Redskins Win Big; Bruins Fall Hard

It was certainly a tale of two very different weekends for those teams. I didn't see the Redskins game, but this is one of those games where the stat line tells you all you need to know. The Redskins dominated the Texans in every aspect of the game and scored a much needed win. This preserves Mark Brunell's job for the time being, as a loss to Houston could have been the sort of jolt that precipitated major changes. A lot of people will say "Don't make too much out of win X. They only beat Team Y." I'm not of that philosophy. The NFL's a tough league. You don't get easy games, period. There's too much talent on every team for you to take any victory to the bank. I remember Michael Wilbon a few years ago writing about how the Redskins shouldn't be confident because they only beat the "sorry, no-account New England Patriots" (his words). Of course, that was the same year they went on to win the Super Bowl. So a win is a win, and good for the Redskins. But we will see how they do against Jacksonville, which is unquestionably a tougher game.

The Bruins game was a real disappointment. They absolutely dominated Washington in the first half, and looked like the much better team. But they couldn't put the ball in the end zone and let the Huskies get a late scoring drive, so they went into half time with a small lead rather than what very well could have been closer to 28-3. And then in the second half, of course, things fell apart. They still didn't get outplayed in the way they were outplaying Washington earlier, but they didn't look good. It was a very bad loss to have that sort of advantage and still find a way to lose. A lot of people are after Karl Dorrell right now, but I'm not one of them. It's true that he hasn't turned the program into a powerhouse. But I think he has done a decent B- job as coach, in terms of results and recruiting. And if you've hired a young head coach who's an alumnus of the school, I think you can't expect immediate big-time success. It will take time, and I think he should be given that time. Particularly since he's a class act and he brings integrity and respect to the program win or lose. That said, he really does need to mix up the playcalling, which is way too conservative and unimaginative on offense. They're too reluctant to pass the ball, particularly on early downs, and that hurts the effectiveness of both the running game and the passing game.