The Redskins are a mess, the Bills are contenders

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Was it really only a few weeks ago that the Redskins were 3-1 and in first place in the NFC East? It’s hard to believe we ever thought Washington was a good team, because right now the Redskins are a mess.

The Redskins turned in a lousy performance in Toronto today, getting blanked by the Bills 23-0. It’s clear that whether John Beck or Rex Grossman is the quarterback, the Redskins’ offense isn’t going to do much of anything.

Redskins coach Mike Shanahan has promoted Beck ahead of Grossman on his depth chart, but it’s easy to envision Shanahan changing his mind again after Beck’s showing on Sunday: Beck completed 20 of 33 passes for 208 yards with two interceptions. Seven of the Redskins’ 11 offensive drives gained less than 10 yards.

The Redskins are now 3-4 and on a three-game losing streak. They may have looked like playoff contenders in September, but as we turn the calendar to November they look like the worst team in the NFC East.

As for the Bills, Ryan Fitzpatrick turned in a good game after his big payday, and Fred Jackson had 120 yards rushing and 74 yards receiving. Buffalo is a real contender. The same can’t be said for Washington.

51 responses to “The Redskins are a mess, the Bills are contenders

  1. They were absolutely awful in every aspect. Apparently, the Redskins had the best costume for the first 2 months, the disguised themselves as an actual football team.

  2. I would have liked to see the Bills get touch downs on all .wscoring drives against a team that weak. Play calling/ execution is a little too conservative.

  3. Too bad for the Skins that they have three wins already and are out of the Luck sweepstakes. Maybe they can get a high second-round pick, but “let’s play poor for Kellen Moore” doesn’t have the same ring to it.

  4. We were winning games when we had all of our starters in before the injuries. We’re in the middle of rebuilding our roster and have very little depth. No mention of that in your post Be patient to all the skins fans out there. We’re going to contend soon.

  5. Nine sacks, two picks, shut out. Beatdown. Sorry Shanny, this could have been your team.

  6. All that is true. We stink. But does anyone besides me notice that Kyle Shanahan is a terrible game manager/ play caller!? If you aren’t getting time to throw, stop with the 5-and 7-step drops, throw the short stuff!! He stinks, has no feel for changing up when its not working. Every week with this kid…

  7. On the one hand, it’s hard to fault Beck in this game that much. There was no protection, the run blocking was poor, the receivers weren’t helping.

    On the other hand, though, there were some troubling things about Beck. In the preseason, I thought there was a chance he could be a poor man’s Jake Plummer for this offense (with Rex Grossman as a poor man’s Brian Griese – neither is a good thing). There were instances where Beck showed some playmaking flair, akin to Plummer, but his teammates didn’t help him. That said, there were also numerous instances where he just didn’t have a feel for things. He didn’t have a feel for the pocket (stepping to the right and into a sack on a play, when one tiny slide left would’ve given him room). He held onto the ball too long at times. He missed the checkdowns/looked for the deep balls at times. In a game where the defense kept them around, doing some of the tiny things, going to the checkdowns, moving the chains, might’ve given them a chance to do somethings.

    Is this a byproduct of not playing enough, and not getting many reps in practice early in the year? Or is this a more troubling sign? I’m not sure. That said, I think, considering the injuries, Beck is likely the starter for the forseeable future. They have to see if he can be a care-taker QB for a year or two.

    As for the future, I think both Matt Barkley and Landry Jones are likely to be QB’s that the Shanahan’s may take an interest in, so it’s not like missing out on Luck will take them to Kellen Moore territory.

  8. Thank God Shanahan turned down the Bills offer two years ago. His fingerprints are all over this Redskin team and they are horrible.

  9. There are several good players coming out of college this yaer. No matter where the Skins finish in the bottom 5 or 8 in the league, there will be a player that is badly needed available to draft. The problems will then begin AGAIN because the mess starts at the top and runs downhill. When the draft is over next year, I will be shocked if we have ANY hope again.

  10. That’s what happens when half of your offensive starters are injured. Moss, Cooley, Williams, Lichy, Hightower.

    We WERE a good team in September. Now we stink. Injuries are part of the game.

    Shanny was hoping Rex or Beck could hold the reins until next year but we don’t have the depth at this point.

    Hopefully Robert Griffin III is in our future.

  11. bestchickensaladrecipes says:
    Oct 30, 2011 7:20 PM
    We were winning games when we had all of our starters in before the injuries. We’re in the middle of rebuilding our roster and have very little depth. No mention of that in your post Be patient to all the skins fans out there. We’re going to contend soon.
    —————————————————

    Buffalo played the game without Shawne Merriman, and Pro Bowl DT Kyle Williams, not to mention rookie Kelvin Sheppard. They were still able to win 23-0. You have to overcome injuries, and not make excuses.

  12. bucks12965 says:
    Oct 30, 2011 7:13 PM
    Mike Shanahan is not a good head coach.
    ————————————————-
    Without having had Elway to win 2 SB’s would Shanahan even rate an honorable mention for a head coaching position? The Deadskins showed zero emotion today. Down 20 w/6min to go…no urgency from the coach. Screw the no-huddle. We got time, LOL! That’s all on the coaching!!! Not to worry. Snyder fires a coach every 2 yrs or so….

    My Bills kicked ass today. It won’t make up for your SB win, but it’s a start!!

  13. “Too bad for the Skins that they have three wins already and are out of the Luck sweepstakes. Maybe they can get a high second-round pick, but “let’s play poor for Kellen Moore” doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

    Kellen Moore will never play a down in the NFL.

  14. Are Redskins fans seriously complaining about injuries? Yeah, you have some, but you’re the same fans that were on here week one talking like you were the ’78 Steelers because you beat a Giants team that had so many injuries they practically had to sign guys from Don Bosco Prep. You spent all off-season saying how now that you didn’t have the Donovan and Haynesworth drama everything would be hunky-dory. Sheesh.

  15. Good thing the ‘Skins benched Grossman for a more mobile qb who can move around and avoid the rush!

  16. blackqbwhiterb says:
    Oct 30, 2011 7:30 PM
    All that is true. We stink. But does anyone besides me notice that Kyle Shanahan is a terrible game manager/ play caller!? If you aren’t getting time to throw, stop with the 5-and 7-step drops, throw the short stuff!! He stinks, has no feel for changing up when its not working. Every week with this kid…

    ————————————————-

    Yeah, I’ve been saying this since week three or so of the 2010 season. He’s awful. AWFUL.

    I don’t understand the insistance to go down the field on 2nd and short, or 3rd and short, on every drive. They don’t have the talent, they don’t have the personnel, they can’t execute. When they had the ball with under two minutes at the end of the 2nd they had a chance to establish something.

    Beck completed a short pass and it was 2nd and 1 or two and of course Shanny Jr. decided to air it out! Beck gets sacked and its 3rd and 10. Frustrating.

  17. i’m dying right now. these guys get dressed and go out with each other and party, win or lose. the fans take it worse than the players. i don’t want to see anybody till thursday for god’s sake. this blows, injuries or not. everybody has injuries.

  18. Any coach that demands his QB throw at an opposing owners head deserves everything he gets….shame on you Shanahan…btw, Al still won’t pay you.

  19. I was at the game today in Toronto, and every there could see that John Beck sucks. Its a combination of him and shanny jr, but there was no denying how bad he was. He was constantly lost in the pocket and never made a hot read. It doesn’t matter what the playcall is if your facing six and seven man blitzes all day you have to learn to start throwing to the hot receiver. Beck looked like what he is, a bad qb on a bad offense. Nothing more. Rex has 1 bad game and gets benched, and now shanny can’t go back because his ego won’t let him say he was wrong about promoting Beck, who has always been his favourite, for reasons beyond me. He couldn’t win the starting job on a bad Miami team and he doesn’t deserve it now on a bad Redskins team that had 3 wins with a shaky rex, and has no wins with Beck

  20. Amazing, the Bills completely dominate the Redskins today, yet the overwhelming content of this article talks about the Redskins. If the Redskins dominated the Bills would you have spent the entire article talking about the Bills? Doubtful. Show some respect to this team, they’re 6 points away from 7-0. If it wasn’t for blowing a 14 pt lead to the now 5-2 Bengals, and some horrific play from Fitzpatrick and Drayton Florence 2 weeks ago in NY, this team would be undefeated.

  21. Its kind of ironic when the vikings who wanted a development QB for the future draft Christian Ponder who is now the starter and teams like the Red Skins and Denver think they are in good shape QB wise and pass on him.
    Games are won and lost in the draft room.
    Is it that the losing teams are losing because they do a piss poor job of evaluating talent and needs. Yes.
    Percy Harvin, how many teams passed on him to make him available for the Vikes. Ditto, Adrian Peterson.
    Those two guys are game changers and yet teams passed on them.

  22. “We were winning games when we had all of our starters in before the injuries. We’re in the middle of rebuilding our roster and have very little depth. No mention of that in your post Be patient to all the skins fans out there. We’re going to contend soon.”

    Packers won the Super Bowl with 16 players on IR, it’s how you deal with those injuries.

  23. @derty ernie

    I remember the Browns passing on Peterson. smart move, I mean William Green was amazing, so we didn’t need him.

    The Browns have the worst draft history since we got our team back in 99′. There’s actually a book written about it called ‘False Start, how the Browns were set to fail’. Great short read for any draft guru.

  24. Yeah Bills fans you won and everyone still talks about the Redskins. Thats why your team will soon be playing all home games in Canada.

    Redskins have no QB and mabye Kyle talked up Rex so they wouldnt draft one…who knows. They damn sure better draft one this year.

    Haslett and Kyle look clueless on the sidelines. Does Shanahan have the guts to take the play calling from his son? I hope so.

    And to say he couldnt win without Elway. What did Reeves win with Elway?

  25. It’s a shame to see London Fletcher so upset about another blown coverage on one of the TD’s.

    Both sides of the ball are disintegrating. Not sure they will win another game this year.

    Shannahan made his bed saying the two QB’s were worthy of leading the team. Both look awful, and I suspect they will both be out of the NFL next year. What a disaster!

    Grossman signed a one year contract and was upset no other team called. Smart folks! What the hell was Shannahan thinking.

    Fitzpatrick played well for Cinci late last year and the Redskins never even wiffed.

  26. not feeling bad for the skins on the injury front…. bills were down starting lt and backup 4th round rookie left tackle… playing a guard at LT…down 3 of the top 5 wr from the preseason (although one was trade not injury), with out one starting lb and perhaps their best defensive player (k williams was out as well)- although dareus may take over that spot soon…

    oh and btw, our starting qb is from Harvard and rb is from Coe college…wait, what?

    ok ok so for the first time in a long time, it sure is fun being a Bills fan. idk when this train will stop but im enjoying the ride

  27. Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that all the problems were Rex Grossman’s fault?

    yeah that is what everybody was saying.. now it is John Beck? hmmm, maybe the problem lies deeper than the qb

    2

  28. Everyone is saying that the Skins were just pretending to be contenders the first four weeks of the season and that may be true.

    However, having 5 out of your 11 starters on your offense go down with long-term injuries…no team can survive that. If you took Jermichael Finley, Ryan Grant, Chad Clifton, T.J. Lang, and Greg Jennings out because of injuries (same positions that the Skins have players hurt at), the Pack would fall apart in no time. Hell take anyone’s LT, LG, WR, HB, and TE and they would be a whole different team. Try protecting a QB’s blindside with two scrubs…it would be a hard accomplishment even with a above average QB.

    So Redskins fans, quit over-reacting. Shanny is fine where he is. He is the best thing we have had in years since Marty Schottenheimer. Let this season go. It was supposed to be a rebuilding year anyways.

  29. All of the backups stepped up yesterday, thats how its done. Moats, Morrison, Roosevelt, Spiller. The usual greats, Jackson, Fitzpatrick, Johnson and the solid O-line play… Go Bills!!!!

  30. Bring Marty Schott back!!!!! I’m afraid Mike “The EGO” Shanahan will pass on a good QB in next years’ draft just prove everyone wrong about Rex and Beck.

  31. “Bring back rex.. Santana was right beck put up a fat 0 on the board bring back rex.”

    I’m inclined to say the same thing, but at the same time, Beck came in and everybody got hurt, so it’s hard to analize him this way, but then again, there were things yesterday he flat out shouldn’t have done. Neither one of these guys is the man for the future though. Seeing Christian Ponder come out of the gate playing like he is makes me mad that the Skins passed him in the draft. At least we could have a qb of the future on the field learning the ropes while they rebuild the line, but Ryan Kerrigan is turning out to be a beast though. I guess I’m a typical Redskins fan, flip flopping on everything haha.

  32. Michael, if you could pass along to GR that the Bills won yesterday that would be great. You know, since he pretends that never happens and all…

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