It’s over. That is the best thing that can be said about this afternoon’s game. It was a boring, long, excruciating game to end a boring, long, excruciating season. The Mike Shanahan era looks to be at an end and now the real fun will begin. Washington will once again be looking for a new coach. That has been the Dan Snyder era in Washington. New coaches, new quarterbacks, and no stability. It has been painful to endure and its end may never come.
The terrible game against New York did end, but Kirk Cousins who was the darling of some Washington fans a couple weeks ago has done nothing but lose and throw interceptions. When it comes right down to it he isn’t that much different than Rex Grossman or John Beck. Starting him did nothing but lower his value and whereas Washington would have done good to get a second round pick for him before he started they will now be lucky to get much more than a fourth or fifth round pick.
Completing 19 of 49 passes for 169 yards and two interceptions simply isn’t NFL quality, and it won’t help to show other teams that Kirk Cousins could start in this league, and there are still questions as to whether RGIII can. That will be the most important job of the new coach. Next year will be Griffin’s third season in the NFL and will be a make or break season. Finding a franchise quarterback is the most important task of any team. Before this season it looked like Washington had one in Griffin, but his sub par season has changed that perception, and finding out if he can be that guy again is priority number one.
This game wasn’t all Kirk Cousins being awful. His offensive line and wide receivers didn’t help him much, and Washington’s secondary once again got lit up by a back-up quarterback. It was a fitting end to Washington’s season and the Shanahan era. It was the same loss Washington has suffered for eight games in a row. Terrible special teams, bad secondary play, too many turnovers, dropped passes, and bad offensive line play. Same poor performance day after day, and watching Washington try and do the basic things is even worse. Near the end of the first half Washington was in the hurry up offense and couldn’t hurry up to the line. It is like they don’t even practice.
On his way out the door Mike Shanahan should get a bonus from Papa John’s for all the toppings he saved them. Not only has Washington not won for eight weeks they’ve barely scored any touchdowns. Washington has been outscored by 144 points this season. This is close to one of the worst seasons in franchise history. Mike Shanahan has been bad enough that Jim Zorn is no longer the worst coach of the last decade. At least it is over. This game ended, the season ended, and the Mike Shanahan era ended. Now we can talk about things that matter like Alex Ovechkin’s MVP level play, and the Washington Nationals solid off-season moves.
