October 17, 2011
Ceci Ferrara
Sports Writer
Sports Insider
There was a sense of familiarity going into Sunday’s game; the Redskins were coming off their bye week to play the Eagles at home. It was the same situation they faced last year during Monday Night Football, when they allowed the Eagles to come to Landover and score the most points in MNF history. But the glaring difference was that the Redskins were atop the division at 3-1, while the Eagles were at the bottom at 1-4. Would these be the same Redskins who allowed Michael Vick to throw four TD’s and rush for two last November?
Yes and no.
Although they didn’t allow the Eagles to run all over them (literally), things started looking bad for the Redskins early, when Rex Grossman threw an interception on the first possession. Unfortunately, it didn’t get better. Unable to get their run game going, and with a quarterback throwing more passes to the Eagles than to his own teammates, the Skins found themselves trailing 14-0 by the start of the second quarter and 20-0 by the half.
Despite this, Shanahan decided to stick with Grossman. And things actually started looking to turn in the Redskins favor when DeAngelo Hall intercepted the ball at Philadelphia’s 18 yard line at the beginning of the third quarter. But on the next place Grossman threw another interception – his third of the game. Still, Shanahan decided to give him one more shot. On a crucial third down conversion (3rd & 9 from the Washington 39), Grossman threw his fourth pick of the game and was subsequently (finally) out of it.
After three painful quarters, Shanahan decided to listen to the crowd’s chants of “We Want Beck” and put John Beck in at QB, his first regular season game since 2007. Beck was effective, but not overwhelmingly impressive. While he didn’t throw any picks and did score the only Redskins touchdown of the game on a 3-yd rush, it wasn’t enough to overcome the damage that had already been done. The defense didn’t help either, allowing the Eagles to get a first down on third and inches to end the game. To be fair, the Redskins did lose crucial playmakers when Trent Williams and Chris Cooley left the game early with injuries, but the Skins can’t blame their inability to score on those two guys.
After losing 20-13 and falling to second place in the division, the question looming over the organization is who do you start next week – Rex or Beck? Coach Shanahan evaded the question at Sunday’s post-game press conference. “I would never announce that right after a game,” he said. “I would announce that later on in the week. We’ll make a decision after looking at the film.” With mounting injuries and an increasingly hard schedule, we can only hope whatever decision he makes is the right one.
MLB
After two drawn out Championship Series that were plagued by Mother Nature, the World Series matchup is finally set. The Rangers were the first to clinch their league title, ousting the Tigers in Game 6. This marks both the second consecutive American League title and World Series appearance for the Rangers, who have yet to win a championship (They were beaten by the San Francisco Giants in 2010.).
The Rangers will face the Cardinals in the best-of-seven Fall Classic. Led by slugger Albert Pujols, the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers in six games, 4-2. It is their second World Series appearance in five years; in 2006 the Cards swept the Detroit Tigers in four games. Thanks to the National League’s win at the July All-Star Game, the Cardinals get home field advantage and will play the first two games of the series in St. Louis.
It would be the first franchise win for the Rangers and the 11th for the Cardinals, who are second only to the New York Yankees – 27 – in championship titles.
