Tuesday Tastings (Week 4): Hail To the Redskins!

Since Miami and Indy had byes this past week, we're leaving them off our weekly Tastings dispatch.  That still leaves us with 11 samplings of varied quality.

Let's start off with the best of the bunch...

FINGER LICKIN' GOOD

Satisfied fans left looking forward to next Sunday's meal time.

Washington Redskins - With pride on the line and not but a few believers across the NFL, Jim Zorn's Redskins showed that their week one loss to the Giants was past history.  Beating the rival Cowboys on the road forces the NFC East and the entire NFL to make room at the playoff table for a new team.

Best of all, the Redskins have done it looking like the Redskins that their know and love from the Super Bowl years.  They have a classy coach on the sidelines, an understated but effective QB, and they are extremely physical.

Zorn was quick to say after the win that, "[w]e're not going to the Super Bowl next week."  Although this is true, it can't take away from the fact that this might be the most significant win in owner Dan Snyder's tenure.

Tennessee Titans - They are under the radar which is just the way they like it.  People are noticing only because the Titans are one of three undefeated teams left.

David Climer notes that Kerry Collins has been key because he plays the position with intelligence and without mistakes.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - The Bucs are 3-0 with Brian Griese under center despite too many interceptions.  Many anticipate Gruden changing back to Jeff Garcia.  You can keep waiting.  Gruden likes Griese and his team wins with him under center.

The Bucs aren't pretty, but Gruden only cares about wins.

New Orleans Saints - Winning with Deuce in front of the home fans makes everything better.  We're still a little suspect, but all the pieces are potentially there for these Saints to make a playoff run.

TASTES KINDA OFF

When things are just not quite right...

Dallas Cowboys - We're not going to panic because the Cowboys are good, but they do have personality issues.  It comes with the territory of having so many big personalities.  When things go well, everyone's happy.  When they don't, the sniping begins.

Randy Galloway shows that the personailities in the mix also include member of the Dallas media.  His criticisms of the team rise and fall with the wins.

So much for the undefeated season.  The Cowboys still seem like a playoff lock and the team to beat come playoff time.  The Redskins might have done them a favor by handing them an early season loss.

Carolina Panthers - In Carolina it's back to the future as the team begins to look more and more like the Super Bowl challegers from early in John Fox's tenure.  They've even brought back Muhsin Muhammad to compliment Steve Smith who is back on the field making palys after his early season suspension. 

Scott Fowler says the the loss to the Vikings has served to toughen them up.  Let's hope so because each week is a test.

We'll put the at TKO with a bullet.  They still need another quality win.  Watching the Titans against the Viking still raises some questions for SPF.  Carolina, Tennessee, and the Vikes all have the same kind of team.  Carolina just looks like a notch below.

Jacksonville Jaguars - Jack Del Rio came out in defense of his DC Gregg Williams.  This unit which gained two top DEs in the draft and one of the leagues best DCs by reputation was supposed to be the foundation for a Super Bowl run.  Instead, they have drastically underperformed.

As Gene Frenette points out, the Jags are living on the edge right now.  It might be fun, but it is ultimately disappointing.

Like the Panthers, the Jags need to show more consistency from week to week before they move out of TKO land.

Atlanta Falcons - We didn't expect a win, but the Falcons are still a long way away.  The problem of the NFC South often comes from teams not getting out of their own way.  The Panthers made mistakes and the Falcons didn't make the most out of them according to Terence Moore.  He's probably right, but the team is still very, very young.  As long as they keep winning the games they are supposed to win and they don't look horrible in the rest, we'll keep them at TKO status.

STARTIN' TO TURN

No amount of BBQ sauce can cover up this abomination.

St Louis Rams - Scott Linehan got the boot after another debacle loss.  Supposedly, GM Jay Zygmunt is next.  New owner Chip Rosenbloom inherited a mess and has fixed it.  Jim Haslett is the new coach with a chance for success unlike Linehan and the man who preceeded him, Mike Martz.  Even his old New Orleans chums are rooting for him.

That's the word from St Louis, and we're not buying it.

Mr. Rosenbloom is saying all the right things, but he needs to show a lot more before we believe he is committed to the St Louis market.  Can Zygmunt now so that there can be no question that he will be part of any decision-making from this point forward.

Houston Texans - Richard Justice has it right - close losses don't equal progress.  The Texans are beyond that point now.  Winning should be expected, but each week their prospects of doing so diminish.

Cincinnati Bengals - Now that Scott Linehan is gone, we're putting Marvin Lewis on notice.  His team is about to quit on him, and WR Chirs Henry, the nightmare that Lewis wanted gone, is back.

Although Al Davis is example #1 right now of the bad, buttinski owner, Mike Brown is a close second.  The only difference is that Al Davis has won multiple Super Bowls.

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