NFL Week 9: Have the Redskins, Vikings or Cowboys Been the Bigger Mess?
NFL Week 9 is here and the Redskins, Vikings and Cowboys are three teams that are in the news for all of the wrong reasons.
Two were expected to be Super Bowl contenders, and the other was supposed to be getting it together with a new quarterback and head coach. All three are struggling right now and need to turn things around quickly.
Inside, I'll give you six reasons each team is a mess right now and let you know at the end who's in the worst shape.
Agree or disagree?
Leave it in the comments, and if there is a team you think is in worse shape, feel free to let it be known.
No. 6 Washington: Playcalling
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Here's the playcall breakdown from Sunday's game against Detroit.
Washington threw the ball 37 times and ran it 19 times. That's counting runs by Donovan McNabb.
Take away those four runs, and you have the Redskins handing the ball to one of their backs 15 times. That's just awful playcalling.
How is the offense supposed to produce when you aren't putting them in positions to succeed?
No. 6 Minnesota: Jared Allen's Struggles
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With all of the talk about Brett Favre's struggles, why is no one talking about how awful Jared Allen has been this year?
Allen has one sack. One.
We are to the midpoint of the season, and one of the best defensive ends in the game the past few years has one sack. He's been nothing short of awful this year and a non-factor in most of the Vikings' games.
Minnesota needs him to step up, but I'm not sure that day's coming this year.
No. 6 Dallas: Super Bowl or Bust Mentality
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If you're the Dallas Cowboys and you're hosting the Super Bowl this year, why give in to all of the talk about hosting and playing in the big game at the same time?
Seeing as they've only won a single playoff game in years, I'd probably not let that talk get too out of hand, especially if I'm Jerry Jones. But seeing as Jones can never seem to keep his mouth shut, I'm not shocked that's all we heard about coming into this year.
Now some of that is on the media, but that's a lot of internal pressure to succeed.
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No. 5 Washington: Pass Defense
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Sure, DeAngelo Hall has had a good past few weeks.
But that doesn't mean that the Redskins have been brutal against the pass.
Washington is 30th against the pass and got torched by Matt Schaub in Week 2. Team after team has had success against the Redskins when it comes to passing the ball.
It's a glaring weakness, and it's hurt Washington mightily this year.
It doesn't look like that secondary is getting better anytime soon, either.
No. 5 Minnesota: Sidney Rice Injury
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Sidney Rice was Brett Favre's favorite target last year, and it's been evident that Favre and the Vikings have missed his presence in the lineup.
Favre trusted Rice when he threw the ball, and it's clear that the type of connection the two shared wasn't there with the other wideouts on the team. Minnesota tried to fill the void with Randy Moss, but that clearly didn't work, either.
Rice can't get back soon enough. The problem is, it will be too late by then.
No. 5 Dallas: Cannot Finish Games
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Throwing out the New York game, which got close late on a garbage touchdown, Dallas has lost four of its games by a touchdown or less.
Five if you count the Giants game.
To me, that reeks of a team that just doesn't know how to finish out football games to get the victory. Good teams can get in position to win, great teams finish it out.
The Cowboys are just terrible at doing what it takes to win.
It's the little things, and that's something the Cowboys have seemed to overlook this season.
No. 4 Washington: Mike Shanahan
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You knew I'd eventually get to Mike Shanahan. It's unavoidable.
First, he drags the Albert Haynesworth saga out to prove some point that I'm still missing. Then he benches Donovan McNabb for Rex Grossman because he evidently knows the two-minute drill better than McNabb.
On the first play, he got sacked, fumbled and it was returned for a touchdown.
Smooth move, Shanahan. It's been a disaster for him this year.
No. 4 Minnesota: Brett Favre's Scandal
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Once the scandal broke about Brett Favre allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to Jenn Sterger when both were employees of the Jets, it was another big news story for a team that had its own issues.
The focus on the Vikings has always been about Favre in one way or another, and I'm sure the team did not want to talk more about their quarterback. It was a distraction, and Favre admitted as much to his team before their game against the Jets.
It still hasn't gone away, and we'll see how long it follows Favre and the Vikings.
No. 4 Dallas: Offensive Line
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The offensive line has been nothing short of atrocious for Dallas this season.
The line cannot run block, it cannot protect the passer and it's just a field day for opposing defenses. Tony Romo was running for his life back there long before he got hurt last week against the Giants.
And let us not forget the holding penalty that took a win from Dallas in Week 1.
It's a huge weakness, and it's one of the reasons the Cowboys are where they are.
No. 3 Washington: Donovan McNabb
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Sorry Donovan, but your time has come as well.
After being traded from Philadelphia, McNabb is having the lowest-rated season of his career and hasn't seemed to have picked up the offense at all. He's had two awful games in a row and has just looked over the hill out there.
While that may not be true, he needs to play better. And fast.
No. 3 Minnesota: Brett Favre's Regression
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In his first year with the Minnesota Vikings, Brett Favre had what might have been the best season of his storied career.
This year? Not so much.
It's the Favre of old with the interceptions, the fumbles, the dumb throws and the injuries. He looks like he's falling apart right in front of our eyes, and this has to be the last year of his career.
It just has to. He just simply cannot take any more.
No. 3 Dallas: Penalties
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The Dallas Cowboys are the fourth-most penalized team in football.
It's not just that, but it's the timely penalties that cost the Cowboys.
Look at it this way: The Tennessee Titans are penalized just as much as the Cowboys, yet the Titans are 5-3 and the Cowboys are 1-6. Dallas just cannot stay disciplined during the most important moments of the game.
No matter how much they hear about it, the Cowboys just keep on getting flagged.
No. 2 Washington: Albert Haynesworth
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Once Mike Shanahan arrived in Washington, he automatically butted heads with Albert Haynesworth.
Haynesworth wanted no part of being a nose tackle in a 3-4 defense. And then there was the big, long battle between the two in the media, the trade talks and, of course, the conditioning test that took Haynesworth forever to complete.
Seems like $100 million well spent to me.
No. 2: Minnesota: Brad Childress
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To say that Brad Childress has done a bad job as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings would be an understatement.
He's butted heads with Brett Favre yet again. He has cut Randy Moss without telling anyone, including the person who signs his paychecks.
He seems allergic to adjustments and he just seems lost as the head coach of a football team.
He's lost the locker room, and it's a matter of time before he's fired and out on the street looking for another coordinator job.
No. 2: Dallas: Wade Phillips
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When you pretty much openly admit that you have no idea what to do about fixing your team, it's pretty clear you're part of the problem.
Wade Phillips normally would be fired, but Jerry Jones doesn't want to do it during the season.
It's all but a formality at this point that Phillips will be without a job once the Cowboys' season is over. It has to happen after the way this year has gone.
I hope Wade is freshening that resume up right about now.
No. 1 Washington: JaMarcus Russell
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So Donovan McNabb doesn't have the stamina to run the two-minute offense, but JaMarcus Russell does?
This is just a hilarious move by the Redskins that makes Mike Shanahan look even more foolish. Sure, the Redskins may not sign him, but why even try him out?
It just makes you look stupid after you said stupid things to the media the past two days.
I would be checking what's in Russell's water bottle before you make any decisions on him. Just saying.
No. 1 Minnesota: Randy Moss
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So you trade for Randy Moss to try and make a push for the Super Bowl.
And about a month later, you cut him and send him through waivers?
Sounds like winning football to me.
It was just a joke of a situation that saw the Vikings punt away a third-round draft pick for nothing. It was a waste of time, and not telling the owner before you make a move, seeing as he helped bring Moss to town, is even more appalling.
It just reeks of an organization that's in total disarray.
No. 1 Dallas: Tony Romo Injury
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Losing Tony Romo for what in reality is the rest of the season just killed whatever slim hopes the Cowboys had of making the playoffs.
Jon Kitna is not the type of quarterback that will be stringing wins together to get a team into playoff contention. Romo was the only bright spot, for the most part, in Dallas.
Without him, the Cowboys are dead in the water.
Better luck next year, Cowboys fans.
Conclusion
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It just has to be Minnesota who is the biggest mess in football right now.
The Vikings were a couple plays away from the Super Bowl last year. Now they're one of the worst teams in football.
It happened almost overnight, and it's been stunning to watch how bad this team is and how poorly it's managed.
It's not going to get any better in Minnesota.
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