Redskins Must Avoid 'Case of the Mondays'

There's a classic scene in the movie Office Space where main character Peter Gibbons comes into his office on a Monday morning, forlorn and depressed about the beginning of yet another boring week at a job he hates where nothing seems to go right for him. Another employee walks by and, in a condescending voice says, "Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays." The Washington Redskins and their fans may just be able to relate.

The line encapsulated everything that was wrong with life at Initech, a company overridden with bad managers, a disgruntled workforce and enough folks who showed up to work simply to pick up a paycheck.

Sadly, "the Mondays" and many of the themes from the movie seem intended for the ‘Skins, who prepare for a Monday night showdown with DC’s most hated enemy, the Dallas Cowboys.

Since the 2000 season, the Redskins have been besieged by their own nightmarish "Mondays," as they've floundered their way to a miserable 3-11 record on Monday Night Football, including four straight losses at home.

The Redskins’ troubles in the Monday Night spotlight have highlighted the team's freefall from the ranks of the NFL elite. The Redskins haven't just lost games on MNF, they've made an art of receiving humiliating butt whoopings.

Last year, the Philadelphia Eagles strolled into town and  The Eagles raced to a 28-0 first quarter lead and ran away with a leave-the-stadium-before-halftime 59-28 debacle. The year before featured a 45-12 shellacking at the hands of the New York Giants and a less-gory 27-17 loss to the Eagles. In 2008, it seemed all of Pittsburgh invaded FedEx Field waving their "Terrible Towelettes" to watch a quasi-home win as the Steelers pounded out a 23-8 victory.

Add to this list 30-plus-point losses to the Eagles and Green Bay Packers earlier in the decade, and the Redskins’ MNF performances show demonstrate many of the Office Space-like issues that plagued the team. A revolving door of head coaches and poor personnel decisions by the team's management made the crew at Initech look like graduates from Harvard Business School.

So what hope is there for the Redskins as they prepare for yet another primetime matchup against a formidable foe?

In the movie, Peter undergoes a botched session of hypnotherapy, and decides the best way to deal with his terrible job is to just not go anymore. His life improves almost instantly when he decides to stop going to work.

While hypnotherapy may be an option, it's unlikely that head coach Mike Shanahan and owner Dan Snyder would support the Redskins simply not showing up when at Cowboys Stadium.

Luckily, as many parallels as there are between the Redskins and Initech, the most important one may be with how the star eventually escapes his horrible existence at the company.

At the end of the movie, a disgruntled and overweight Initech employee named Milton – who battles with his overbearing boss throughout the movie – takes matters into his own hands and burns down the building. The fire ushers in a new era of happiness for Peter and Milton, who both break free of the chains that bound them to Initech and their former selves.

Does any of this sound familiar to you? A malcontent and overweight employee who is hell-bent on bringing down the company battling with his boss? Perhaps the Redskins' Milton was the now departed Albert Haynesworth, and the team's fire was the housecleaning that General Manager Bruce Allen and Shanahan have done to get rid of him and most of the roster they inherited two years ago.

The Redskins remain an imperfect team. They lack depth at several key positions, have a quarterback who has played well but always seems precariously close to serving up more turnovers than a bakery, and are still working to separate themselves from the losing history that looms so close behind them. But, for all of its flaws, this team is proving every week that it’s a better team.

Last week against Arizona, they reverted to moments befitting the Initech Redskins, with costly interceptions and the eventual loss of a fourth quarter lead at home. Yet this ‘Skins team found a way to overcome those mistakes, and came away with required big plays in the clutch to escape with a narrow but impressive victory.

Led by new players such as Tim Hightower, Roy Helu, Ryan Kerrigan, and OJ Atogwe, many of these Redskins never played for the Initech Redskins. Tomorrow night they should get over “the Mondays” and serve up the first "happy case of the Tuesdays" for fans in a long time.

Prediction: The Cowboys are really banged up coming into the game: Pro Bowl wide receiver Miles Austin will not play, while the statuses of quarterback Tony Romo, running back Felix Jones, and wide receiver Dez Bryant remain in question. If any of them play, they will be doing so with lingering injuries.

The Redskins offense has looked sharp this year, with the exception of some miscues in the red zone. The defense has looked impressive and might be bolstered by the return of LaRon Landry who hopes to return from an injury. The Cowboys offensive line features several new starters, which may be partly to blame for the beating Romo has taken. If the Redskins can keep defensive end DeMarcus Ware from causing any turnovers in the backfield, they should win this game easily … even on the road … even on Monday night. Redskins 31 Cowboys 21