Relief! Redskins Clinch Playoff Spot


After cruising to an easy win against a disinterested Cowboys team, the Washington Redskins enter the NFC Playoffs as the hottest team in the conference. That makes it two playoff appearances in three seasons for the 'Skins - not bad for a team that was being offered as a sacrificial lamb to the emerging Vikings dynasty just eight days ago. (The media is really ridiculous when it comes to this sort of thing. Before last week, all anybody could talk about in relation to the two remaining NFL Wild Card spots were the Vikings and Browns. It seemed almost inconceivable to the people on ESPN that the Redskins could beat the Vikings and take control of their own destiny, or that Cleveland could lose to division-rival Cincinnati, thus putting Tennessee in the driver's seat. It wasn't until those things actually happened that the national press began to talk up the Redskins and Titans.)
And even though Romeo Crennel, Mike McCarthy and Bill Belichick will get the lion's share of the votes, Joe Gibbs is easily the NFL's Coach of the Year. Nobody else could have rallied their battered team into the playoffs on the heels of four straight wins following the funeral of an All-Pro teammate. I would love to hear from all the haters who wanted Gibbs canned after the timeout debacle against Buffalo. Idiots.
And I'm not in any mood to complain, but it's pretty ridiculous that the Redskins have to travel across the country to play the first playoff game on Saturday afternoon, while the Giants get eight days of rest for their Sunday tilt in Tampa.
Plenty more ramblings about the upcoming playoffs over the next few days. Hail to the Redskins.