Game 14: Redskins (7-6) at Bengals (1-11-1)

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Out of the box: both teams are cornered animals as the Washington Redskins travel west to play the Bengals in Cincinnati at 1pm ET on Fox. The playoffs are on the line for one team and the other might just find a way exploit cracks in their opponent's team unity, this game is no gimme.

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The story so far: so band four got off to a bad start, that happened. Now the team that started the season 6-2 with the genius rookie head coach is now on the playoff outside looking in, the Redskins need a win and some help to stay in the race and all that optimism, that is out the team bus window.

Offensive production has slowed to a virtual halt with the Redskins averaging less than 17 points per game, that is good for 29th in the league with only Oakland, St. Louis and Cincinnati looking up at Washington. Part of the problem is injuries to the offensive line which along with the defensive line Washington has allowed to deteriorate, but the bigger problems looks to me to be passing of the freshness date of Jim Zorn's scheme, I think he as run into the wall and we will not be seeing some magical transformation these final three weeks of the Redskins into some scoring machine. A note to you degenerate gamblers out there, take the under today.

And speaking of the bus, the Redskins decided this was the week to throw one another under it. Early in the week head coach Jim Zorn attributed Clinton Portis benching in the second half of the Ravens game to missing practice, or rather not being crisp in his blocking and receiving routes as a result of missing practice. Later in the week a film review by Jason La Canfora, who knows more about the Redskins maybe than anyone right now, confirmed this by pointing out Clinton missed a block that led to Jason Campbell's interception on the opening drive, then on the next drive Clinton fumbled, so he was directly involved in getting the team down by two touchdowns early in the first quarter.

Then as if losing left tackle Chris Samuels for the rest of the season with a torn triceps along with fleeting fill in Justin Geisinger to a meniscus knee injury, star tailback Clinton Portis went on his paid radio appearance and ripped rookie head coach Jim Zorn for benching him in the loss to the Ravens (op. cit.), for a weak offense and for poor communication. The coach and the player allegedly have made up, this either will become the final down turning point for the season or a blip remembered as passion bubbling over to no ultimate detriment.

But wait it gets worse, flying under the radar of Clinton Portis' unhappiness is another frustrated player, Fred Smoot. Fred it would seem is unhappy about his loss in reps and playing time with the arrival and outstanding play of DeAngelo Hall. Were it not for All About Me Clinton, this would have been a bigger story this week. Fred I will tell you this, DeAngelo is playing better than you right now, he does not give up such a cushion on every play, he is not as susceptible to a cut move and he actually catches the ball when he gets near it. Elevate your play and this problem takes care of itself. That said I see Carlos Rogers and DeAngelo Hall as the Redskins top corners next season, with Fred Smoot as number three.

There were some comings and goings this week as well, rookie free agent offensive lineman Devin Clark was signed off the practice squad, and when the Bears signed receiver Devin Aromashodu off Washington's practice squad, Washington signed former University of Virginia quarter back Marques Hagans (Wahoowa!) to the practice squad, Marques has converted to receiver. Washington also signed an offensive lineman, Reuben Riley, to the practic squad to replace Devin Clark. Washington also released defensive end Erasmus James, he had been aqcuired in the offseason from Minnesota for a conditional seventh round pick, which the team will now have to give up for a player that could not contribute, great trade guys.

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Curly R aside: what else do you talk about this week but Jim Zorn and Clinton Portis? Clinton is a distraction and bordering on more trouble than he is worth and I would like to say that any narrative to this story that paints coach Zorn as weak or naive is simply bullshit, the idea that your head coach has to be Bill Parcells to discuss player deficiencies and performance concerns openly is absurd, even here at the NFL level the head coach is still the head coach. That said, I agree with George Solomon, Redskins owner Dan Snyder could blow it all up if he wants to, and there seems to be no coherent message from ownership, it is almost as though the organization will not pick a side in order to keep everyone looking over their shoulder, I can tell you from experience this is not good management and weakens the organization. Even if coach Zorn and the Redskins lose out and go 7-9, I would not fire Jim Zorn but who knows, the owner is richer than Mitt Romney, less knowledgeable than Sarah Palin and more fickle than Joe the Plumber.

Curly R aside continues: here is your Redskins 2008 playoff scenario for week 15: the Redskins must win on the road against the Bengals, the Giants must win on the road against the Cowboys and the Buccaneers must win on the road against the Falcons. If these three things happen, the Redskins will be in seventh place in the NFC. Winning out the final two games then puts Washington in sixth place, as they would have beaten current sixth place Philadephia next week in game 15 and held serve against the 49ers in game 16. If the Redskins lose this week there are still scenarios putting Washington in the playoffs, they simply get tougher to realize. Thanks to Tony Almeida for the playoff scenario summary for week 15.

Curly R aside concludes: this is an incredible enterprise piece on Clinton Portis by Barry Svrluga on the front page of Sunday's Washington Post, we will say what we will about Clinton, he has a pretty fucked up story and I hope he can find happiness and his brother can stay out of trouble. This is not the kind of piece that belongs in a game preview but there is it, I may have more to write about it later this week.

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Oppo research: what to say about this week's opponent, it is the Bengals, a woeful one win team that might not even have the tie if Donovan McNabb knew NFL games could end in a tie. Cincinnati in a sentence: no offense, no defense, tons of player injuries, arrests and jail time and fan revolts.

On the field the Bengals leaders are not very leadery. Top tailbacks Cedric Benson and Chris Perry have one one hundred yard game between them, Harvard Hurler quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is Cincinnati's third leading rusher, only 30 yards behind Chris and with Ryan's 6.4 yards per carry average, maybe the Bengals should just run the veer and let Ryan keep the ball on every play. But then again, Ryan's running performance is probably not part of the scheme.

TJ Houshmandzadeh is the Bengals' leading receiver, and he has has only two one hundred yard games, both against NFC Beast teams. Chad Johnson Ocho Cinco Johnson is having a dreadful season with only four touchdown (celebrations). Perhaps Chad will rethink his professional life a little after this season.

Poor Marvin Lewis, former Redskins defensive coordinator, he is out twisting in the wind, there is non way things in Cincinnati can continue like they are, and with the ownership structure in place, no way for them not to.

Basically this team is a slow motion train wreck and their only hope for today and the rest of the season to catch other teams up in it.

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Trainer's table: it is week fifteen in the NFL, so injuries are going to be a problem for every team, the Redskins are still struggling. Left tackle Chris Samuels is lost of the remainder of the season with a torn triceps and his in game and hapless replacement reserve center Justin Geisinger tore the menscus in his knee and was lost after less than one quarter of play. Both players were put on injured reserve this week. And in fairness to Justin, what was hapless not necessarily Justin's play but rather that the Redskins offensive coaches put Justin out there in one on one against Ravens defensive end Terrell Suggs, who was reported to have gone over to the Redskins bench and told the coaches was a mistake.

Linebacker Marcus Washington is out again with his high ankle sprain, how can a guy so tough be so fragile? And Shawn Springs should be back this week, there is some stat about how the Redskins do and do not do when he is and is not in the game, frankly I think Shawn is losing value rapidly and his presence will not affect the game one way or another, unless he tries to steal another DeAngelo Hall interception and it costs the Redskins the game. Outstanding rookie safety Chris Horton, who jammed his shoulder last week, was day to day during the week but probably will not play today. Defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin has an abdominal strain and might not play (both op. cit.).

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Gameplan: Stephon Heyer, promoted this year to starting right tackle then demoted after he hurt his shoulder and the Redskins established a solid running game, becomes Washington's new starting left tackle and veteran Jason Fabini, who played parts or all of fourteen games last season at right guard in place of injured Randy Thomas, will play right tackle in place of Jon Jansen and his sprained knee. We might also see the regular season debut of rookie third round offensive lineman Chad Rinehart (op. cit.), who played tackle in college but was moved to guard which now turns out to be a genius move since the Redskins are hurting at tackle not guard. The line is a mess and sadly it will be on Jason Campbell's head (literally).

Strategy wise, the Redskins should be able to run and pass all over the Bengals and conversely, be able easily to defend Cincinnati's weak stream offense. But that is also what I said about the Rams game. Could be a trap.

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My take in 60 words or less: whether the kiss and make up stories of team unity are true or not, on paper this is a winnable game and I will not even hint that this is a defense against which the Redskins could finally break the 30 point barrier, something they have not done all season. Nope, not gonna say it.

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Washington Post / AP preview, Gameday (PDF), the Zorn Zone, keys to the game, Redskins injury report, projected starters. Broadcast coverage, a minority of the country will be with us today.

Other previews: Mark Newgent at Redskins Examiner has an interview with WhoDey Revolution, the shit disturber creators of Operation Mayhem, he also has a game preview.


Have fun readers, I am in Kentucky as I write this, I will be at the game today, experiencing the wonder that is Bengals Stadium. The Kentucky part of Cincinnati is awesome.


This is a gameday open thread.



NFL helmets from here.