Against the Bengals - November 20, 2008

Shall I offend Cincy fans everywhere by writing zero analysis and just putting: "Well, it was a W and a padding to our numbers"? I think it's safe to say there was a general expectation that we would win that game. But a sloppy, uninspired win, I'll admit. There were still the traditional issues that made an appearance: Ben Roe playing catch with the Bengals' secondary, who were simply surprised by Ben's pigskin gift and dropped it (had this been a playoff game, there would have been 3 INT's to contend with) and of course, our inconsistent o-line made the game interesting, allowing Ben to run around like a loon at times. Hats off to the special teams for good field position. Sorry, can't get excited about offing a limping division opponent; I'll quote Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights - "It's just not sexy, Jack...it's not sexy like how it should be."

Against the Colts - November 9, 2008

Well, to quote Jimmy Conway in "Goodfellas": "What - what is the ****in' matter with you? What are you, stupid or what?" I had to take a day to collect myself over that gem of a Steeler performance. Rather than focusing my complaints on the obvious touched-upon-by-Berman & Jackson issues (ie: Ben's continuous blind gunslinging into the waiting hands of the Colts' secondary as if he had the O-line from the Faneca era behind him or THE painfully inconsistent current O-line overall), I would like to point out, specifically, the newest target of my frustration: Mr. Justin Hartwig. Could I ask WHY every other snap was high?? We're not talking a few errantly-aimed snaps across the span of the game, which could be understandable. We're talking EVERY. OTHER. SNAP. Did you go to practice all week, buddy? Aim the ball at the QB's hands and THEN block. And then repeat that action. Sheeeesh.

MNF against the Skins - November 3, 2008

Hollow MNF win, don'tcha think, ESPN analysts? To quote The Wolf in "Pulp Fiction": "Let's not start sucking one another's &$#*s just yet." I felt that the Redskins' rushing offense was overrated going in; our defense picked them apart but I couldn't help but feel that the Skins had under-prepared for the defensive schemes and believed the media hype that Portis would dominate. On the other side of the ball, as I've been saying, ad nauseum: we can make it to the playoffs but we are not capable of going far without an acquisition for that o-line (we could afford to lose Faneca...really???). A nice performance by Leftwich, which I hope will motivate Ben to realize that getting rid of the ball quicker (even if to the er, sideline??) usually allows for fewer chances of head/arm injuries (does he NEED any more?), forces tighter coverage on the receivers, and gets us back to the rushing game we seem to have forgotten. We just don't have the o-line chemistry this season for Ben Roe to be gun-slinging at will. Also, can anyone explain why we're not running more slant plays in general?? They work, whether it's going to Ward, Miller, or even Parker, on the trick play occasion. So um, why not keep using them? Why do I feel like the coaches outsmart themselves??