The Sports Rumors

The Magic Was Bound to Run Out

As much as I would have love to see my Washington Redskins make it all the way to the Super Bowl and pull off the upset of ages by taking down the evil New England Patriots, I knew that the streak was bound to end at some point. Winning the final four games to finish at 9-7 was hard in itself; winning 3 more games and a Super Bowl would have been impossible.

I watched the game from a hotel in Manhattan rather than the comforts of my family room couch, which I partially blame as the reason for the Skins losing (my superstitions getting the better of me). As bad as the final score looked, there is no doubt that there was still a little magic left in the Skins season. Down 13-0 going into the fourth quarter and unable to muster any offense, it looked like Washington had no chance at coming back. However, the fourth quarter summed up the tumultuous season that the burgundy and gold faced all year. They scored a touchdown to cut the lead to 13-7, followed by an interception and an aggressive play action pass to Santana Moss for their second touchdown in less than three minutes. The Skins were up 14-13 and I was in utter disbelief of what just happened, as was the entire city of Seattle. What happened on the ensuing kickoff gave me even more reason to believe that this ride wasn’t over just yet. Shaun Suisham kicked off and the ball hung in the air longer than it was supposed to, completely throwing off returnman Nate Burleson. The ball bounced right into the hands of a Redskins special teamer as he waltzed into the end zone for another touchdown. Unfortunately, the rules state that wherever the ball is recovered, it becomes a dead ball. Still, the Skins had the ball inside the 20 and were in position to put the nail in the coffin. However, three plays later, Shaun Shuisham came on to attempt a 30 yard field goal. He missed. His shortest miss in two seasons. After that, the Seahawks marched down the field to score a touchdown, followed by two touchdowns run back by their defense giving them a 35-14 win.

Though it was a tough loss to swallow, as most are, I was proud of the Redskins. I was proud that they gave everything they had considering everything they had to deal with. I am glad that they gave the Seahawks a run for their money and I’m happy at how we made progress this season. It will be another long offseason, but I feel confident that we are only a healthy offensive line and a healthy cornerback (Carlos Rogers) away from being a NFC Championship contender. All that aside, I am glad that this season of more lows than highs has finally come to an end. If it as mentally fatiguing for me, I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for the guys rockin the warpath colors. Go Skins.