“Dream Team” Comparison: 2011 Eagles vs. 2000 Redskins

The Eagles struck again on Tuesday, this time signing veteran running back Ronnie Brown to a one-year deal. Hours later the team agreed to terms on a one-year deal with former Broncos tackle Ryan Smith. Are they done? Who knows.

Philly’s free agency splurge has sent shockwaves throughout the league. Players, fans and writers alike are calling the 2011 Eagles a “dream team.” It got me to thinking, when was the last time an NFL team garnered this much off-season attention? When did we last witness a team stack its roster with Pro Bowl and Hall-of-Fame caliber free agents in hopes of winning a Super Bowl? When was the last time we threw out terms like dream team and the best team money can buy? Let me take you back eleven years and a few hours down I-95: the 2000 Washington Redskins.

Humor me for a few minutes:

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Fat Al’s Power Play

After a 23-3 drubbing by the Baltimore Ravens, ‘Skins nose tackle (just rubbing salt in the wound) Albert Haynesworth claimed that the organization was lying about his mid-week injuries and declared that he won’t be attending next off-season’s conditioning program.

Hey, at least he’s giving 8-months notice.

What does all of this mean you ask? It means that Shanahan will most likely come out a loser in this ridiculous player-coach saga, even though Redskins fans and a majority of the public seem to be in his corner.

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Teams Ready to Make an Impact

Let’s look at the five teams that have made the best moves of the offseason via trades or free agent signings:

N.Y. Jets: The Jets made a flurry of moves in an effort to cement themselves as a Super Bowl contender.  They went out and added Antonio Cromartie and Jason Taylor on the defensive side of the ball. Cromartie provides the Jets with depth at the CB back position.  If/once Revis returns to the team, Cromartie most likely will be the Nickel DB with the emergence of highly touted rookie Kyle Wilson.  Taylor comes over from the Dolphins and immediately improves the Jets pass rush, even at his age.

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Breaking News: Redskins Sign RB Larry Johnson

According to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (what else is new), the Redskins have signed free agent running back Larry Johnson to a three-year deal.

Mike Shanahan made it known earlier in the week that he’s a fan of Johnson’s, having coached against him for years in the AFC West.

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Monday Morning Headlines: EMBEARASSED

I can’t get over how many HORRID teams there are in the NFL this season. The Bucs were punked by the Pats 35-7 while the Rams were slaughtered by the Colts 42-6. Both teams are now a combined 0-14. (Tampa Tribune)  (St. Louis Post Dispatch)

Mike Singletary made a call to the bullpen at halftime and Alex Smith nearly led the 49ers to a comeback back win against the Texans before falling short 24-21. (SF Chronicle)

Just days after receiving a two-year extension, Jay Cutler threw 3 more INT’s and watched Carson Palmer throw for 233 yards and 5 TD’s as the Bengals crushed the Bears in a shocker 45-10 (shocking not because who won, but by how much). Former Bear Cedric Benson stuck it to his former squad, rushing for a career-high 189 yards and a TD. (Chicago Sun-Times)

Will somebody please shut down the Jake Delhomme experience? Anybody? (Charlotte Observer)

Ladies and gentlemen, the Raiders benched JaMarcus Russell…for an equally dismal Bruce Gradkowski. Jets bounce back and roll 38-0. (Oakland Tribune)

A shoot-out in South Beach. Miami raced out to an early 24-3 lead before Drew Brees woke up and put the Saint s ahead for good in the 4th quarter. Saints outlast the ‘Fins 40-34 and improve to 6-0, best in the NFC. (Miami Herald)

Am I seeing this correctly? The Cards, who never play well on the east coast, roll into the Meadowlands and beat the Giants 24-17. G-men have now all of a sudden lost two straight. At least the Yankees won. (NY Times)

Joe Gibbs squashed any and all rumors that he’s returning to the Redskins. (Redskins Insider)

Monday Morning Headlines: The Sanchise gets Buffaloed

The 2007 Patriots showed up in a Nor’easter and embarrassed the Titans 59-0 – and it wasn’t even that close. Tom Brady is now the only QB in NFL history to have thrown 5 TD passes in one quarter. It still boggles my mind that a 13-3 team from just a season ago (Titans) has fallen this far. (Boston Globe)

Speaking of falling hard, the Redskins keep finding new lows. On Sunday, they allowed the woeful Chiefs to punk them in front of a half-filled FedExField, 14-6. Kansas City’s 32nd ranked defense overwhelmed an anemic Redskins offense. If you’re keeping score at home, Washington has now given the Lions, Panthers and Chiefs their first wins of the season. Pathetic. (Washington Post)

Just hours after the game, head coach Jim Zorn was stripped of his play-calling duties by upper management. And he is apparently OK with it. Tony Dungy thinks Zorn should have stood his ground. (DC Sports Bog)

The game of the day was in Minnesota. After another Favre 4th quarter comeback that put the Vikings up 33-31, Joe Flacco drove the Ravens into field goal range only to see Steve Hauschka miss a 44 yarder. Vikes improve to 6-0. Minnesota is now the class of the NFC along with… (Star Tribune)

The Saints! Fresh off a bye week, Drew Brees carved up the #1 defense in the NFL for 369 passing yards and 4 TD’s as the Saints throttled the Giants 48-27. New Orleans has already put up 45+ points in three games this season. (Times-Picayune)

More fans showed up for the Cincinnati-USF game on Thursday night than the Panthers-Bucs game on Sunday. Tampa Bay falls to 0-6 after losing to Carolina 28-21. (Pro Football Talk)

We’d like to apologize for encouraging you to pick the Jets this week in your survivor pool. The Mark Sanchez love fest has got to stop. Please don’t refer to this dude as ‘The Sanchise’ until he actually puts the team on his shoulders and wins a game. Five picks against the Bills isn’t going to cut it. Those dagger mistakes single-handedly wasted 318 yards on the ground and a solid effort from the Jets’ D. (NY Post)

The Raiders beat the Eagles??? The NFC East was 0-3 on Sunday. (Philly.com)

So much for being 16-0 when Matt Hasselbeck’s mom attends a game at Qwest Field. The Cards dismantled the Seahawks in front of the 12th man, 27-3. (Seattle Times)

The nightcap in the ATL didn’t disappoint. The Falcons answered both Bears TD’s with scores of their own and got the W 21-14. Jay Cutler has now thrown 6 INT’s on Sunday Night Football this season. (Chicago Tribune)

Tuesday Morning Headlines: ‘Fins Ground Jets with Wildcat

Chad Henne out-dueled Mark Sanchez in South Beach, but the real story was the inability of the Jets defense to stop the Wildcat. ‘Fins win an AFC East thriller, 31-27. (Miami Herald)

Rex Ryan sure took the loss hard. Complete embarrassment? Take it easy man… (New York Times)

Redskins CB Carlos Rogers is saying what everyone else is thinking – may not be good for job security though. (Pro Football Talk)

The Chiefs will be the sixth straight winless team the Redskins have faced this season. Cupcakes lined up every week and they’re 2-3 – awesome. (Shutdown Corner)

BREAKING NEWS: Wade Phillips will increase Miles Austin’s role after his 250 yard, 2 TD performance on Sunday. Good idea Wade, way to make those tough decisions. (Dallas Morning News)

Good news for Rams fan: the Kyle Boller era is over…for now. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Bad news for Rams fan: 0-5, turnovers, bad defense, bad offense, Rush Limbaugh, etc. We’re sorry. Hey, at least you’re not the Raiders. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Check out Bills QB Gibran Hamden interview Marshawn Lynch. Beast Mode in rare form – funny stuff. (Bills.com)

Morning Headlines: A Dark Day in D.C.

September 27, 2009 - a once proud franchise hits a new all-time low. As the Detroit Lions celebrated their first victory in nearly two years, the Washington Redskins firmly entrenched themselves as the National Football League’s new laughing stock. The title of Mike Wise’s column sums it up perfectly: A Debacle From Top to Bottom. (Washington Post)

Check out these instant reactions from the ‘Skins meltdown in Motown, including some strong words via Twitter from former Redskins Great John Riggins. (DC Sports Bog)

The Lions went 644 days without a winning a football game. You can’t help but feel good for the city of Detroit. (Detroit Free Press)

Brett Favre preceded to upstage the party in Motown by throwing a ridiculous game-winning touchdown to Greg Lewis, stunning the 49ers 27-24. Vikings fans have seen Favre do this countless times before, just not for them. (Star Tribune)

Rumor has it that disgruntled UPS driver Eric Mangini could lose his route before season’s end. (Pro Football Talk)

What we learned from the Bears-Seahawks game: 1) Those Seattle unis were HORRID and 2) Jim Mora Jr. hates his kicker. (Seattle PI)

Auditioning for a Back-up Role?

After two weeks of the season the Washington Redskins organization appears to be a mess.  The home crowd booed them off the field, the players are complaining about getting booed rather than focusing on the Lions and Jim Zorn is fielding questions about his job.  When Zorn’s fate comes up, so does that of his quarterback.  Most people believe that Jim Zorn and Jason Campbell are a package deal, if one goes they are both gone. 

While they both might be gone come season end, I do not believe Zorn’s job hinges on Campbell’s success.  Zorn did not pick Jason to be his QB, he is playing the hand he was dealt.  If in fact his job is tied to Campbell’s he should pack his bags already because Jason is gone at the end of the season.  The writing has been on the wall since overtures were made for Jay Cutler and an attempt to trade up to draft Mark Sanchez.  Jason Campbell in effect has 14 games at most remaining as a Redskin and a starting QB in the league.

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Survivor Pool Solutions for Week 2: Washington Redskins

With the parity in today’s NFL, selecting THE team for your Survivor Pool each week takes more thought and strategy than ever before. We here at Bump and Run don’t want you to screw it up. Survivor Pool Solutions will help to alleviate the stresses of making that gut-wrenching decision (at least we hope so). This week’s play: The Washington Redskins.

Why the Redskins you ask? Coming off a rather unimpressive loss to the Giants last week, the ‘Skins have arguably the biggest cupcake in the NFL to feast on in front of their home crowd –  the freaking St. Louis Rams! The Lambs won just two games in 2008 (albeit one was against Washington) and looked pathetic last week in Seattle, getting owned by the Hawks 28-0. Plus, the league did them no favors by scheduling back-to-back road trips on opposite coasts. You have to wonder what Spags did to the Commish to deserve that. Brutal.

Sure you’re putting a lot of stock into an inconsistent Redskins team, but when else would you use them? This is the week! Save your big guns for later in the season and watch the ‘Skins throttle the Rams. You can thank me on Monday. Still not convinced? Here are a couple other games to consider:

Vikings over Lions

Green Bay over Cincinnati

That’s it I’m done – good luck!