...so how 'bout those Wizards?

If I'd gone to the game, I would've had a paper bag over my head. With an American flag sticking out of the top.

Schotty need not unpack his bags. He won't be around after Week 16. I wasn't impressed that much with Marty when he arrived in town, and the honest truth is that he's shown diddly-squat as a coach & general manager of the Skins. Somebody tell me what we have to show for the losses of Brain Mitchell, James Thrash, Brad Johnson, Tre Johnson, Albert Connell, Larry Centers, and--Lord help us--Ray Rhodes. I'll tell you what we have:

A Stank Team.

Commentators on yesterday's game kept insisting that the Skins players were underachieving, and their lack of effort to the Schotty system was the reason they were losing so badly. That is true, but only in part. The players on the Redskins are playing with zero motivation and heart. They cannot execute the simple, the basic. This, folks, is the job of the coach/coaching staff to remedy. When 30 out of 53 people are let go in the off-season, is it really fair to solely blame the players for their performance? Who brought these players and personnel here?

People bad-mouthed Norv Turner because he wasn't a motivator, that he didn't get in player's faces. Westbrook complained he was too lax, that the team lacked discipline. What do they have to say about Schottenheimer? Is this abysmal, high-school football an improvement over last year?

Banks did a decent job, considering he knows less than half the playbook. 116 yeards without an interception is good. For a rookie. Stephen Davis did great--over 6 yards per carry. Um, Marty, he's getting SIX YARDS PER CARRY. He knows 100% of the playbook. Give him the ball. Who cares what the score is--we're NOT going to win, so at least let Davis pad his stats and have something on paper to show he's playing with heart.

Defense?

Special Teams?


----------------------------
OFFENSE: D (Davis gets an A, Banks gets a C)
DEFENSE: Z- (that's "Z-Minus" like Peppermint Patty used to get)
Sp. TEAMS: F (can we punt more than 20 yards?)
COACHES: Z - - - (that's Z-minus x 3. I cannot stand the Schottenheimer era. Deion looks like a very wise man right now.)

Mr. Jones

PS The Skins/Dallas Monday night game is looking like Toilet Bowl 2001. Woe to ABC for their scheduling...