Written by DCist contributor Rob Birgfeld The world was sure the 5-2 Redskins would walk all over the 0-6 Detroit Lions. Redskins’ fans, however, knew that there would be more to Sunday’s contest. When the inactives were announced, two unexpected additions—starting left tackle Chris Samuels and starting strong safety Chris Horton—gave Skins fans even more reason to worry. The first half was unspectacular. The Redskins moved the ball well, amassing 250 yards on offense versus......

A month ago, the Washington Redskins needed to win out the rest of their season and receive a ton of help from the rest of the NFC in order to make the playoffs. And it needed to start in the short week between a Sunday's loss to Buffalo and a Thursday night game with Chicago. And then it needed to start after Sean Taylor's funeral. And then it needed to continue despite losing starting quarterback......

Southeast Jerome. Sheriff Gonna Getcha. Coach Janky Spanky. The Ghost of Southeast Jerome. Most of the 2005 season, and a few times last year, Clinton Portis showed that he wasn't only electric on the field by holding press conferences dressed up as ridiculous characters, who he named and gave purposes. The get ups were such a hit that they even made a t-shirt about them (hey, we all knew that Snyder wouldn't let a chance......

Ugh. Really. I'm at the point now where I never want to see Washington attempt another wide receiver end around again. While the play had its heyday about twenty years ago, I cannot remember the last time Washington executed the offensive gimmick in a satisfying way. Surely there is a successful occasion of its execution that a mind untrammeled by the frustration of this past weekend might recall (feel free to have your way with......

Jason Campbell couldn't miss, the defensive line looked like a wrecking crew, Carlos Rogers actually intercepted a pass (and returned it for a touchdown!), and Baby Jesus announced his preference for Joe Gibbs over Jon Kitna in a beating of the Detroit Lions so savage that Daniel Snyder had plenty of free time to stop worrying about the state of his football team, and start worrying about how the rides from his terrible theme parks......

Despite the fact that only the most optimistic of fans bought the line this week that the Washington Redskins were still nursing the slightest of playoff chances, it was still disappointing to watch the Redskins blow a fourteen-point lead and wither away under the resurgent Falcons, 24-14. Ladell Betts and Santana Moss had the terrific games they needed to have, the defense made some inspiring plays, and no one was bagging on Scott Suisham for......

The Washington Redskins gave the Carolina Panthers all they could handle and earned Jason Campbell a win in his home debut yesterday. At the very least, the win will be remembered as one of the lone bright spots in an otherwise frustrating season. Washington gave a complete effort in beating a quality opponent; their offense, defense, and special teams contributed in significant ways. At most, the win gives supporters a renewed sense of optimism, allowing......

Here's the good news: Jason Campbell looked good in his first game as, well, anything for the Washington Redskins. The descriptives you'll hear all week will be "poise" and "command," traits that he showed in abundance both on the field and, with an easy charm mixed in that'll only make you want to root for the kid more, in his post game interviews. His stat line isn't world-changing: 19 of 34 for 192 yards only......

For the casual fan, yesterday's Washington v. Jacksonville tilt was a Sunday afternoon classic, replete with offensive pyrotechnics, lead changes, great individual performances, and down-to-the-wire intensity. For Redskins fans, however, it was a stomach-tightening affair in which the script flipped wildly between what seemed like certain victory and certain defeat. Relief finally came scant minutes into the overtime period, when Redskin wideout Santana Moss grabbed a pinpoint pass in traffic and took it to......

Joe Gibbs and Charley Casserly, who successfully collaborated at Washington during Gibbs' first coaching tenure, meet this weekend as rivals, with Casserly currently serving as the VP/General Manager of the Houston Texans. Both still have one thing in common, however: their respective teams are off to disappointing starts this season, and eye this weekend's contest as a chance to put themselves back on the right track. This week, Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell found himself back......

Even when they were winning games last year, the Washington Redskins offense would often go through long periods of time when it looked like they were struggling to get on track. But there regularly came moments when, despite the seeming malaise, everything would suddenly find a groove. That’s how things went down the last time the Skins traveled to Dallas—Santana Moss got loose behind the defense for two massive pass plays that enabled Washington to......

Coach Joe Gibbs, despite having posted a career win-loss record that is just to die for, has never once won an opening week game on a Monday night. It makes you wonder why he’d willingly go through it again, especially after last night’s dispiriting loss to the Minnesota Vikings and their newly befuglified uniforms—squandering both a home game and a match against a very beatable team. In a game set against the backdrop of September......

Geezers need excitement. And for two of them, Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell and former Redskin/now-Viking QB Brad Johnson, ESPN's Monday Night Football premiere will be providing it as these two NFC foes duke it out at FedEx Field tonight at 7:30 p.m. For Washington, who miffed and mussed and stunk their way through the preseason, all eyes will be on the offense. Widely deemed a depthless liability toward the end of last year, a heavy......

It's been a busy few days for the Redskins, as the deadline for roster cuts passed and the free agent signing period began. Washington sports fans might still be mourning the departure of LaVar Arrington, but the team is moving on and making some big changes. On Friday, the Skins cut five players in a last minute move to get under the salary cap. Linemen Brandon Noble and Cory Raymer, DBs Walt Harris and......

Capitalizing on the playoff fever that gripped the entire D.C. metro area, today the Washington Redskins added Al Saunders to their coaching staff as offensive coordinator. Saunders, a former head coach with the San Diego Chargers, spent the last four years in Kansas City, guiding the league's top-ranked offense. Saunders was said to be in the running for the head coach position in Oakland, interviewing there multiple times, but Joe Gibbs swooped in with Daniel......

It can’t be said that they didn’t get their shot. On the road against the rested and ready Seattle Seahawks and a hostile crowd lending decibels to the cause, the Redskins forced some timely turnovers, kept Seattle’s scoring down, and managed to send all-everything league MVP runner Shaun Alexander on an unscheduled bye week. But the opportunities they created went for naught as the Washington offense underwent a second week of anemia. With Seattle......

The Washington Redskins and the Tampa “Bay” Buccaneers are interesting opponents – so many contrasts, so many links. Like a meeting between the oldest and youngest NFL coaches. Like a playoff rematch between the last team to bounce Washington from the post-season. And Washingtonians still chafe over the fact that that young coach, Jon Gruden, won his Super Bowl with a quarterback most think should have been kept in DC. Earlier this season, when the......

The Washington Redskins treated their fans to a fantastic Christmas Eve by continuing their remarkable reversal of fortune with a well-fought win over the NFC East leading New York Giants, 35-20. The game’s completion ended what had been a remarkable week for Washington that began with a beatdown of the hated Cowboys and continued as every team that needed to lose to put the Redskins into playoff position did so en masse. It was......

The Washington Redskins doubled their Pro Bowlers from last year yesterday as wide receiver Santana Moss and tackle Chris Samuels were named to the NFC squad for this year's game. However, for the second straight year none of the players on the Redskins defense, which is currently ranked eighth in the NFL, will be making the trip. It seems that the defense's lack of sacks and turnovers from early in the year hurt them......

Going into the weekend, Redskins fans had a lengthy wishlist. A New England win over Tampa Bay, a Pittsburgh victory in Minneapolis, and Atlanta loss in frozen Chicago (which was aided and abetted by Rex Grossman, which means we can no longer say that Steve Spurrier never did anything for us), and, of course, a December victory over arch-rival Dallas Sunday evening at the Jack. So, umm…check, check, check, and, CHECK. The end result......

After the Washington Redskins and the Arizona Cardinals slogged their way through a first half that made an outright joke of the notion of professional athletics, Washington got even and then got over by a 17-13 score in a game that kept their razor thin playoff hopes alive. The first half was largely given over to a surreal orgy of turnovers, mutually engaged in by both squads. Mark Brunell offered up a trio of......

The fact that the scene at the Edward Jones Dome went down against a soundtrack of frequent deadly silence tells you everything you need to know about where the Washington Redskins and the St. Louis Rams have found themselves this season. With big divisional contests taking place across the country, the Skins and Rams and their play-for-pride sideshow felt like it was taking place in an alternate universe. Probably the most interesting thing in......

For a football team climbing toward a playoff berth from the mushy middle of the conference standings, the way that ball bounces can make you or break you. Last week, after the win over Philadelphia, the fortunate bounces emerged as a talking point among the Redskins’ players—all of whom seemed keenly aware how important it was that they got to those loose balls whenever the need presented itself. Against Tampa Bay, however, the Skins......

A week after a close loss in Denver, the Redskins once again went on the road against an AFC West foe, once again played tough football, once again put themselves in position to grab the victory. But once again, their best efforts weren’t enough to beat the home team – in this case, the Kansas City Chiefs – losing by a 28-21 margin. Last week, it was Bronco defender Ian Gold who got his hand......

Joe Gibbs is not the first coach to get riled up about the “tuck rule” – that hair-splitting, pantomime-based judgment call that differentiates between a quarterback fumble and an incomplete pass – but he’s the latest in a long line of people that needs to get over it. Sure, it’s frustrating, and yes, it took a potentially game-tying safety away from the Washington defense, but it’s just a single play. It’s pretty to think......

For three quarters on Sunday, the Redskins rode a solid gameplan, gritty defense and a scintillating performance from Mark Brunell, taking a lead on the visiting Seattle Seahawks. In the end, however, it took some late-game heroics and a few lucky breaks to secure the win and remain undefeated as the team pulled out a 20-17 overtime win. What’s to be done when your team has a peerless defensive side but an offense that’s......

Coming into this weekend's game against the Seattle Seahawks, the Redskins have a little to buzz about. Their dramatic, come-from-behind victory in Dallas went a long way in sating fans' appetites for victories. Santana Moss has put up a pair of fantastic games at wideout. The defense: as good as it gets. And even though the NFC East hasn't presented a team that's likely to bring home a championship this year, the division seems poised......

For three and a half quarters last night, the first meeting between the Redskins and the despised Dallas Cowboys played out according to the worst fears of hometown fans. The offense was cover-your-eyes awful. The Skins committed turnovers and penalties in the face of a swarming rush. Dallas’ defense stacked the line, keeping Clinton Portis in check and forcing the ball into the hands of Mark Brunell. And Mark Brunell obliged the home crowd......

It may boil down to one of those oddball statistical flukes that sports devotees cling to as a higher sign -- like how the team who wins the media week Madden contest always wins the title -- but for the first 27 years of the Super Bowl era in the NFL, there was no game more important than the opening game. No team that lost their opener ever went on to win the Super......

Last year, the Washington Redskins were a football team only a neoconservative could love. A season opening touchdown run by Clinton Portis kicked off the campaign with a shocking, awesome touchdown run. But by midseason, the team had gotten bogged down. It was clear that the defensive unit was capable of winning the war, but week in and week out, it was just as evident that the offense was taking the field without a......