What follows is an answer to the chorus of complaints from the legions of fans tired of being distracted by “sensible” analysis, backed by “facts” and “knowledge.” If you seek shelter from the twin storms that are “reality” and “logic,” then this is your port of call.
1) Congratulations go out to the Redskins named to the Pro Bowl. And, as someone else noted, Sean Taylor’s inclusion is not a sympathy vote, not by any stretch. Sean was – unquestionably – having a Pro Bowl season.
2) Did you know that 68% of Chris Cooley’s 60 catches have been for first downs? We did not … wow. He also has 711 yards receiving and 7 touchdowns and he’s still underutilized to some extent. The man has had a tremendous season as a receiver and he’s become a better blocker as well. Most importantly, he is the only player to make us laugh after congratulating an opposing player. We’re really glad he’s going to be the Redskins tight end for the next several seasons.
3) How does the player who is tied for the third most tackles (121) in the NFL end up as a third alternate? London Fletcher is also tied for the second most solo tackles in the league at 94. Let us restate that for emphasis: ONE person in the entire National Football League has more solo tackles than Mr. Fletcher. The Pro Bowl is flawed and obviously not worth getting angry about but if Fletcher’s season isn’t worthy of a Pro Bowl start, we honestly have no idea what is.
4) The Redskins rushing defense is going to going to have its hands full against the Vikings. The focus has obviously and deservedly gone to rookie Adrian Peterson who is averaging a pedestrian 5.9 yards per carry. Again, wow. But as any good Redskins fan can tell you, in front of every good running back is a great offensive line. To wit, look at Chester Taylor’s stats: 141 rushes for 747 yards, 5.3YPC and 7 touchdowns. They don’t miss a beat. The Vikings have allowed the 11th most sacks in the NFL but have allowed only three over the past three games. Minnesota’s offensive line is very, very good, guard Steve Hutchison and center Matt Birk were named as Pro Bowl starters. We know we literally just knocked the Pro Bowl but it’s relevant, so there.
5) The bright spot here is that the Vikings offensive line hasn’t gone up against too many solid rushing defenses this season. In fact, the Vikings have faced only two top 10 rushing defenses this season and they lost both games, to Dallas and Philadelphia. To be fair to Minnesota, the Vikings offensive line can’t play the league’s best rush defense since they play on the same team.
6) The Redskins coaching staff should take heed of the way in which their NFC East rivals beat the Vikings: through the air. The Vikings have allowed the most passing yards in the NFL and opposing teams are completing 63.2% of their passes. (Tangent: opposing teams are completing SEVENTY percent of their passes against the Lions … Matt Millen sure is smart.) The Redskins need to be committed to throwing the ball to win. Of course our saying that means Clinton Portis will rush for 185 yards and four touchdowns. Whatever works.
Edit: This blog was archived in May of 2016 from our original articles database.It was originally posted by Stephen Zorio