Warpath - The best 'Skins rant I've heard this year!!!

[i]Best Redskins rant I've read so far. Why is it that we get more and more criticism after each win? Most of the time when a team wins, they prove themselves. In our case it looks like people take our wins and find something wrong with the way we won that makes us look bad. [img]http://nflsmackdown.com/bb/images/smilies/bit-duh.gif[/img] [/i]

Remember when we were the worst 3-0 team in the history of the NFL?

ExtremeSkins Fan View: Hopeless In Seattle
By Arthur Mills
ExtremeSkins.com
January 12, 2006

How only those wearing a Redskins belt buckle believed we could win five straight to salvage anything and how in his second run with the team Joe Gibbs had the same record as Steve Spurrier through the same number of games coached?

Weren't we just so lucky to beat Tampa in the playoffs, leaving us no hope against Seattle?

I don't know about you, but, I almost can't wait until we're reminiscing about being the most awful Super Bowl champion ever. Hey, it could happen, as bad as we are.

So raise a glass. Wait, I'm talking to Redskins fans here, sorry. Hoist a can. Let's cheer our team on to continue sucking as much as they must. And, oh, they must. We keep hearing it. So many others can't be so wrong, so often. Right?

As fans we tend to read the media more than players, allowing us to come to grips with the completely pathetic nature of our team, a nature made all the more obvious by the fact the Redskins have won six straight and have now beaten each of the top four seeds in the NFC playoffs during the season or postseason.

But, really, what's all that mean when the media can shout, "They suck," and if ignored, shout, "They suck," again. Such highly persuasive positions tend to create something of a line in the sand, marking a barrier crossed repeatedly but never actually registering as crossed to those who drew the line.

The Redskins apparently now must call a press conference to apologize for even being in the league, much less the playoffs, much less the second round of the playoffs for generating just 120 yards of offense in a victory.

You see, teams with such terrible offensive performances are not judged at all by being the No. 11 offense in football over the course of the season playing one of the most difficult schedules in football. Teams aren't judged by being the No. 13 scoring team. Teams are ONLY judged by one side of the team, on the road, in the playoffs, against the favorite, in a win when only 120 yards of offense is in the books.

Such performances spell certain doom.

Please don't mention the Baltimore Ravens. Sure, they won the Super Bowl in 2000 after putting up just 134 yards of offense against Tennessee. Yeah, the Titans held the ball in that game 40:29. Still, it's not like defense wins championships or anything.

One analyst for ESPN actually went so far as to declare the Redskins offense as the biggest disappointment in the playoffs to this point. You know we're horrible when we're a greater disappointment in the playoffs after a win on the road when evaluated against competition like the shutout New York Giants and blown out Jacksonville Jaguars.

This analyst didn't actually explain how a team he consistently panned all year, dismissing it repeatedly with chortles, chuckles, laughter and askance looks, could actually prove much of a disappointment at all.

He didn't have to. He was convincingly able to reject any chance of victory in Seattle with the compelling argument going something like, "You don't really think they can beat Seattle, do you?" when someone else on set had the temerity to hint the Redskins might not lose 100-0 in Seattle. Who can argue with that? That's professional analysis. I'm just a fan. I'm out of my league for sure.

The only known counter for the "You don't really think..." argument is, "Why not."

As the Redskins load up to bus out to the airport heading to Seattle, taking special care not to clip any of the analysts on their 600-mile walking tour of the Beltway after guaranteeing the team wouldn't make the playoffs else they'd walk from thither to fro, I find myself feeling most sorry for the players and coaching staff of this team.

I get we aren't any good right now and have no hope in the future.

I watched Mark Schlereth, former Redskin, tell us the return of Bill Parcells to the Cowboys immediately makes them the prohibitive favorite for the NFC East crown next year. The coach returning from the third-place team he just coached has a far better team to lead than the team that beat his twice and finished ahead of his.

You know the future is dim when you're already dropping behind a team you just finished ahead of simply because the same guy is returning to coach the same team. That's some stiff improvement to counter there to be certain. Maybe we can move to L.A. or something? Start fresh? We eat Baja Fresh, I hear.

All ExtremeSkins fans realize this game is completely no problem for Seattle because even the kicker of the Seahawks came out and said it would be no problem this week. When you're getting trash talk from a kicker, really, how much worse can your team be?

I feel bad for our team because I don't think they know how bad they are yet.

Running off the field in Tampa, Rock Cartwright shouted to me this team keeps finding a way to win. He seemed strangely happy. He didn't feel the bite of disappointment he should have after a win. Walt Harris told me the will to keep fighting and keep making key play after key play is instilled in this team. Such a trait is also called luck when it is accomplished by our team we've seen explained.

On the sidelines during the game, Marcus Washington was shouting about the tough, physical nature of this team. Or, put differently, this team is tired and beat up. This team gives the impression of a team that has begun to figure out the difference between being a winning team and being a team talking about winning at the same time the media talks about a winning team like the predicted 4-12 one.

In the press box after the game, ESPN columnist Len Pasquarelli asserts the Redskins can never win another Super Bowl with Joe Gibbs as the coach prior to polishing off a post-game article that doesn't mention the head coach of the team a single time. Like he's perfectly ordinary.

You know how much difficulty Gibbs has creating a winning environment, right?

One Redskins player said he loved playing for Gibbs because when things went poorly the coach took all the blame, yet when they went well, he gave all the praise to the players. How do you win in an environment like that? Seems impossible, doesn't it?

Just like this game against Seattle seems so impossible.

Having played the league's easiest schedule, the Seahawks are certainly battle-tested and ready for anything that could happen in the playoffs. Having played 11 games (including the postseason) against teams with winning records, the Redskins can't possibly be prepared. Can they? Having played teams with a 48-25 home record (including postseason) it is just not reasonable to surmise the Redskins will be handle terrible ferocity of the home crowd in Seattle.

This is Seattle we're talking about. Nothing caws out home-field advantage like Seattle.

To imagine a win in Seattle, you'd have to imagine the Redskins have been in position to win all but one game this year. That the team plays with a character and chemistry not seen in Washington in more than a decade. That there is top-level talent and production at running back, wide receiver, tight end and defensively on this team.

You'd almost have to let yourself believe all this is true.

The only people who'd agree with you are members of this Redskins team.

Hmm...

You know. I think I'm okay with that.