Seattle comeback ends 07 for Skins

Arguably the hottest team in the NFC entering the playoffs, the Skins saw their season come to a halt with a loss at Seattle on Saturday.

But rather than try to dissect what went right, wrong or second-guess the guy getting paid millions to make the decisions, I would like to take a few moments to reflect on how far the team came this year.

I realize I may be shooting myself in the foot with this statement but the fact that we made the playoffs after the season we had should be considered a victory, especially since it looked like we didn't have what it took after the loss to Buffalo. However, the team rallied together and pulled off a run similar to that from a couple of years.

Now that this season is behind the Skins, we will now spend the next few months speculating what options are available and while we will be doing this a little earlier than desired, I believe that the pieces are place for another run next year, despite the fact things looked good heading into '06 after the run to the '05 playoffs.

Aside from speculating about who Dan Snyder will overpay to come play here, Skins have another cause to keep a close eye on - Art Monk's Hall of Fame election. All I will say about this right now is that it is a tragedy Michael Irvin was voted in before Monk, but both deserve to be there. But again, another topic for another time.

I want to close by saying congrats to the Skins for what they did accomplish and let's hope 2008 turns out better than '07.

Playoffs: Redskins at Seattle

For the second time in the second Joe Gibbs era the Skins have made the playoffs by winning a bunch of games in a row to sneak in as the No. 6 seed.

Previews with an abundance of breakdowns showing why each team will win can be found all over the net so I will end this post with one thought: How cool would it be for the Redskins to open the playoffs and 2008 with a win at Seattle, especially since they try to boast having the loudest fans in the league?

Hail to the Redskins.

Does Joe Gibbs match up to his Hall of Fame self?

For only the third time since he retired the first time, the Washington Redskins are heading back to the playoffs under the direction of Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. Now there is no doubt in my mind that what Gibbs did in his first tenure with the team qualifies him as a Hall of Famer however anyone who feels the second time around has been as good as the first is just kidding themselves.

But before you go accusing me of saying Gibbs is not a good coach, I want to take an in depth, impartial look at how "The Return of the King," as the Washington Post dubbed his coming out of retirement, has really gone.

First and foremost, Gibbs is the best coach we have had since his retirement. He is the only coach to take us to the playoffs twice, and other than Norv Turner's one playoff year, he is the only coach to post a winning season since then too.

But the one question I have is if Gibbs wasn't who he is, would he have lasted this long at the helm?

His overall record in 4 years (not including the playoffs) is 30-34 and he has losing seasons of 6-10 and 5-11. I think it would be fair to assume that he would have been a coach on the hot seat heading into the season and that he may have even been out of a job in the AFC by midseason. So it sure was nice for him to have the reputation he did.

However, looking past measureables such as records and statistics, it is apparent that Gibbs was the right guy to have in charge this year. It seems that his personality and experience have been invaluable in dealing with the scores of injuries and tragedies the team faced this year and his positive outlook made it possible to rally the Skins and earn the final playoff spot.

And as Washington gets ready for Saturday's game, you have to feel confident knowing that with Gibbs at the helm the Skins should be able to beat Seattle, especially after the year in which the Seahawks have had.

So while media pundits and reporters outside of DC continue to argue whether the game has passed Gibbs by, I feel confident in knowing that he is the one in charge on Saturday. After all, we could be stuck with Norv or Steve Spurrier.

Happy 2008

I realize that it has been a long time since I have regularly updated this blog but in the tradition of New Year's resolutions, one of mine is to update this blog more frequently. But first things first, congrats to the Skins for making the playoffs despite the emotional and injury drains.

We get another shot at Seattle in the playoffs and considering where this team picked itself up from, we should be considered by everyone in the NFC as the scariest team in the playoffs. Excluding the loss to the Patriots, even when the Skins were down they managed to keep their other losses within 8 points.

It will take a lot to make the Super Bowl and it will take even more to beat the AFC rep, but I don't see any reason why Washington won't make it. Granted we beat a down Dallas team and we also lost to Green Bay and Tampa Bay during the regular season, but again, those were close games coming down to the final drive.

The postseason already got more exciting with Washington earning the final spot, but the fact that we actually have a shot at advancing makes it even better.