yet, after looking Lions-grade appalling in the preseason and a Week 1 loss, they’ve settled in as a potent and consistent offensive team. Their veteran-laden defense seems like it should be squarely average, as it was last year, but instead has been excellent.

And while this space isn’t generally in the business of giving credit to coaches, it does seem as if the Redskins have benefited greatly from having a live, sentient human calling in the plays this year. In Week 5, the Redskins adjusted their defensive scheme after a bad couple of opening series and continued to do so throughout the game, thus keeping the Eagles out of sorts. On offense, they responded to the Eagles’ focus on WR Santana Moss (who was shut out completely after piling up 421 yards in the first four games) by turning loose RB Clinton Portis and emphasizing TE Chris Cooley in the midrange game. Everything was executed well enough, but that was also the case last year for the most part – the difference, it seems, is that the Redskins are no longer choosing to execute the same plays over and over again. It’s not that Gibbs’ beloved screen passes weren’t great, or that we didn’t enjoy the comfort Gibbs provided by running on first down 100% of the time. But it does seem telling how much better the Redskins have been even against good teams simply by mixing things up a bit.

And the Rams are like the Redskins in that…they, uh, also lost in Week 1 and have recently changed coaches. They also play football in a…stadium and employ…football players. Hey, look over there!

Okay, you can look back. We’d considered trying to escape, but this is a preview that needs to be written. The Rams are terrible and kind of sad to write about. The Lions are the only NFL team that approaches being as awful as the Rams, and their decline can be traced to the ridiculous seven-year tenure of GM Matt Millen. The Lions are at least intriguing because they’ve always been terrible and because…well, because your author unaccountably likes tying football into, like, economic issues and urban decay, and the Lions are just terrible enough to parallel things like that perfectly. The Rams’ cupboard isn’t nearly as bare – they have several legitimate stars on offense, and a few promising young players on both sides of the ball – but they’re every bit as awful, in large part because their defense can’t stop the run or the pass. Or, presumably, pooch punts or some new play in which the opponent simply puts the ball on the ground and rolls it forward.

Firing old coach Scott Linehan and replacing him with Jim Haslett is the equivalent of changing the tires on a car that’s on fire, although presumably it made at least a couple of Rams fans feel better. But there are different kinds of change, and only some of them are relevant. The Redskins’ little adjustments help because they have the talent on the roster to hold down the bigger responsibilities. The Rams’ adjustments around the edges – bringing in Haslett, possibly re-signing CB Fakhir Brown – won’t matter much, because of the enormity of work ahead for the Rams in the offseason. A great many losses await the Rams and their fans between now and then, but they can at least look forward to…such things as…oh my goodness, what is that? Over there, by the “close window” button!

REDSKINS BY 21