A Completely Biased Opinion of The Washington Redskins

Wow.

As a Washington D.C. sports fan, I've been a witness to some hideous teams, players, and coaches.

Steve Spurrier?  Awful. 

Jeff George, Shane Matthews, Patrick Ramsey, Danny Wuerffel, Tony Banks, Tim Hasselbeck, and now Jason Campbell?  All bums.

How about all the free agent spending by Dan Snyder?  Earned the Skins about eight wins per year.  And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

The Wizards have traded Chris Webber before his prime, gotten rid of Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Devin Harris, and drafted Kwame Brown.  Heck, they even messed up the return of Michael Jordan.  How do you manage to do that?

The Nationals have been the worst team in the big leagues since 2006, except for maybe the Pirates.

An optimistic fan would say all the teams in the nation’s capital are in rebuilding mode. That’s the number one response to a poor season or performance.

“Oh, it was a tough loss, and yeah, we’re pretty bad, but after this off-season you better watch out for them.”  I know that was my typical comeback.  I considered myself a pretty optimistic kind of guy.

After watching the Redskins barely squeeze out a win against the hopeless Rams, I realized that anything was possible against Detroit. The match up pitted an obviously unmotivated Washington team with no offense against a team in a win-win situation.

If the Lions lose, who cares?  It’s not like they were favored to come out on top.

If they win though, it’s redemption in Detroit. Fans are rejuvenated. Tickets will start selling like hotcakes.  Detroit is ready to start a new chapter in their football history, and the Redskins didn’t even see it coming.

When Washington got stopped at the one-yard line on their first drive and Clinton Portis once again couldn’t get his first touchdown of the year, something was definitely wrong. Portis would have easily gotten that score pre-2009.

The Lions then proceeded to drive 99 yards down the field for a quick seven points. Before I could even blink it was halftime, and the Redskins were down 13-0.

Every facet of the game had been controlled by the Lions. I didn’t give up hope though, because that’s what a Washington D.C. fan is programmed to do.

All we needed was two touchdowns, after all.

Once it was 14-13 in the fourth-quarter, a crisis would be averted, a city’s sports reputation saved.

Instead, The Lions put more points on the board, and the Redskins struggled to keep up. It came down to the last play of the game, eight seconds left, Skins down by four, to decide the fate of two organizations that have failed miserably to live up to expectations for the past ten years.

In those last eight seconds, everything that represented Redskins football came out. Portis was nowhere to be found, just like the dozens of big name free agents that have come and gone without a lasting legacy.

With each lateral, the Lions came closer and closer to ending Washington’s bid for a comeback.

The game moved in slow motion. Washington was tossing the football to different players like the hot potato coaching game Dan Snyder has played for years.

Norv Turner tossed the position to Terry Robiskie, who handed it off to Marty Schottenheimmer, who was intercepted by Steve Spurrier, who fumbled to Joe Gibbs, who gave the reigns to Jim Zorn.

Washington’s lateral attempt in the real game was a failure, the Lions won, and the crowd went crazy. I was at a friend’s house (who happens to be a Lions fan), and the only thing I could think of doing to save face was walk right out the door without saying a word.

I am genuinely embarrassed to be a Washington Redskins fan.

Yes, the Lions were going to win a game eventually, there’s no doubt of that, but not versus this team.

This was going to be the year where Washington’s defense carries them and the offense is brought together by Jason’s Campbell’s steady play and Clinton Portis’s bulldozing style.

This was the year, just like last year, and the year before that. No more am I optimistic.

I am realistic.

Check out www.vype.com/dfw Monday, September 27, for more from Alex Shultz.