Excuses, Excuses

There are a number of things not to look forward to this week. The pain that comes with a loss to the hated Cowboys. Ribbing from hated Cowboy fans. Those ‘I told you so’ smirks on the faces of countless commentators. Leftover meatloaf for lunch on Wednesday. But the thing I’m dreading the most this week? Excuses. Specifically, excuses for Mark Brunell. Now, before I get started, let me say that this is not a Brunell-bashing thread. There are plenty of those already. If you feel like enlightening the world with your ‘Brunell sucks’ comment, please take it elsewhere. This is a Brunell-lovers-bashing thread. It’s dedicated to those among us who cannot – or will not – observe and judge his play objectively. For those among us who can, the truth is fairly obvious. Mark Brunell was hired by my ex-girlfriend to give me false hope and then drive a dagger through my heart. Plain as day. There are some that feel that my conclusion is somewhat far-fetched, and feel that it’s simply a matter of the wrong quarterback for the wrong offense, or, that Mark has lost it, and it’s time for him to hang up his cleats. These board members express their anger and frustration in various threads, and, to make matters more frustrating, their cries for help are met with excuses. These excuses have started already, but let me see if I can head off the main arguments for why Brunell holds no responsibility for the first two losses of the season: 1. The offensive line is playing horribly. 2. There’s no running game (see item 1). 3. The defense is playing horribly. 4. The new acquisitions are not playing up to their potential, and/or are destroying the locker room (see item 3). 5. Al Saunders is an overpaid moron who couldn’t play call his way out of a paper bag. 6. The receivers aren’t getting open (see item 4). 7. There is a vast Al Qaeda conspiracy to keep Mark Brunell down. I could go on, but I think that sums it up. Like I said, this isn’t a thread to list the reasons why someone else should be running the offense, and I won’t dissect Brunell’s play bit by bit, nor will I suggest who should take over at quaterback. It’s simply a complaint about what I know I’m going to see all over the board this week. The complaints and excuses will be plentiful, and while I usually enjoy the exchange of ideas that this board supplies, the excuses for Mark Brunell are not based in reality, at least for anyone who has been watching him play this year. I believe Mark is probably a great person, and he is definitely a team leader, but I can say with confidence that he is a large part of the reason the Redskins have started 0 and 2. I usually can’t wait for the week following a loss to go away, but until we can look at a quarterback with a rating of 67.7 and an average of 6 yards per attempt with objective scrutiny, we’re going to bicker amongst ourselves all week, and I’ll hope for the days to pass less slowly than usual. Either that, or I’ll keep my metaphoric fingers in my metaphoric ears, so I don’t have to listen. Because I’m tired of…