Week 14: Redskins vs. Bears

I'm getting very tired of this Redskins team. I love our players, but when I see the amount of talent and time they are wasting week in and week out, it pisses me off. From the coaching staff, right down to the players they seem content to mail in their games, simply go through the motions. I think they expect their abilities to come through and save them when game time rolls around, forgetting that in the NFL every player has the raw talent to be there.
There is no fire in this team, there is no will to succeed, no intensity to carry them through close games. Jason Campbell is praised for his poise, but when does that kind of poise merely reflect an inner complacency? The Redskins have lost almost every single close game they have played this year and that has been the difference in their season.

There is no way they should have lost last week to a Buffalo team who ranks 30th in the league on defense and 29th on offense. Where is the passion? Where is that inner determination to beat down their opponent on every play? The best comparable example of the Redskins lack of desire is their game against the Patriots. Where the Skins laid down and timidly played to a 52-7 loss, a weaker but more empowered Ravens team actually showed up to play and was one or two plays away from defeating the so-called unbeatable New England team.

Where is the Redskins' fortitude? It's not enough in this league to deserve to win, you have to earn it, and at 5-7 this Redskins team hasn't done anything to earn anyone's respect. The Bears are drastically worse statistically, yet they have an equal 5-7 record and have capitalized on the few opportunities they have been given this season. Not to mention they have Devin Hester, a player so explosive the Redskins will need to take the time and game plan for. But this is something I don't think they've had the time or experience to do.

This Bears defense is not the vaunted or feared group of years past and Clinton Portis has historically showed that he can run on them. They also gave up over 150 yards and a TD last week to the Giants' Derrick Ward, so the Redskins could have success scoring this way on Thursday. Running the ball is something they have been unable to do in their four game losing streak and would give an all-around boost to the offense, but simply gaining yards hasn’t necessarily translated into points this year for the Redskins and I don't see that changing on Thursday.

This Skins team that has shown at multiple junctures this year that they can lose close games or fail to win the game when the ball is in their hands. It'll be another close one against the Bears but the Skins failure to put the ball in the end zone will again hurt their chances against the superior special teams play of the Bears.

Redskins 20, Bears 24

-The Hokie