Well... you know what Mick and the Boys always said...
The Redskins pulling this one out saved my fandom for a while. We've all seen it before. Skiins give valiant gutsy effort only to fade down the stretch and give one they should have won away. Let's be honest. Was there a Redskins fan anywhere who wasn't playing the entire scene out, a foregone conclusion, both before and after the go ahead score? Even with under a minute to go - did you really, really in your heart's heart believe we would stop them and hold on to win?
I know I didn't.
I didn't even want to watch.
But I did.
Kirk Cousins played his worst game in 3 seasons today imho. He was terrible. Missed open receivers. Had zero pocket awareness. Held onto the ball and took multiple unnecessary sacks. Refused to give his WRs any chance at all to make catches. Fumbled the ball. He looked like a rookie starter out there. But when crunch time came - real crunch time, who steps up and makes some unbelievable plays? Yep. Captain Kirk. Does that mean that without him as a long-term starter, we're doomed? Does it mean that we should pay the man, because he's worth every penny? It doesn't mean either of those things. All Cousins has done is call into question those things this year. And yes - I'm aware that our OL is held together with duct tape and popsicle sticks, and he's throwing to Winken, Blinken, and Nod. But the things he can control, he screwed the pooch on today. Until the end. And the fact that he found a way, in an incredibly hostile environment, in bad weather, with no one giving him a chance - it means something. Just exactly what and how much, I don't know - but when he had to, Kirk was the guy.
And our D and D coaches? What can you say. The bent, and bent, and bent, and yeah, they even got some calls and a few lucky bounces. In the end though, they didn't break. They found a way to hold on and win.
That's all we can ask for on any given Sunday in this crazy league. Hats off to Jay Gruden. The Redskins tiptoed up to irrelevant today, and refused to allow themselves to be irrelevant. The fight these guys show, even when it's not enough, it's something to see. And I have to think that right along with poor clock management, abandonment of the run, and other head coaching/playcalling sins, he needs to get credit for this team's toughness and resilience.
Today - the good guys won. And saved my fandom, at least for another week. I didn't get what I want today. But I got what I need.