Who to Root For: Week 12

I apologize for taking a week off only 1 week into this segment, but sickness and lack of internet took control.  So this is a huge week for the Redskins, as they can hopefully gain a game on the Wildcard spot as well as the Division lead if all goes to plan.  The most important part here though, is to win themselves.  But for those of you who are struggling to decide who to root for, I'll see if I can help.

NO vs. DAL: Well it's a little late for this one, but you should have been pulling for the Cowboys, and now should be hating Roy Williams even more than you did before because he can't manage to hold onto the ball and likes to cost Dallas their 3rd straight win under Jason Garrett.

GB vs. ATL: This is a Win/Win, but the better option would be for Atlanta to win as I predict they will win the NFC South, and we should hope they put some distance between themselves and the rest of their division.  We have the tie-breaker over Green Bay so a loss for them would put them only 1 game ahead of us with a tough schedule ahead of them. So go Falcons!

JAC vs. NYG: This one is easy, go Jaguars! Remember, AFC vs. NFC we always cheer for... that's right, AFC!

MIN vs. WAS: Hail to the Redskins!

KC vs. SEA: AFC vs. NFC; go Chiefs! (A very winnable one for them as well).

TB vs. BAL: Go Ravens! I also believe the Ravens will show the world how mediocre Tampa Bay really is.

PHI vs. CHI: Another Win/Win for us, and there are 2 schools of thought on this one.  If you think the Skins have a chance at winning the division, you pull for the Bears. Or if you're like me, and will be taking the conservative road and hoping for a Wildcard spot, you pull for the Eagles as we already have the tie-breaker over the Bears and they have a tough schedule ahead.  Either way, the Redskins and their fans should be happy that this game is happening.

SF vs. ARI: Doesn't matter a whole lot in the scheme of things but I'll be going for San Fran as they're the underdog.

There are a lot of opportunities here for Washington to move up in the NFC playoff picture, but they have to take care of business at home against the Vikes for any of this to matter. Here's to an exciting and fruitful week 11!

Wolfpack Lose; Make Me look Stupid.

So I'll be honest; my prediction yesterday that the Wolfpack would win handily was an understatement of what I truly believed.  I had no faith in the Terps, and thought that the Wolfpack would pass all over them and run up the score on their way to the Atlantic Division title. Our play calling is where I will be placing the blame for this one.  We made some mental errors as well, and yes the officiating was horrible, but NC State never deserved to win this game after the 1st quarter.  It was a route, and the score is way too close for how the game was played.  Torrey Smith is a monster, and I truly hope he is a Redskin next year.  He's a playmaker with Special Teams capabilities.  Over 200 yards receiving and 4 TDs.  You would think that Mike Archer, DC for NC State, would have found him on the field each and every down and put 2 men on him.  Maybe not, perhaps I'm stupid for wanting to shut down their best player and make them beat us with the other 10 men on the field. 
I specifically remember before the last touchdown pass to Smith saying (outloud to my dad), "Here comes another TD for Smith.  He's single covered on the far side of the field with no safety help."  It happened just as I knew it would, to which I thought: "If I can see that coming, shouldn't a Division I coach be able to?".

Oh well, on to the Meineke Car Care Bowl!

Big Day for Wolfpack

Today is the day that all Wolfpack fans have been looking forward to since the victory over UNC last Saturday.  Win and they're in.  It's that simple.  But as any NC State fan knows, it is never that easy.  Being a die hard fan as I am, I've been thinking of different scenarios all week how State could find a way to lose.  Maryland is no slouch, but they're definitely a team that the Wolfpack should beat.  It will come down to which team can get the key stops, as both teams have great offenses.
As I sit here writing this, I am watching College GameDay and Kirk Herbstreit just picked Maryland to win, and even though I think he's only doing it because he picked Florida State to win the division, I can partially agree with his reasoning about NC State feeling the pressure. 
In order for NC State to win there will be two players that will have to play great games.  The first is Russell WIlson. He needs to play mistake-free football and limit the posessions for the Terps.  If Russell can use his legs when he needs to and not throw more than 1 pick I think our offense will have done its job.  On the other side of the football, we need All-World LB Nate Irving to step up and play like we all know he can.  If he can have a game like he did against Wake Forest, there's no way that Maryland can control the clock or the scoreboard. 

Prediction: 35-24; NC State (Like I'd really pick the Terps)

Wolfpack Stay Alive in Atlantic Division Race

NC State came out sluggish against a motivated Tar Heel team and fell behind early in the ball game.  The crowd was motivated, and wanted to break the 3 game slump that UNC had been in versus the Wolfpack.  Russell Wilson was accurate, but too many miscues were causing State to keep giving the ball back.
It was a relatively uneventful game, until the second half.
The entire game can be boiled down to 2 key plays in the second half.  The first being a 2-yard Touchdown pass to Owen Spencer, that in actuality traveled over 20 yards from Wilson.  The ball bounced off 2 UNC defenders and just fell into Spencer's outstretched hands for the Touchdown to take the lead.  The next big play was an 87 yard punt return for a TD by TJ Graham, who finally showed all Wolfpack fans why the team has so much faith in him even after all the muffed punts and east to west runs.  This gave the Wolfpack a comfortable 2 score lead that UNC was never able to overcome despite a great effort. 
This sets up an epic showdown in College Park next weekend where if the Pack wins, they're in to the ACC Championship where they will meet up with the Hokies of Virginia Tech for a rematch.  I predict a Wolfpack win for Saturday: 35-28.

Go Pack!

Redskins Future

So the way this last week went, including the slaughter of the Redskins by the Eagles on Monday Night, got me thinking about where this team is going for the future.  I figured I would break it down into the rest of this year, the upcoming offseason, and beyond.

This Season:

The rest of this year, I would assume that personnel is pretty much set since the trade deadline has come and gone, and we passed on Randy Moss so I would assume we're not trying to make any big splashes anytime soon.  Now the rest of the Redskins schedule is nothing to laugh at, but I'll lay it out like I see it happening:

at Titans: (Win 5-5). Washington is on a 2 game losing streak and just got their bell rung by the Eagles. I see the Redskins rebounding nicely and the defense having something to prove.  They're good at getting turnovers, and up until now, the Titans are good at giving them.

vs. Vikings: (Win 6-5). The Vikings are starting to look worse than Dallas with an old man QB and a weak secondary.  I truly believe that Haslett will find a way to shut down Peterson and Hall will have another record day against Favre.

at Giants: (Loss 6-6). The Giants have had the Redskins number in recent years and I don't see that ending in the Meadowlands. McNabb will be on his back a lot.

vs. Bucs: (Win 7-6). By the time it gets to this point in the season, each game will be a must win and the Redskins will not let the Buccaneers (who I still do not believe in) be the ones to knock them out of the playoff race.

at Cowboys (Win 8-6). The Cowboys are not as good as the Giants made them look last week. The Redskins win again, and this time in impressive fashion.

at Jaguars (Win 9-6). I don't see the Jaguars as that great of a team. They lack a pass rush and aren't incredible on offense.  Garrard is definitely an underrated QB, but Orakpo should have a big game and put the pressure on.

vs Giants (Loss 9-7). It pains me to make this one a loss, and probably leave Washington out of the playoffs, but I just don't see the Redskins winning unless the Giants have already wrapped up home field throughout the playoffs and are sitting most starters.  Even with a trip to the playoffs on the line, the Redskins won't be able to overcome an impressive pass rush, and the leagues leading rusher.

The Offseason:

I see some old veterans calling it quits or being forced out the door. Expect this to be the last season for guys like Phillip Daniels and Casey Rabach. This offseason will be a big one, but it's so hard to predict with all the CBA talks still going on, so bear with me as I will probably re-do this part in one way or another 10 more times.

Free Agency:
(All Free Agency information is coming from footballsfuture.com)

QB:
Nothing notable here, maybe re-sign Rex for 1 more year.

RB:
Portis will be out but even with some big names, I would only consider Shanny to look at the mid-level guys because he's always been a guy that believed he could get a 1000 yard rusher from anywhere. The players I would consider are Mike Bell from Philly or Mewelde Moore from Pittsburgh.

WR:
This is a place where we may make a few moves.  Galloway and Roydell Williams will be gone.  The logical answers here may be Jacoby Jones who has experience with Kyle Shanahan from the Texans or Legedu Naanee who has good size and is still fairly young.

TE:
Nothing.

OL:
No names to list here, because I admittedly have no idea who will be re-signed but I expect them to make moves and get some interior linemen for depth.

DL:
Shanahan and Haslett may look to try and get another true Nose Tackle to free Haynesworth up to continue to play end and rush the QB.

DB:
If Washington can lock down a stud Free Safety I hope they do so here, and not let cost be an issue.  Landry is doing great, but is getting beat deep without a great cover guy backing him up.

LB:
Our OLB starters are set in my opinion with Orakpo and Alexander.  London Fletcher will need his replacement of the future to come in this year, and McIntosh is just too small to survive long. Also add more depth.

Draft:

Round 1: Either Julio Jones, WR, Bama or Rodney Hudson, C, FSU depending on draft spot and free agency
Round 2: depending on first round but I would guess either best WR or OL available
Round 5: ILB (Hopefully Nate Irving)
Round 5: RB
Round 6: Best Player Available
Round 7: Best Player Available

I hope to keep Albert Haynesworth and wait to draft a QB until the following offseason, but nothing would surprise me at this point. If you have a different opinion on the matter please post it in the comment section. I'd love to debate and discuss!

Feels good to be back on the blog.

I'm Back!

I was unfortunate and had my internet knocked out by a construction crew early Sunday afternoon, and it was finally brought back to me today by a great employee of Time Warner Cable. I will hand it to them, they have some great customer service. So back to the blogging!

Wolfpack Waste Wake 38-3

Things started slowly in the first half for the now 7-3 Wolfpack.  The offense wasn't hitting on all cylinders, and the defense was struggling getting Wake Forest off the field.  It was generally mistake-free football, but nothing to hang their hats on. The big news was that new kicker, Chris Hawthorne, could indeed hit a field goal.  The first half ended with a score of 10-3 NC State.
The second half was a completely different game.  The Wolfpack came out on their opening drive, marched down the field, and ended it with a 38 yard screen pass for an Owen Spencer Touchdown.  This was the beginning of the end for the Deacs, as they proceeded to go 3 and out, and even after stopping the Pack and forcing them to punt, they fumbled the ball and gave it right back.  Russell Wilson went on to rush for 2 more Touchdowns, making his total come to 4 on the afternoon.  Wilson now stands at 2nd all time in ACC total touchdowns, behind, you guessed it: Philip Rivers.  Nate Irving also had a career game, setting the NC State record for Tackles for Loss at 8.
The glaring negative on the day was the lack of a rushing attack.  The Wolfpack totaled 59 rushing yards on the day, with 17 of them coming from Russell Wilson.  Against a weaker Deamon Deacon team the weakness wasn't a huge issue, but if NC State plans on winning their remaining 2 games they better figure out a way to commit to the run a little more. Time of possession will be important against a Tar Heel team, fresh off a disappointing loss to Virginia Tech.
So as Tom O'Brien would say, let's enjoy the victory tonight, but tomorrow it's right back to work. Go Wolfpack!

Leave Clinton Portis Alone

Everyone knows that Clinton Portis is known for his interview antics, and enjoys wearing the occasional costume (although he hasn't done that in a few years).  Most recently his critics were on him for sporting a Phillies hat (seen above) on the same week that the Redskins are set to take on the Eagles on Monday Night Football.
I can understand poking fun at it, or even going as far as to ask him if he realized he was wearing it, but the media decided to take it as him supporting the city of Philadelphia over Washington?  This is absolutely absurd to me.  When Redskins Linebacker, Brian Orakpo, was asked about it he laughed and said that Portis probably "didn't know what team the hat was for".  He was simply trying to match his outfit.

Now this is why I love Clinton Portis, and am glad he's a member of MY Washington Redskins.  To have fun with the situation, he sported a Washington Nationals hat the very next day, and laughed it off saying he was showing good faith to his local DC sports team. 
Sports Media, please just get over yourselves and realize that aside from a little hiccup with the McNabb benching, you won't be finding any drama in the DC area anytime soon.

Greatest Hotel Guest EVER!

As I am sitting here at my second job, working the front desk diligently and making great fake smiles to all who pass, I am approached by the greatest hotel guest of all time!  She is an elderly woman, who screams at me that she is 89.  She isn't angry, she's just VERY hard of hearing, and grumpy.  It turns out that she is the "Soon to be Granny-in-Law"  of our Catering Manager, and she has been waiting on her "Soon to be Granddaughter-in-law" for an hour.  So she gives me a phone number to dial and yells "Tell her that Granny needs a yellow marker".  When the phone rings and nobody answers, she wants me to leave a voicemail with that exact message.  I do so, because the customer is always right.
I think this woman is entertaining, so I continue to go along with it.  She goes and sits down in a chair in the lobby, and with absolutely no exaggeration, she falls asleep within 10 seconds.  How did I know she was already asleep, you ask? Because I have heard lawn mowers make less noise.  The woman snored, and coughed while asleep.  After about 15 minutes of this, I think she was loud enough that she woke her own deaf self up.  She then sees me, makes a grumpy face, and approaches my desk.  She yells again, "Where the hell is Emily? She was supposed to be here an hour ago!".  I calmly told her that I wasn't sure where her Granddaughter was.  She went back and sat down.  About 20 minutes later, her Grandson walks in and she screams, "Why have you had me waiting for so long?!"  The Grandson, who is obviously used to this behavior from her, and knowing she is deaf, says "It's great to see you too Granny."  She then says "You better not ask how I'm doing!"  They leave, and the soap opera is concluded with her voice fading through the automatic doors, "You're paying for my breakfast now!"

Simple pleasures.

TGIF

Happy Friday! It seems that the weeks and days are getting longer as the weather gets colder.  I am so thankful for my friends, family and coworkers (who I am happy to say all fall in the first category as well).  They have kept me sane recently with the 60 hour weeks between both jobs and my additional duties with the basketball team I'm coaching.  So to James, Becky, Brandon, Becca and Dustin... thank you for all you guys do. You are great friends and strong counselors.

On to the weekend!

Who to Root for: Week 10

I am going to try something new.  Every week I will give you the guide to who to cheer for in the NFL in order to best benefit the Washington Redskins. I will only cover games involving NFC teams as AFC games have no bearing on the playoff race for Washington.

ATL vs. BAL: This one is obvious, go for AFC against NFC everytime.

DET vs. BUF: BUF (AFC)

MIN vs. CHI: This one is tough, it all depends on how good you think the Vikings could end up being.  I personally think they have potential so I'm still going to pull for the Bears because I trust them to lose more down the stretch and the Redskins already have the tiebreaker over them if it comes down to the Wildcard.

CAR vs. TB: With Carolina completely out of the playoff picture, you will want them to pull out a win against every NFC team they play as it will probably benefit the Redskins.  Especially against the Bucs, since they will likely be in the Wildcard hunt with Washington.

SEA vs. ARI: As of right now I think a loss for Seattle benefits the Redskins more than one for Arizona. Arizona will not be making a playoff push, and I believe the Rams will win the West, thus leaving the Seahawks as the Wildcard contender.

DAL vs. NYG: This one is also obvious, and even though it may hurt for some Redskins fans to cheer for Dallas, it must be done. The Cowboys are out of the hunt and any loss for the Giants is a win for Washington.

STL vs. SF: Now there are two schools of thought here.  You could pull for San Francisco, and bring down the Rams record in case you think they'll be contending for the Wild Card.  I will be sticking to the Rams winning the West and hope they pull as far away from the pack in their division as possible, so I will be pulling for St. Louis.

PHI vs. WAS: Umm... Hail to the Redskins!

NC State Basketball Shows Up and Shows Off!

Last night was the long awaited debut of NC State's best recruiting class in recent memory.  It was also the unveiling of an uptempo offense that Head Coach, Sidney Lowe, has been promising for quite some time.  He did not disappoint with the Wolfpack unleashing an attack and racking up 111 points.  Now some may say that this is all because it was against a much weaker Pfeiffer team.  It is hard to argue against that point, but it was also apparent that these 3 freshmen superstars, are exactly that.

All of the "Big 3" scored 17 points, as did Senior Tracy Smith, and they showed a sense of belonging rarely seen in true freshmen.  Lorenzo Brown showed that he put that one year in prep school to good use, while Ryan Harrow and CJ Leslie embraced their roles off the bench and made the most of their time on the court.  It is certainly a biased opinion, but I think it's fair to say this team has a strong chance at making a run for the ACC, and should be extremely disappointed with anything less than an NCAA tournament berth.

I look forward to the regular season, and hope this truly is a different NC State team from years past.  If Lowe doesn't find a way to make the dance then his days in a red blazer could be coming to an end soon.

Bon Voyage Wade!

Well the inevitable has happened today, and Wade Phillips has been fired as the Head Coach of the 1-7 Dallas Cowboys. I do enjoy the fact that this all comes 1 week after GM/Owner Jerry Jones said Wade Phillips would finish the season as Coach.  Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett will be taking over as interim coach for the rest of the season, but now the talk will turn to who will be the next to coach the Cowboys.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to Jerry Jones and his preference of coaches.  He had great success with Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells, as they had personnel power, but soon after they built a great team Jerry decided to bring in a puppet who he could control.  The big question is, "Will Jerry hand over the team to an established coach or will he pick a new toy?".  Secondly, "If Jerry hires a leader, will he let them stay around after the new regime is established?". 

I think that Jerry pleases the fans and goes with a proven winner.  The obvious choices are John Gruden, Bill Cowher, and John Fox (who will undoubtedly be leaving Carolina in the offseason).  The best choice for the Cowboys would probably be Cowher based on his experience with the 3-4, and his commitment to the run game.  There are, however, rumors that Cowher is just waiting for the Panthers job to open so he can take it and stay close to his family.  I think what ends up happening is John Gruden comes out of his role in the broadcast booth for this star studded job.  He is a proven winner, and more important in Dallas, he's a character.  It would be a match made in JerryWorld heaven.  So you may not have heard it here first, but you did hear it here before it happened... Gruden will be the next Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys!

Jason Campbell's Resurrection

It does my heart good to see Jason Campbell playing well and winning games.  But it does my brain bad, because it begins to think that we didn't have to trade away draft picks for McNabb, who we may only have for the remainder of this year anyway.  I wish JC17 the best, but hope the day doesn't come when he marches into Washington with his Raiders and beats us to a pulp.

Washington Redskins Bye Week

So my beloved Redskins are on their bye week and I was truly looking forward to this, because it meant nothing bad could happen to them... right?  Of course that's not the case!  Brandon Banks, our stud return man, and possibly the best offensive player on this team had to have surgery and is out for at least one game.  That one game is against the Eagles on Monday Night Football!  I knew things were too good to be true.

I was able to swallow that tough pill, and thought to myself that maybe some NFC East teams would lose this week to help our standings out.  NOPE!  The Giants destroyed the Seahawks, and the Eagles just finished off the Colts.  The only upside was that the Vikings were able to beat the Cardinals and the Falcons beat the Bucs who we will have a chance to gain a tiebreaker over.  It just makes the loss to Detroit that much harder to deal with.  I truly hope that we come back with a gameplan to deal with the Eagles and sweep them.  We're still in the playoff hunt and I'm going to keep my hopes high.

Here's to a win in Week 9!

First Post

That's What He Thought! is going to be my personal blog about whatever I feel like writing about at that time and date.  I can assure you it will be 90% sports related, 5% me related, and 5% complete BS.  I hope you enjoy it, because I know I plan to.