round the way, us DC folk call this "Dallas Week." Now, I'm no expert on football jargon in the Dallas,Texas metropolitan area, but I can almost guarantee they don't go around calling this "Washington Week" or "Redskins Week." Like Duke fans do to Terps fans, Cowboys followers look down on us lowly Redskins disciples like peons whose franchise does not deserve to be mentioned when comparing fan bases and historical significance in football. But remember when the Joker walks up to Rachel Dawes and says, "you look nervous...I like that" and then licks his lips? Well that's how I feel about being disrespected by Cowboys fans. All week I've been licking my lips too and saying "I like that" just like the Joker did. Because they write us off, they say we aren't on their competitive level, and that we'll forever remain the cellar dweller team of the NFC East. Let them say what they want, "I like that."
Tomorrow really is bigger than football. It's a well-polished and highly-effective product of dollar spending facing off against a gritty and disrespected bunch of goof balls and thugs. In every comparable way, the Cowboys and Redskins could not be any more different. The Cowboys like to vocally advertise their success at every available opportunity while the Redskins would rather blog about their fantasy teams. The Cowboys are a sleek red Ferrari, a speed demon built as a physical example of high class. The Redskins are an F-450, complete with mudflaps and plenty of nice sized dents in the bumper. Wade Phillips is a bigger man with both white hair and plenty of experience. Jim Zorn is a younger unorthodox character that is likable, talkative,and still very green. Quite simply, each team serves as an antithesis of the other.
What worries me most about tomorrow is not Tony Romo, who will find a way to turn the ball over at least twice as he's gotten accustomed to this season. What worries me most about tomorrow is not even Terell Owens, who Green Bay proved can be effectively taken out of a game. What worries me most about tomorrow is not even the Cowboys defense, who the Eagles hung nearly 40 points on a few weeks back. What truly worries me is the violent running pair of Marion Barber and Felix Jones. A few weeks back before the Packers game, Timmy was calling out loud for better inclusion of Felix Jones to this offense. He got his wish. Jones blew the doors off the Packers defense and proved why he was drafted with so much hype. Meanwhile, "The Barbarian" proved his worth almost on every single touch, putting brutal blows on opposing tackles before they could take him down first. If there's one thing we've seen from the Redskins that really does give them a handful it's a powerful run game, as evidenced by the brute strength of Brandon Jacobs. But there's an intangible here, and it's heart.
No team in the entire NFL gets up for playing the Cowboys quite like the Redskins do.
Ever year they're expected to beat us down well and good, and every year we give them more of a fight than they were prepared to handle. Sometimes, as in last year's game in Dallas, talent overcomes adrenaline. But sometimes it doesn't, as proven in last year's playoff-clinching victory at Fed-Ex. The difference this year is a Redskins offense that has appeared to find itself in the last two weeks, with 7 receivers getting touches last week thanks to the refreshingly creative play calling of Coach Zorn. There's an urgency and an aggressiveness with this offensive corps that hasn't been in DC for ages. This really really really could be the offense that proves to all that the Redskins deserve a place at the adult table in the NFC East. The first legitimate move to making that happen starts tomorrow, when the Redskins defeat the Dallas Cowboys 28-21.
all Hail to the Burgundy and Gold.
1 comment:
Congrats Tyler, guess we both earned those "W"s this week, well the Chargers still played like crap in the first half. Thank goodness for 4th quarters! Sincerely, your biggest SoCal fan!!
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