Washington, D.C.

You know how after a loss, athletes and coaches often make reference to the fact that the loss wasn’t attributable to any specific play but rather to a whole host of missed opportunities? Well, to a certain extent, that’s true. For example, against the Buccaneers, the Washington Redskins wasted numerous opportunities to put the match in a choke hold. We’re talking missed field goals, blown red-zone possessions, and untimely turnovers. But in a way, blaming a loss on missed chances doesn’t cut it. For example, against the Buccaneers, the Redskins fought their way back after being down by one score, only to lose the game because of one play that went horribly wrong (more on that later). Of course, either way, you’re still talking about a loss, so maybe the finer nuances of responsibility aren’t worth griping about. And on that note, I present to you the good and the not-so-good from Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers.

Being the experienced Redskins fan (and closet pessimist) that I am, when I heard the news that Minnesota had fired Brad Childress and replaced him with Leslie Frazier, I had one of those sinking feelings that told me the ‘Skins would lose this game. Oh, sinking feeling, why are you always right? Of course, it’s not like the team didn’t have chance to pull out a victory. But once again, the Redskins found ways to beat themselves. Here’s the good and the not-so-good from Sunday’s loss to the Vikings.

The Washington Redskins are still alive. With a decidedly unpretty victory in Tennessee on Sunday, the “Gold Pants” Brigade evened their record at 5-5, ensuring that they remain two games ahead of a resurgent Cowboys team and at least one game behind either the Giants or the Eagles. But more importantly, they washed the stink of last week’s humiliating loss away. And while the team’s 19-16 overtime decision against the Titans might not have been the best bounce-back performance, the Redskins can still call themselves winners—at least for the next week. Here’s the good and the not-so-good from Sunday’s contest.

Since we have an extra day to kill before this week’s latest installment of the Eagles-Redskins rivalry, I’ve put together some interesting numbers to help pass the time.

(NOTE: The predictive value of these stats is highly questionable considering all of the mitigating circumstances involved. But I love looking at stats, so I figured I’d see what I could find. Basically, you should just take them with a grain of salt.)

In just two short days, Mike Shanahan’s now-infamous fourth-quarter decision to let Rex Grossman run the two-minute offense instead of Donovan McNabb has gone from merely frustrating to utterly outraging. If the sports media’s talking heads are to be believed, Shanahan has now embarrassed himself, humiliated a high-caliber quarterback, lied to reporters, and completely lost his locker room. So considering all of that fallout, why even bench McNabb in the first place?