Another Clinton Administration in Washington?
Hail to the Redskins
| Published 09/17/04

Graphic by: Doni Neel

No longer was Bruce Smith going to inadequately occupy space on the defensive line, arrogantly and selfishly chasing a record that he had no business breaking; no longer were we bringing in archaic "Prime Time" cornerbacks who can't make tackles on a team of bad tacklers; no longer would we bring in two overrated defensive tackles who achieved because of players around them to not only eat up more than their fair of donuts but also of a bloated salary cap.

No, this year's edition of the Washington Redskins filled needs. They brought in Marcus Washington to serve as that sideline-to-sideline freak athletic linebacker opposite of LaVar Arrington. They traded to get a big time running threat not seen since the departure of Stephen Davis (and Clinton Portis broke 64 yards for a touchdown on his first carry). Joe Gibbs brought in a veteran quarterback in Mark Brunell to direct his new offensive attack.

Remember last year's draft choices? Not really. This year, though, everyone is going to remember Sean Taylor, just like we remember the drafts that brought us Champ Bailey, Jon Jansen, LaVar Arrington and Chris Samuels. Although Sean Taylor sat out most of this game as a mysterious precautionary measure, he swarmed around the ball at the opportunities he received and nearly caused a huge fumble. He redefines the safety position like Lawrence Taylor redefined linebackers. For his size, Taylor is fast and agile, and it seems his soft hands are always poking in at the ball whenever he gets a chance. He was phenomenal during the preseason, and look for him to break out at any moment. He has the possibility of being a game-changer and coupled with LaVar Arrington, that is a very scary prospect for the rest of the NFC East.

For all the hype surrounding Brunell, Portis, Laveranues Coles, Joe Gibbs, and Joe Bugel, it was the defense (lead by Greg Williams) that stole the spotlight. After a hard-hitting first half, the Redskins offense sputtered and stalled, but their defense never let up. Matt Bowen was a mad man, blitzing on what seemed like every down, forcing fumbles, generating pressure and accumulating sacks.

Between him, Arrington, and Washington the Tampa Bay offensive never got in rhythm. They looked old (with Brad Johnson, Tim Brown, and Charlie Garner the metaphor isn't much of a stretch). If the Redskins defense can maintain this level of ferocious play, this unit could easily crack the top ten defenses in the league and with their big-play capable offense, this could easily become a Wild Card playoff squad.

My one real worry for the Washington Redskins came out of this game against Tampa Bay and that concern would lie in the special teams of the Redskins. The usual futile Buccaneers return game looked lively today, as Frank Murphy broke a few long returns (one of which was called back and the other set up the only points the Tampa offense scored that afternoon). This could become the Redskins Achilles heel if they fail to corral the problem and cost them several games.

In the end, I predict an exciting season for the 2004 Washington Redskins. Joe Bugel has coached up a much maligned offensive line from last season's chaotic schemes under Steve Spurrier and it appears that these Redskins are willing to lay their bodies on the line for Joe Gibbs and have bought into his system hook, line and sinker. Hail to the Redskins, fans!