Dear Santa,
I have been a good fan and an ok blogger all year long. Please may I have a win on Sunday? And please, please Santa, give me two more years of LB London Fletcher playing at a high level.
The Washington Redskins stagger through the remainder of their season with everyone on the team but Donovan McNabb auditioning for a spot on next year’s roster. Santa’s sleigh brings them to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars. Santa has a few gifts for Washington, too.
Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew, AKA Pocket Hercules, is listed as Doubtful for the game after missing practice this week. Years of fantasy football taught me that “Doubtful” stud players are 50-50 to show up in games, especially when the playoffs are on the line. Jacksonville blew its shot to lock up the AFC South with its loss in Indianapolis last week. They are desperate to win out. If Jones-Drew can crawl, he will make some appearance Sunday.
An impaired Jones-Drew is easier to stop. That’s a gift to the Redskins defense that declared LB Brian Orakpo and S Reed Doughty OUT for the game and that placed DE Phillip Daniels and nose tackle Maake Kemoeatu in injured reserve. Anthony Bryant might be a step-up from Kemoeatu. Fan favorite Daniels, the strongest man on the team, had already dropped to second on the depth chart.
A healthy Jones-Drew would have allowed Jacksonville to apply its greatest strength to Washington’s greatest weakness–run defense. If Jones-Drew is out, the injury fall-off is much steeper for the Jaguars than for the Redskins.
Rex Grossman continues to make his case as starting quarterback. He looked good for half the game against the Dallas Cowboys. Fans loved the 30 point output and the sustained drives. We know in the end that Grossman is still Grossman. Counting his appearance against the Lions, Grossman has four turnovers, counting fumbles lost, that led to three touchdowns for the other guys. That’s not sustainable over a 16 game season.
Grossman’s play does give us the chance to assess Kyle Shanahan’s offense. We see that it can work. Grossman is a wrinkle to throw at Jacksonville who may not have game-planned him well enough. All that comes at the price of high drama. We thought we were rid of all that when the Redskins dismissed Vinny Cerrato. (Sigh.)
As with the Cowboys last week and the Giants next week, you have to favor the Jaguars over the Redskins. The wrinkles in this contest narrow the odds in Washington’s favor. Look for the ‘Skins to make this contest closer than the seven point advantage assigned to the Jags.
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