Week 11: Cowboys 7, Redskins 6 - Knee Jerk Reactions

Duped! Ha!


What were you getting your hopes up for? Yea you, guy on couch with personal 12-pack, initially expecting to drown your sorrows by the middle of the first quarter?

Did you really believe that lining up for a 50-yard field goal with a 6-0 lead in the middle of the fourth quarter was some sort of harbinger for success?

What say you?! "Yes," you say?

Fine. I'll admit it, too. I genuinely thought the Redskins were going to beat the Cowboys today after London Fletcher's pick early in the fourth quarter. We were the better team at that point. Those hopes immediately washed away when I heard the ill-fated words, "Illegal Wedge", and knew it wasn't our day. All I could do at that point was laugh. Illegal Wedge? Classic.

A victory over Dallas today would've provided tremendous satisfaction for Redskins Nation. But let's not fool ourselves and pretend that at 4-6 we would have been back in the playoff picture. Because to fool ourselves in such a way would be downright foolish. And fools we are not.

I'll be frank, though - seriously denting Dallas' playoff hopes would have been a nice kicker in a disastrous season. And that's what really grinds my gears about losing today.

Some additional thoughts on the game:

• Shaun Suisham has been hitting meaningless field goals all year long - 12 for 12, in fact, before today. Which begs the all-important question: what the hell, dude?
• Let's look back on his two misses, though. The six minute delay at the end of the first half is exactly how to ice your kicker. Bravo, zebras. And the 3rd down run in the middle of the fourth quarter was predictably stuffed for a loss. Can anyone explain the aversion to sneaking our quarterback? Considering Suisham's secondt miss was off by only a few yards, this is a question I want answered.
• Love the all burgundy uniforms.
• I'm not sure how Tony Romo "injured" himself while tripping tackling Deangelo Hall, but he sure did prevent the Redskins' first defensive touchdown of the year.
• Both Rocky McIntosh (#52) and London Fletcher (#59) missed easy picks in the first quarter, and neither of them are named Carlos Rogers (#22)! But this is kind of creepy: 59-52=7, and 7x3=21, and 21+1=22. I swear to God, you can't make this stuff up.
• Jason Campbell was awesome today, any way you look at it. I have the funny feeling we're not gonna truly understand just how good Campbell is until next season, when he's killing it for another squad and our QB is turning the ball over like they're pancakes.
• Rock Cartwright, I <3 you.
• Laron Landry had his only good best game of the season.
• Fantastic job by Andre Carter to wrap up Marion Barber behind the line of scrimmage on 3rd and short early in the 4th quarter.  This was followed by an Orakpo pressure on 4th down, forcing a Romo interception. Gotta love what those two bring to the table.
  
• Speaking of Romo, he was bad today. Very bad. It's hard to fathom that team is in first place in the NFC East, but what can you do? Some things just make no sense.

And with this loss, let's agree to end all talk of winning out and possibly sneaking into the Wild Card. Because with the Eagles and Saints on the horizon, it doesn't get any easier.