Previewing Saints at Redskins

Friday, 12 September 2008 22:37

The Exile's Blog

The other night, at a pleasant cocktail party for what could not have been more than 30 or 40 young mid-Atlantic suburban types, I am talking to a guy from Baltimore who says that, mirabile dictu, not only is he Mel Kiper Jr.’s actual, coterminous property line next door neighbor down in Ballimer, but that this other guy, at the same party mind you, standing just right over there, was Mike Mayock’s actual brother.



Wow, it’s like one degree of NFL draft separation hell!   I was thisclose to seeing Mel Kiper Jr. and Mike Mayock get it on personally in a shirtless slapbox match.  And people still wonder why I choose to live in suburban Philadelphia.

I was on the verge of hitting him with the back of my NFL draft geek shovel by letting HIM know that not only did I get Mike Detillier’s draft guide two years ago for only $19.99, plus shipping and handling, but that I actually spoke to Mike Detillier’s personal wife on the phone when I ordered it.

At the last second, deciding not to be a snob about it, I just nodded and went over to the bar and got a glass of Jim Beam about the size of a 55-gallon drum.  No reason to show off in front of these folks, I figure.

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Does anybody really have any idea yet how good or bad the Redskins are right now?  I sure don’t.

Their organization is always fundamentally flawed as long as Daniel Snyder owns the team.  With a mercurial hands-on owner who insists upon being called “Mr. Snyder” (when people call me “Mr. Exile” I spin around and look for my dad), no head coach or staff is ever going to command the total respect of the players.  If you want to see which are the long-term successful organizations in the NFL, look to see which have the owners who maintain the healthiest businesslike relationship with the rest of the organization.

For all the rap Tom Benson gets on various issues, he has largely delegated the football decisions to either football people or Mickey Loomis.  And Loomis, who in my mind remains, as an NFL general manager, one hell of an accountant, has at least figured out that to maintain his position, he’d better find out how to listen to actual football people.

Even more importantly, he also seems to be getting more selective at which ones to listen to, as I remain convinced that HC Sean Payton was a fine choice (although I had a slight preference for Mike Martz at the time on a roll-the-dice theory), and the scouting staff shakeup indicates that he is still trying to figure out how to get the right people to find the best players.  Let’s see if the latest scouting staff shakeup (the departure of Rick Mueller in the off-season) bears real fruit in the next two drafts.

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Back to the Redskins.

On their 387th coach since Snyder took over in 1997 or so, their organization continues to drift.  New HC Jim Zorn had an absolute deer-headlight look in their season opener nine days ago, and it’s not an unfair question whether or not the Redskins have any sense of his new system on offense.

In their 16-7 loss the to Giants, who have a fine defense, they struggled to move the ball, and Zorn’s decisions were, well, indecisive.  They still have a young QB who has never had enough time to settle into a single system, RB Clinton Portis hasn’t had the wheels fall off yet, and their WRs Antwan Randle-El and Santana Moss are smaller, quicker guys, but they have no real possession receiver other than TE Chris Cooley.

If we weren’t so suddenly banged up on defense (DT Antwan Lake, LB Scott Fujita, SS Roman Harper and nickel back Randall Gay are all apparently out Sunday, and our best CB Mike McKenzie remains a game-time decision), I’d like to say this is a pretty good matchup for us, but I just have no handle right now on how this all shakes out Sunday.  I’d like to think we can still get enough pass rush with the front four to confound young Redskins QB Jason Campbell into not slicing us to death.

Meanwhile, although the offense will be missing WR Marques Colston for a few weeks, the last time he missed three weeks (middle of 2006) we exploded on offense for those three games.  The difference maker again is QB Drew Brees, who can make a hero out of anybody who can get open and catch three out of four passes.  As long as his OL is healthy, Brees keeps us in pretty much every game.  Against Dallas in 2006, we were a little beat up and I swear Brees threw a TD pass to some guy who won a drawing at halftime.

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The biggest difference maker for the Saints on Sunday will be The Exile and his Middle Child, who will be in DC for the game in Saints gear.  The longtime companion, like the Exile the spawn of Depression-era parents, nevertheless does not yet agree that age six is old enough to learn how to give fans of opposing teams in their own stadium a digital gesture of uncertain descent but unmistakable meaning.  I imagine TLC and I will have this discussion again on Monday at some point.

Monday, June 7, 2026.

But I’d rather he learn it from me than on the school playground. And I am not a believer in abstinence-only education, because teaching swear words to young children not only leads to experimentation, it leads to absolutely unbroadcastable but hysterical home videos.  This is a parent’s responsibility.  Besides, the Redskins fans, in my estimation the most smug fans in the NFL not within 20 miles of The Castro, deserve it anyway.

The bottom line is that the Saints are right now a far better organized and better-coached team.  Despite the injuries on defense, the key player on both the OL and DL for the Saints are ready to go, as is their quarterback and Reggie Bush, who will have an astonishing year.  Close-knit teams with injuries seem to have a way of closing ranks in difficult situations.  On the other hand, the Redskins, although healthier, have not through pre-season and their season opener impressed anyone as regards timing, focus and discipline, particularly on offense.

Saints 28, Redskins 20.

Next week:  Our report from the Saints victory at Danny Snyder Memorial Coliseum and Cash Vacuum, as well as some thoughts on recognition-worthy improvements at the Times-Picayune.