Smoot Lays The Smack Down (Redskins vs Steelers)

[Ruhskins]

Well now that my anger is somewhat gone, I'll say this...

I would like to believe that our team can pull itself up and fair better after the bye but many things need to happen.

Offense: We need points, we need to take advantage of the short field, and we need to protect our QB. Our offense needs to come through against weaker teams, and play smart against strong teams. We have a good running play and that should allow a number of deep balls. Our receivers need to get open and when JC has time, he should be able to go deep to Moss.

Defense: Our defense is good, but not great. They can keep the team in the game, but the offense has to come through when the defense gets a turn over or causes the opposing teams to go 3 and outs. We are getting to the QB, but now we need to step it up to the next level. Our DBs cannot let INTs to slip through their hands, and we need to cause fumbles (esp. when we sack the QB).

Health: Our team has been a constant injury list, and the bye week should help with that. We need our top players to play and stay healthy. I know that's hard to control, but we need to catch a few breaks with our stars. Hopefully this has been the reason for the deficiencies in offense and defense.

Goals: I'd be happy with getting a wild card, but the team needs to focus on higher seeding in the playoffs and possibly taking the division. We have a favorable schedule ahead, with a number of home games, our team needs to learn to show up for all games. Getting another 6th seed in the playoffs will be almost like a failure (of course, unless our team can show up during the playoffs and pull a NY Giants).

These are the same issues fans and the sports media has brought up over and over again, in both wins and losses this seasons. And this is the frustation that fans get when we lose games like this one. We're in a hyper competitive division, and barely winning will eventualy turn to barely losing, and eventually it will cause us barely losing a big game (i.e. playoffs).