NFL Week 8

My fantasy teams for the most part are looking pretty good. I have one team that is up 60 points coming into tonight. That gap may lessen because the opposing team has Jordan Reed and Demarco Murray. I still have Jason Whitten in that league, so I doubt they will make up that difference. Another team has a 30 point lead with the other team having Dez Bryant. Bryant is certainly capable of a monster game. It's good that the Redskins have a fantastic seconda..  man I almost made it through that sentence with a straight face. The team I'm worried about is my third team. I basically need Colt Mccoy to outscore Demarco Murray by a few points. It's not looking good for that league, and yes I was desperate with Cam Newton facing Seattle's defense. Next week I will have to shuffle things around. Brian Quick who has been a solid and consistent piece of all my teams is done for the season with a shoulder/collarbone injury. Also Matt Forte is going to be on a bye week next week, and I have him on two of my three teams.

Redskins vs. Cowboys

The Redskins defense looks decent in the first quarter, but they aren't getting much pressure on Romo. If we can't get some pressure on him on third down without blitzing then it might be a long night for us. The Cowboy offensive line looks like the real deal. They might have the best O-line in the league, but it could also be that Hazlett has no imagination in the way he uses his pass rushers. The defensive linemen for the Redskins just line up and rush straight forward over and over again using the same moves. Jarvis Jenkins is out with a foot injury which will hurt. He's one of those big bodies that consistently pushes double teams backwards. Kerrigan finally gets home on the last play of the half on a stunt.. finally Hazlett does something different! Kerrigan is continuing what looks like it could be a strong Pro-Bowl type of year. He might be the only Pro Bowler on the Redskins. Hazlett brings an all out blitz on third and eleven with one of the Redskin middle linebackers coming free, and Romo is down in pain. This has happened a couple of times this game. Romo isn't adjusting protection because he doesn't know where the blitz is coming from or if it's coming. I hope he's OK, but I wouldn't cry if he was out for the game. In comes Brandon Weeden, and he hands it off to Murray for a big run.. the one guy the Redskins need to stop and they can't do it. Breeland and Ammerson are both playing very well for being so inexperienced. Ammerson has played well in his first two seasons, but Breeland was the one on Dez Bryant at the goalline and came up with two huge plays. It's the 4th quarter and we can't stop the run. No one covers Whitten on a short pass, and it's a tie ballgame once again. Romo is back for a final drive! Big blitz from Merriweather and a fumble! Kerrigan falls on it, but of course they go to commercial before you can see what happened. Somehow the ball got in the hands of a Dallas player. The refs have called a great game thus far, but they just missed a big hold on a Romo pass for a first down on 3rd and 8 from the goalline. Intentional grounding on Romo on 3rd down, Dallas will punt.

The Redskins offense has had a good break with the Cowboys turning the ball over. Mccoy then does exactly what Cousins did to get benched. He threw the ball into double coverage for an INT. He comes back to throw a bomb to Desean Jackson. It was a little short, but he wasn't going to overthrow Jackson anyway. Now that's three passes he's tried to get to Jackson that were a short. Jackson adjusted and had a chance to catch these next two, but failed to come down with them. Mccoy came out this second half and so far is playing smart. So far he's set two audibles that set up big runs for Alfred Morris. Morris is proving once again that he is a beast if given the chance. Feed him the ball in the right situations and the Redskins march right down the field. Touchdown Morris, and the Redskins take the lead in a tight game. Colt's adjustments in the run game opened up a play action pass for Jackson to give the Redskins the ball in the red zone. Mccoy shows his toughness on a QB draw for a 7 yard TD to take the lead. The Redskins are dinking and dunking their way down the field, and a short pass to Jordan Reed leaves them with a 4th and 1 situation. It looks like the Redskins might go for it. Derrell Young for a first down! We need to take the air out of the ball here. The more time we take off the clock the better, and then we can kick a field goal. Mistakes killed that idea.

Dez Bryant is a beast. I can't explain it any other way. He just made a rediculous move against two Redskins defenders and then stretched out for a touchdown. The Redskins have been able to stop Demarco Murray in spots, but they've also been gashed by his tough running on a few plays. It looks like it's getting harder and harder to stop the Cowboys. Henry Melton is playing like he did in his prime with Chicago. He has been very impressive this game.

Niles Paul just made a huge mistake on a holding penalty that negated a good ten yard run for Morris. It's immediately followed by a delay of game penalty. We can't keep making these dumb mistakes and expect to beat a team with a 6-1 record when we are the visiting team. False start on Compton hurts with the game tied in a tough game. Delay of game on a critical 3rd and 5 then a tough sack to put the Redskins out of Field Goal range. This is a disappointing end to the drive in a close game. Big mistakes made by an inexperienced quarterback who up until now has played a scrappy tough game.

Overtime

Redskins win the toss, and will take the ball. A touchdown will end the game. I love the first two playcalls so far in OT. Helu cuts to the wrong side on 2nd down to lose yardage. Jordan Reed bails them out on 3rd and short. HOLY CRAP! Jordan Reed makes a highlight reel catch on the sideline. Refs miss a minor facemask call. Morris turns a loss into a 2 yard gain. It's 3rd and short again. They run one of those screens that I hate on third and short to Reed, but as it has been over and over again they stop him short of the first down. Gruden has an unnatural love for that play on 3rd and short, but it's too predictable and doesn't work very often. Running comeback routes or curls or running a draw or sweep works more often. Forbath takes the lead with a field goal.

Dallas has the ball and we just need to stop them. Once again we can't stop the run. Riley makes a beautiful play on Murray on a check down throw. Riley makes another beautiful play on a fake all out blitz on Whitten. Game's on the line 4th down and 3. Cowboys take a timeout. Romo shaken by the pressure chokes once again. Redskins win! Wow! What a game!

Colt didn't play a perfect game, but he gave strong scrappy performance. All the experts called him 'noodle-armed', but I didn't see any of that. Accuracy was a problem on some throws, but he put it where his teammates could make a play. The biggest thing is that Colt helped to get the run game going by making some great adjustments. If the Redskins run game is going then we can beat anyone.

Other Thoughts

Who else is tired of political ads all over the television? I just saw a TV ad for Ed Gillespie who is running against Mark Warner. Gillespie's ad says that he supports the Redskins name and we should elect him because Dan Snyder should be able to name his business whatever he wants. This completely ignores all of the real issues that matter to people. I love the Redskins, and I don't want their name to change. I would much rather have my favorite football team be renamed something else than to have Gillespie in office. It makes me sick that he would use my football team as a crutch to get votes instead of tackling the tough issues and answering the glaring questions we all have.