The Hangover

[12thMan]

My favorite scene from The Hangover is when the guys are asleep in their Vegas hotel suite following a night of debauchery. The room was a complete shambles, a white chicken was wondering about, a baby was found in the closet, and when one of them goes to relieve himself, much to his surprise, he finds a roaring tiger in the bathroom.

Through the first three games of the season the Washington Redskins have resembled the trailer for The Hangover. Much like the comedy the Redskins started out rather normally, but have since devolved into a series of unexplained, bizarre, and head scratching events that are all interconnected. To be clear, it's not the Redskins record that's so disconcerting and bothersome. Let's face it, NFL teams start out 1-2 all the time, recover and later find themselves in the hunt for a playoff bid. In fact, it could still happen to the Redskins. But following the performances over the past two weeks, such a scenerio seems less and less likely with each game that passes. This team continues to be plagued by penalties by veterans who should know better, poor tackling, bad clock management, and of late, a once stout defense giving up long and time consuming drives to offenses that usually struggle. These mental errors, accumulated little by little, will drain even the most talented and well intentioned team.

Last week I wrote about the Redskins being close. Close to being a better than average football team. Quite frankly, close to being a playoff contender. It seemed reasonable to me that a team that last year finished 8-8, returned most of it's starters, and a head coach with another year under his belt didn't need to make any major adjustments. On top of that the team upgraded in a few areas, including All-Pro DT Albert Haynesworth. While the talent is still there, the teams organizational structure, long term strategy, and lack of motivation displayed yesterday have even left the franchise's most ardent defenders with their hands in the air.

Yesterday's lost to the Detroit Lions has turned into one big hangover for Redskins nation, except no one's laughing. The proverbial shit officially hit the fan yesterday. This wasn't just another loss to another subpar opponent. This was their tiger in the bathroom. Or in the Redskins case, the Lions.