Redskins Geared for 2004 NFC Championship

Yeah, that's right, you read the title right. The Redskins have been very busy this offseason, and the team they are assembling look to be great competitors for the 2004 NFC Championship.

It all started one cold winter-y night when the call was made, and papers were signed to bring in Mike Shanahan to take reigns of this team. As a Cowboy fan I was pissed this happened. There have been many speculations (at least here) that Shanahan was holding out on job offers for the Cowboys vacancy. With the play of the Cowboys this season, particularly securing the NFC East and beating the Eagles in the first round, Wade gave himself a stay of execution. Personally I agreed with keeping Wade on (don't believe me? Here's proof of what I wrote before the extension happened) but secretly I was fantasizing about a Cowboys team with Shanahan calling the shots. Can you imagine what he'd be able to do with Barber, Jones and Choice?

Well I guess Shanahan isn't destined to be a Cowboy, but an Indian. It's a good move for Washington. They are a struggling organization that needs direction, and Shanahan likes having ultimate control on his team, which Washington is willing to give. I wasn't surprised when they immediately dumped 10 players. What I was surprised by was the dumping Ladell Betts and Rock Cartwright. Shanahan is run first, pass second play caller. He's turned so many guys into superstars. Terrell Davis, Reuben Droughn (Yes, he was good under Shanahan), Clinton Portis and even Tatum Bell shined under Shanahan's system. So I'm curious what Shanahan's going to do for the backup back situation, because Portis is not the Portis of 2004 (again, look at the Title).

Even with the running back situation, nothing was as shocking as the acquisition of Donovan McNabb. First and foremost I could NOT believe that the Eagles would trade within the Division. Second; this breaks the mold of what Shanahan has always liked as a head coach, and that's having a young Quarterback to groom. It looked to be setting up nicely for Shanahan to be able to draft Clausen, or Stafford in this weeks draft, but now who knows where they'll go. Donovan, although still a threat, he's not what he used to be. Still has a cannon of an arm, but struggles with his accuracy at times when it's not a deep bomb or a dump into the flats. Ask any Philly fan and they'll give you a long breakdown of how bad McNabb sucks. McNabb's biggest defenders will say it's because he's never had a legitimate receiver to throw to. Besides Terrell Owens, back in... eh hem... 2004, he's been throwing to young guys, undersized guys, and possibly undervalued guys, but he and Andy Ried made it work.

Then I hear this little tid-bit the other day from The Huddle "Donovan McNabb encouraging Redskins to sign Terrell Owens". If you read the article, or even watch what ESPN has to say on the matter of course the organization is going to avoid saying they are pursuing Terrell Owens. Jerry Jones said that too all the way up until he announced the signing of TO. No matter what chemistry the two allegedly had off the field, on the field in 2004 they connected 77 times, for 1200 yards and 14 TD's. It was enough to propel the Eagles into the superbowl ultimately to lose to Patriots. Just as Mcnabb, TO isn't the same player he was even a season ago when he was with the Cowboys. Of course a lot of that has to do with the differences between the organizations of the Cowboys and the Bills, caliber of the team, quality of the coaching and play calling on the field. But, TO is 37 years old. Look at other players that tried to extend their career past when most retire; Jerry Rice, Emmit Smith, Vinny Testaverde, etc. Brett Favre doesn't count, because the season he had last year was a fluke, the guy is just crazy.

Who knows what the Redskins are going to do next season. Personally I hope every addition to their team gets injured because they haven't been drinking enough Ensure, or taking their Centrum Silver Vitamins for senior citizens. As a Cowboys fan of course I'm going to keep an eye on this team. But with the caliber of the team the Redskins are assembling it sure is a good thing they don't have a flux capacitor on the team bus to take them back to 2004.