The hogs moving back up

Don't look now, but the Redskins are finally starting to live up to some of the expectations that owner Daniel Snyder had for them at the beginning of this year. After starting 0-5, and leaving some fans to wonder if they could possibly go 0-16, the Redskins have reeled off three straight wins in convincing fashion.

First, the Redskins needed a little bit of luck, and a lot of LaVar Arrington, to defeat the Carolina Panthers. Next up, the New York Giants came out slow, and the Redskins took it to them, including a touchdown return by the newest Redskin, Eric Metcalf. Sunday, the Redskins stunned Matt Hasselbeck and shut down Shaun Alexander and the Seahawks. What is the reason for this resurgence?

For starters, some of the offensive resurgence has come from a man that nobody wanted. A Super Bowl winner -- sitting on the bench behind Trent Dilfer, Tony Banks was cut in the preseason by the Dallas Cowboys after being assured their starting role. Banks came into the Nation's Capital as the backup to Jeff George. However, when Jeff George's "There's pressure coming in the pocket, must fall over quickly" act got old, the Redskins cut him, leaving nobody but Tony Banks and first-year man Sage Rosenfels to take the Redskin's offense under their wing.

Let's be clear, though. Tony Banks is not an All-Pro quarterback, and never will be. Is Tony Banks a serviceable quarterback? He can be. He can scramble, he can throw on the run, and while not being the next Donovan McNabb, he can make plays happen out of nothing.

The Redskins receivers don't tend to help him out much. Rod Gardner, while perhaps being the most talented receiver on the team, has killed drives with crucial dropped balls. Michael Westbrook, the 4th pick overall out of Colorado, has been a failure and will be allowed to leave in free agency this year. Kevin Lockett, the teams No. 3 receiver, was the No. 4 receiver on the Chiefs. Tight end Stephen Alexander has been killing the team with drops. And, oh yeah, they don't have Larry Centers anymore to bail out Banks in the backfield. Banks has brought fire to the Redskins, and he has led them to a few wins, without much help.

Do the Redskins have any talent? Yes, as a matter of fact, the Redskins have a Pro Bowl caliber running back in Stephen "Touchdown" Davis. Davis has been far from Pro Bowl caliber this year, though. Against Dallas on the nationally televised Monday Night Football, Davis fumbled near the goal line, costing Washington the game, and pride.

As for his nickname, "Touchdown," he has only scored one this year. Some of the blame can be passed to the offensive linemen. Jon Jansen and Chris Samuels, the Redskins bookends at tackle, have shown their youth with key mistakes. In the middle, the aging Dave Szott and free agent pickup Ben Coleman have struggled, but are beginning to gel, as evidenced in Davis' 142-yard rushing day vs. Seattle.

The biggest complaint with the Redskins offense, though, lies on one man's shoulders. Jimmy Raye, the Redskins offensive coordinator, has killed the Redskins with overly conservative play calling, without innovation. Against the Giants, Raye actually ran the same play two times in one minute. The second time he ran it? Interception, Jason Sehorn.

The offense has become overly predictable. Davis run up the middle, no gain. Davis run up the middle, loss of one. On third down, Raye has not shown any willingness to air it out, often throwing five-yard outs on third and 11. Finally, though, Raye has changed his play calling. Against Seattle, the Seahawks were caught off guard on first down when the Redskins ran a play action pass on first down. The Seahawks, figuring that the Redskins would run, as they always do, had a run defense, and the Redskins exploited it. The offense, at last, had become solid.

Without a doubt though, the glue that has held the Redskins together is their defense, led by two unlikely heroes. While the points have not looked as good as many would hope, the Redskins D has done the best job possible overcoming poor field position generated by the offense. LaVar Arrington, a second-year player out of Penn State, organized the turnaround. Considered a bust after doing nothing in his rookie year, Arrington began to motivate his troops. Coming back from an injury at halftime of the Redskins come from behind win vs. Carolina, Arrington sealed the game with a touchdown interception return. Arrington's speed, and increasing discipline, have caused teams to fear him.

The other player who has been sparking the Redskins defensive turnaround is Kenard Lang, a defensive end out of Miami who has also been viewed as a bust. Relegated to defensive tackle duty with Bruce Smith and Marco Coleman, Lang has sulked, and struggled. However, when Bruce Smith went down with an injury, Lang moved back to end, and stopped sulking. Lang began to prove why the Redskins used a first round choice on him, wreaking havoc in both the running and passing games. Lang's move back to end has helped the Redskins against the run, which they used to be terrible against. Against Seattle, the Redskins held Shaun Alexander to 50 yards of rushing.

All in all, the Redskins have amounted a comeback, and believe it or not, they are in contention for a playoff spot in the NFC East. For a team that was ruined by Daniel Snyder's antics in 2000, the Redskins have rebounded surprisingly well. In a few years, the cap should be completely clean, and the Redskins will be able to amount a championship run. However, in the year 2001, things are beginning to look up.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.