Redskins Face a Must-Win Against Arizona

Something amazing happened at FedEx field last week. The revamped Washington Redskins took on a New York Giants team that had beaten them in ten out of the last eleven meetings. The Giants entered the game somewhat hobbled, with several defensive starters out of the lineup with injuries. But New York still possessed a core of players on offense – such as freight-train running back Brandon Jacobs and his swifter counterpart Ahmad Bradshaw – who have made beating the pulp out of the Redskins an annual event akin to the feats of strength in Festivus.

None of that sad history seemed to matter to the Redskins Sunday; the team put together a complete game on offense, defense and special teams, controlling the game and coasting to the first win by more than ten points over any opponent since the 2009 season.

The performance answered – at least temporarily – some of the questions pundits mulled over all off-season: Yes Rex Grossman can be an effective NFL quarterback; yes the Redskins defense looks vastly improved this season; and yes Kyle Shanahan deserves to be an NFL offensive coordinator and is not here simply because of daddy.

Certainly the Redskins are no strangers to singular glimpses of greatness; even during the team's "Dark Decades" the last twenty years, some remarkable victories dot the record books. Last year, the Redskins beat the eventual Super Bowl champion, the Green Bay Packers, as well as the playoff-bound Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles, despite limping to a dismal 6-10 record.

[Note: Yes, I realize the Eagles and Michael Vick then returned the favor by destroying the Redskins 59-28 on Monday Night Football in a game that better resembled a bad video game match up between grandma and the dude who lives in his mom's basement with his best friend XBox 360, subscribes to GamePro, GameInformer, and PCgamer, and spends his spare time camping outside of Gamestop to get the first copy of the new version of Madden every year. But I digress.]

What the Redskins have not done in recent history is establish any semblance of consistency. Since 2008, the Redskins have strung together consecutive wins a grand total of three times, with two of those coming during the grand illusion of Jim Zorn's first eight games as head coach.

Now the chatter coming from Redskin Park is that this year's team is different and maybe even "special." If that's the case and this team is poised to begin a new era of Redskins football, then a loss to Arizona would be unacceptable.

The Cardinals do not have terrible players. With Kevin Kolb now at quarterback tossing to Larry Fitzgerald – the baddest dude with dreadlocks since that guy in Jumpin Jack Flash – the red birds have some talent on offense. The Cards have some talent on defense too, but face the same struggles the Redskins did last year when they transitioned to a 3-4 scheme. In last week's win over Carolina, Arizona allowed Cam Newton to throw for the most yards for a quarterback making his NFL debut in league history.

But most important, no matter who is on the field for the angry birds, they cannot escape the fact that they play for the Arizona Cardinals. There are some immutable truths that doom certain professional franchises to perpetual ineptitude. The Los Angeles Clippers, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Washington Generals and Arizona Cardinals seemingly exist as the cosmic counterbalance to all things successful and good. For any legitimate team, a loss to any of these habitual bottom-dwellers should sting worse than a Phoenix sunburn.

Then again, the Redskins failed in the recent past against a similarly cursed team: In 2009, the Detroit Lions were riding a 19-game losing streak; the Redskins made the trip up Eight Mile, and in front of one of the smallest crowd to watch an NFL game at Ford's Field, lost to the hapless Lions 19-14. That game reportedly spelled the end of the Jim Zorn era, and started the process of bringing Mike Shanahan to Washington.

During the past ten years, the only thing consistent about the Redskins has been the team’s inconsistency. Last week's win against the Giants was nice, but meaningless if the ‘Skins lose to the L.A. Clippers of football this weekend.

Prediction and fantasy football notes: Redskins 38 Cardinals 17. Rex Grossman will pass for 350 yards and two touchdowns, with 125 of those yards and a score going to Santana Moss. Tim Hightower breaks a long one and finishes with more than 100 yards rushing and a touchdown. Chris Cooley has a good game with 75 yards receiving and a touchdown. The Redskins defense bottles up running back Beanie Wells, and forces Kevin Kolb into at least two turnovers. Larry Fitzgerald gets some catches and yards, but no touchdowns. Arizona tight end Todd Heap has the best day for the Cardinals, fantasy-wise, catching five passes for 90 yards and a score.