PATHETIC: Redskins drop dead vs Rams.

Santana moss sits dejected after the Rams beat the Redskins 30-16. His fumble essentially cost the Skins a touchdown, but without him the loss would have been much worse. Moss finished with six receptions, 124 yards and one touchdown.

Even when it was 14-0, I wasn’t scared. A few mistakes put the Redskins in a hole quick in the first quarter, but hey, this wasn’t a Jim Zorn coached team, Mike friggin Shanahan coaches the 2010 squad. Then it got worse. Much worse. The Redskins have now lost three of their last four games when facing the Rams, the last win being an awful 9-6 game last year at FedEx Field.

The Redskins played strikingly similar to the 2009 Redskins, picking up a few yards before failing to move the chains again. They allowed the Rams to go 7-16 on third down conversions, most of them coming in the second half. Haslett, that’s on you. It’s unacceptable to allow the back-up running back for the Rams to run three times in a row, picking up 5-10 yards every time.

The biggest problems came in defending the run game and the short passes Bradford so easily completed. The only time the Rams were successful through the air was when he threw the ball almost immediately after the snap. Running the 3-4, this should not happen. It is not unreasonable to place the blame of that game solely on Jim Haslett. His defensive play calling was horrendous and he failed to make any changes.

There was no offense. None. What they did accomplish, they found ways to negate it with false starts and dumb penalties. I’ve been to the Edward Jones Dome, IT IS NOT A LOUD STADIUM. Me using caps is louder than Rams fans get that stadium.

Other losers:

Devin Thomas – paging Mr Thomas, paging Mr Thomas.

Donovan McNabb – never found his rhythm and couldn’t get consistent. Much like last week, he couldn’t hit the mark down the field to Galloway which could have been at least two touchdowns. He also didn’t have an…

Offensive line – You guys are awful. If they had been protecting Jason Campbell, the Rams would have eight sacks. Thankfully McNabb is still mobile. But the player who specifically sucked was…

Stephon Heyer – couldn’t do anything right. False starts, holding, sucking. Get out of here. Go home. Stay there.

Red Zone offense – 0-3. Not even a FG? Really?

Kareem Moore – nice interception, but it doesn’t make up for missing easy tackles to allow the Rams into scoring position.

Graham Gano – kick out of bounds on the opening kick-off is inexcusable ALWAYS. The punting was average, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for not being the starting punter.

Clinton Portis – It was hard to tell if he slipped or fell to avoid the hit, but when you sit and pout on the bench because the coaches want to use another back in the running game, you get no love. Get up, put your helmet on, and stand on the sidelines.

Albert Haynesworth – as much as I did like him on the field attracting double teams and clearing up space for the backers, you are not a slave. Never say you are treated like a slave. YOU MAKE $100 MILLION!

The frustration is the same as last, and the team needs a lot of work this week to be ready for the Eagles. I’m already depressed from that loss. Seacrest out.

“When you lose you lose,” but what can we take away from week 2?

You play to win the game and to do that, you have to finish.

It hurts when you blow a 20-7 halftime lead. That’s obvious, but the Redskins showed what they were capable of, good and bad. For three quarters, Donovan McNabb and the offense looked unstoppable but sputtered toward the end. The truth is, the Redskins played a great team and an offense that annihilated the Colts in week one. When one of the best quarterbacks in the league (yes, Shaub is one of the best) is able to target as good a wide receiver as Andre Johnson on 75% of the passing plays, it can be hard to stop. Yesterday, it proved nearly impossible for them.

The secondary has been questionable because of the lack of depth and loss of safety Kareem Moore, and there was no doubt that if the Texans were going to come back, they would look for that lethal Shaub-Johnson combination. They did. That happens. Let’s move on.

McNabb showed Redskins fans why the front office traded for him, accounting for 403 passing yards on the day, an astronomical number after so many awful offensive seasons under Campbell. Granted, the offense broke down in the fourth quarter, but when an offense has such a great day through the air like that, they have to win. The blame needs to be placed on the running game which still hasn’t found its legs. 18 yards is never going to cut it. At least we know what the offense is capable of in just the second week of the season. We even know what the defense is capable of and that was after the first game.

Usually after a loss like this, I would feel awful, recounting all the horrific plays that cost us the game. Yesterday, the Texans played out of their minds to fight their way back. I can pick out a few plays that cost us (the Heyer hold, Horton’s offside, the blocked and missed field goals), but those are things that happen in games. Those were not necessarily plays to dwell on.

Shaub found holes down the middle and anywhere Johnson was. Yesterday was one of those days that no matter what the Redskins defense did, they weren’t going to stop that offense.

Yes, there are problems Haslett needs to address on the defensive side of the ball but between week one and week two, the Redskins played two of the best games defensively and offensively. Now they just need to do both in a single game.

1-1 isn’t a bad place to be after two weeks, though 2-0 would be a better position. Look for the Redskins to retool the defense next Sunday at St Louis and find ways to fill holes.

Geez, I can’t believe how fine I am with a loss like that. Wow. Just wow.

Portis airs his feelings on Ines Sainz, women in the locker room.

[Update: Clinton Portis via the Redskins PR department has issued an apology. See bottom of post for that.]

Clinton Portis has always been an outspoken person, letting his comments fly, seemingly without any prior thought to the situation. This morning on the Mike Wise Show on 106.7 The Fan was no different.

[Note: Holden Kushner and Brian Mitchell were hosting the show. Mike Wise is out all week.]

The running back was a big win for the young sports talk radio station because of his ability to produce quotes (see Portis Pockets Straight), so when the conversation turned to reporter Ines Sainz accusing the New York Jets of sexually harassing her, of course CP had an opinion. And of course, it was one in which he clearly didn’t think all the way through. Via the amazing transcriber Dan Steinberg on DC Sports Bog, Portis lets you know being exposed to athletes packages is irresistible:

“You know man, I think you put women reporters in the locker room in positions to see guys walking around naked, and you sit in the locker room with 53 guys, and all of the sudden you see a nice woman in the locker room, I think men are gonna tend to turn and look and want to say something to that woman. For the woman, I think they make it so much that you can’t interact and you can’t be involved with athletes, you can’t talk to these guys, you can’t interact with these guys.

“And I mean, you put a woman and you give her a choice of 53 athletes, somebody got to be appealing to her. You know, somebody got to spark her interest, or she’s gonna want somebody. I don’t know what kind of woman won’t, if you get to go and look at 53 men’s packages. And you’re just sitting here, saying ‘Oh, none of this is attractive to me.’ I know you’re doing a job, but at the same time, the same way I’m gonna cut my eye if I see somebody worth talking to, I’m sure they do the same thing.”

So apparently cat-calling is a completely normal thing for Portis and it would be impossible for a female reporter to not jump on one of these athletes and look for a go-round when they step in the locker room and see athletes naked. Sounds very Roethlisberger-esque to me. Sainz and other female reporters are not there to fraternize, they are there to do their jobs. They know this. Portis and other athletes apparently do not. This kind of attitude is something I’ve come to expect from professional or collegiate athletes (though not all), but to think the reporters are there to find someone to hook up with is a ridiculous notion. At least they are professional enough to realize that. There’s a big difference between looking at someone beautiful and verbally harassing them because of how they look.

This is not a conversation of how female reporters are dressed, though they should always dress professionally, but to how athletes respond to women because of the way they feel they deserve the attention. Not everyone has the idea that women are around simply to throw themselves at men. They are professionals and they are there to do their jobs.

It doesn’t matter if you’re going to “cut” your eye, but it doesn’t mean they are there to do the same. The Roethlisberger situation, as well as this one, has shown that professional athletes need to show more respect to women in every manner of life whether it is at a bar, a club, in the locker room or out on the street. Now that’s something they need to add to the rookie symposium.

[Statement from the NFL: “The comments are clearly inappropriate, offensive and and have no place in the NFL,” league spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement (tweeted by The New York Times’ Judy Battista). “We have contacted the Redskins & they will discuss the matter directly w/Mr. Portis.”]

[The Redskins are expected to release a statement later today. I’ll be sure to post that here on DMV Sports as well.]

UPDATE 3:12 p.m.: Clinton Portis has issued an apology via the Redskins PR department:

“I was wrong to make the comments I did, and I apologize. I respect the job that all reporters do. It is a tough job and we all have to work and act in a professional manner. I understand and support the team on these issues.”

They see me holdin’… Redskins-Cowboys rivalry loses no luster.

I’m sure I could write a few thousand words about last night’s game, but I’ll keep it short and in bullet form so it’s a bit easier to follow.

-First off: Wow. Wow. And wow. That was another prime example of why this rivalry is as heated as it is. It came down to the last play which actually could have gone either way if it weren’t for a dumb offensive lineman. But you won’t see me complaining about a win. A win is a win is a win. And that was a win. Did I mention that was a win.

-I TOLD YOU THE COWBOYS OFFENSIVE LINE WOULD KILL THEM. (@arebrown)

-LaRon Landry. Despite the flexing, Landry came up huge with 17 tackles, 13 of which were solo.

-As much as I hate on DeAngelo Hall’s tackling inabilities, that strip, return and TD won the game last night. On the flipside of that play, what were the Cowboy’s doing? The play call was awful and Romo’s decision to toss it short for what would obviously be little to no gain was atrocious… in a good way. I nearly put a smiley face emoticon after that sentence.

-The defense shined as I knew they would. For some reason, the Redskins defense never gets the kind of respect they deserve. Last night, they showed the league they are capable of holding last year’s number two defense and a popular Super Bowl pick, to just seven points. Haslett was aggressive in his play calling and put a lot of pressure on the offensive line. My one qualm is with the safety and corner blitzes. They weren’t effective and resulted in Dez Bryant and Miles Austin getting open too many times.

-I’ve heard people say the Cowboys lost that game themselves, and while they did shoot themselves in the foot in so many important situations, the Redskins won that game. The Cowboys had little option but to intentionally hold the defensive pass rush, including Alex Barron on Brian Orakpo on that final play. Yes, the Cowboys had tons of penalties, but they were penalties that actively prevented Redskins players from being able to be effective.

-Donovan McNabb looked shaky in his first start in the burgundy and gold but found Santana Moss and Chris Cooley when he needed to. I have no doubt he’ll be able to pick it up this season, but tonight was pretty ugly. The offensive line was adequate against a good pass rush. The running game? Oh the running game. The BIG difference is they made no mistakes.

-Burgundy jerseys. Gold pants. Yes.

-Not enough can be said about the enthusiasm of all the Redskins fans at FedEx Field last night. They were there early, they were loud and they certainly influenced the game. A lot of people have said this rivalry has lost its luster since the glory days, but don’t tell the 90,000 people at the game last night. That was the biggest game at FedEx in years.

-Albert Haynesworth is a salty bitch. Nice facial expression ALL GAME, you dummy.

–The people of Washington are excited about this team as evidenced by their 37.2 rating and 57 percent share of the DC market. That is downright astounding to have over half of all televisions in the DC area tuned into one game.

-Was there really any doubt LeBron James is a Cowboys fan. No bigger frontrunner in sports. He probably plays Madden on rookie.

Morgan gets eight game suspension, wonders why. Seriously.

Nyjer Morgan has been suspended eight games for three incidents, including the brawl against the Marlins earlier this week. This suspension will be added on top of the seven game suspension Morgan had been appealing for throwing a ball directed at a fan in the stands.

The three incidents cited for the eight game suspension include unnecessarily running into a Cardinals catcher, comments directed toward Marlins fans, as well as the brawl.

Morgan questioned the decision handed down by the league.

“Man, they threw the book at me.” Morgan said “What did I do? I feel I haven’t done anything. They are blowing this way out of proportion because I’m a hard-nosed player — because I knocked over a catcher. They throw the ball at me. Come on, what am I supposed to do? I have to take this and try to keep playing.”

Clearly, something has gone wrong in Nyjer’s head, especially after this quote:

“I don’t understand what I did wrong to get an eight-game suspension. They make it seem like I’m Mike Tyson.”

Jim Riggleman also received a two-game suspension and fine, likely for his verbal actions in the brawl. Doug Slaten was also suspended three games for intentionally throwing at the Marlins’ Gaby Sanchez after a warning was issued to both teams. Slaten and Riggleman were thrown out of the game for the intentional beaning.

Nationals third base coach Pat Listach, the first National to come to the defense of Morgan, has been suspended three games and fined.

An interesting note: all the fines were for inappropriate comments and were levied by former Nationals manager Frank Robinson who now works for the league.

Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad was suspended six games for his involvement in the brawl which really means just two actual games. Alex Sanabia (five games), Gaby Sanchez (three games) and Jose Veras (fine) of the Marlins were also disciplined for their actions in the brawl.