Washington Redskins Fall Short, vs. Giants, Playoffs Might Prove Elusive

As I said before, http://bleacherreport.com/articles/85579-prolific-clinton-portis-washington-redskins-in-the-playoffs, as Clinton Portis goes, so go the Washington Redskins.  That was made painfully clear today as the former Hurricane could only muster a paltry 22 yards on 11 carries. 

To be sure, the Giants D was stalwart and stingy, and has consistently proven itself to be the class of the league.  And Portis was obviously not at 100 percent, sitting out key plays with apparent shoulder and other myriad injuries to go with his aching knee and hip. 

Kudos to the Redskins defense for holding Jacobs to 71 yards on 21 carries.  Take away his 23 yard scamper, they held him to an average of 2.4 yards per carry.  But at what price?  Eli "Ho Hum" Manning torched the Redskins secondary for over 300 yards, including two passes for over 40 yards.

And when it came to the intangible "heart," the Giants dominated that line of scrimmage, attaining crucial third down conversion after third down conversion, and averaged an amazing 8.2 yards per pass.  Bottom Line: the Redskins got their hearts handed to them like they were playing in the Temple of Doom.

So where do the Redskins go from here?

Portis is banged up, and asking him to shoulder the load to carry the Redskins to January is tenuous at best.  I'd be happy to see Portis make it to Christmas on two feet.  He won't be our Santa Claus this year, unfortunately.

Against a depleted Giants secondary, Campbell had 23 completions to nine different receivers, including three over 20 yards.  But these never resulted in sustained drives.  The Redskins took a few shots deep, but because they were going nowhere on the ground, the deep option was off the table. 

With Portis hobbling, however, for the Redskins to succeed, they will need to step up their protection of Campbell, and get back to basics in the West Coast offense, utilizing Cooley, Moss and Betts on short passes that count on lots of YAC.

The Road Ahead

The Redskins remaining opponents are now the Ravens (8-4), Bengals (1-10-1), Eagles (6-5-1) and Niners (4-8).  The Ravens are a tough 4-1 at home, and while M&T is only about 30 miles up the road from Fed Ex, it will feel like a world away because Ravens fans are a ravenous bunch.  (I should know... I have attended my share of Ravens games wearing opposing teams' jerseys.  Bad idea.). 

The Eagles appear to be re-energized, while the Niners and Bengals games should be cruisers for the Redskins (though they'd better remember the St. Louis game).  Losses to the Ravens and Eagles would put the Redskins at 9-7, and almost definitely out of the playoffs without help from a total collapse by another NFC foe.  A once bright picture now looks awfully bleak.

Did We Expect Too Much?

First-year Redskins coaches rarely enjoy immediate success, and definitely not when implementing an entirely new offense.  Moreover, Zorn is as first-year as it can get, though he's shown flashes of brilliance and has at times brought the best out of Campbell. 

DC is the ultimate bandwagon town, and one of the hardest on its coaches and QBs.  Both Zorn and Campbell's jobs are safe for now, though, and with a full season under their belt together, look for the Redskins to achieve their potential in 2009-10.  This is not the year, and in reality, it never was going to be.