Posted on September 11th, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
LANDOVER – The 2017 NFL season has begun and Washington’s fans at FedEx Field witnessed a time warp. Fifteen games remain but Sunday felt like 2016 all over again.
Plagued by the same problems. Irritated by the same issues. Contorted by the same concerns.
There were new faces and new names, but too much of the same-old, same-old.
Get on the good foot by winning your season opener? Nope. Get in the end zone when points are there for the taking? Uh-uh. Get off the field when you need crucial stops on third down? Negative.
The Philadelphia Eagles were demonstrably better than Washington in a 30-17 victory, but the game was closer than the score indicates. This was another case of woulda-coulda-shoulda, which the Skins do better than anyone.
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Posted on September 8th, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
One side of the ball must be considered the weak link, the group that deceases your odds of victory each week. It’s a natural law of football. Even teams with a middle-of-the-pack offense and defense are perceived to have one that’s worse than the other.
There was no confusion in Washington last season. The unit with the NFL’s sixth-best quarterback (ESPN rating), two 1,000-yard receivers and a Pro Bowl-tight end wasn’t the side that opponents preferred facing.
Makes sense. Foes would much rather confront a defense that was ranked 28th overall and allowed a league-worst third-down conversion rate (46.6). Third-and-short, third-and-long, third-and-forever … it didn’t matter. Move the chains!
Washington’s defenders really, really loved to play football; they didn’t want to get off the field.
The scales haven’t shifted entering this season. Quarterback Kirk Cousins & Co. are expected to do the heavy lifting again. Their success or lack thereof will go a long way in determining the team’s fortune.
The Skins don’t have to go wild like the St. Louis “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams of 1999-2001. But the offense can’t afford to mirror the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, either. They won the Super Bowl but ranked 18th in points and 24th in yards.
If the Skins produce at a similar subpar rate, we’re in for a long season and low win total.
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Posted on September 7th, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
“I think he has got four weeks really to try to get his life in order, on and off the field, and figure out where his priorities are and what he wants to do” – Skins coach Jay Gruden on safety Su’a Cravens.
It’s down to three weeks now. That’s how much time remains before Cravens must decide whether he has another season of football in him.
Does he really want to put his body through all that pain and suffering? Does he honestly want to subject his brain to more of those jarring collisions with his skull? Is he truly at peace with the inherent risk of debilitating conditions later in life?
We don’t know for certain what led to Cravens’ attempted retirement. Maybe it’s something physical. But it also could be something mental or emotional, just as real. Whatever the case, the Skins didn’t accept his resignation. Whether the team was sensitive or self-centered is debatable, though I lean toward my colleague Thom Loverro in concluding it was the latter.
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Posted on September 5th, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
Sacrificial lambs’ odds of survival are better than those Maryland and Howard faced Saturday when they ventured to Texas and Las Vegas, respectively.
The Longhorns were unveiling hotshot new coach, Tom Herman, hired to lead Texas back to its presumed rightful place among college football royalty. Herman’s scintillating two seasons at Houston (22-4) made him the sport’s most sought-after up-and-comer before he departed for Austin.
The Rebels were kicking off the second year of a deal with the Las Vegas visitors bureau, in which the season opens against an HBCU foe. Opponents are encouraged to bring the band and cheerleaders for in-town promotional activities. Last year’s arrangement worked out swell, as UNLV routed Jackson State, 63-13.
Maryland and Howard were expected to play their dutiful roles as subservient dance partners – always following, never leading – providing little resistance and less of a threat before returning home with a loss (and in Howard’s case, a check for $600,000). Texas was favored by 18-1/2 points, UNLV by a whopping 45.
Who knew?
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Posted on September 1st, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
We’ll never know how the 2017 Washington Nationals would’ve fared with the fortune of good health.
Their big offseason acquisition, Adam Eaton, failed to survive April before going down with a season-ending knee injury, a sign of things to come. Key cogs Trea Turner and Jayson Werth returned this week after being out since June. Emerging outfielder Michael Taylor was unavailable from early July through mid-August. Various relievers have spent time on the disabled list (though the bullpen often seemed disabled when fully healthy).
Yet, here we are, with Washington enjoying a 15-game lead in the National League East as the calendar flips to September.
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Posted on August 31st, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
Maybe you’ve heard the expression. Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.
The NFL version has a slight twist.
Quarterbacks get paid and … end of story.
Team president Bruce Allen last month insulted everyone’s intelligence – including his QB – by insisting that Washington offered Kirk Cousins “the highest fully guaranteed amount upon signing for a quarterback in NFL history ($53 million). Allen went on say the terms Cousins rejected “would have made him at least the second highest-paid player by average per year in NFL history.”
Allen’s statement wasn’t simply in poor taste, revealing specifics of a failed negotiation for a player still under contract. It was misleading, too, passing off money already committed to Cousins as part of the $53 million. Essentially, the Skins gave him an opportunity to sign for significantly less than he’ll likely command next year. What a deal!
Elsewhere, quarterback Matthew Stafford signed a five-year extension to remain with the Lions and Derek Carr re-upped for five years with the Raiders.
Your team is officially pathetic when Detroit and Oakland provide better examples of how to conduct business.
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Posted on August 31st, 2017
By HOWARD MANN
BOWIE, Md. – No one needs to tell Mike Lyles what it’s like to be vulnerable and victimized. That was his life as a young child raised by elderly godparents in Southeast DC.
“My 14-block walk to Catholic school – in uniform – proved to be a daily lesson in survival and negotiation,” says Lyles, Executive Director of the Prince George’s County Human Relations Commission and the top candidate for State’s Attorney. “Growing up like that gave me a deep understanding of violence’s impact in our community and the need for residents to feel safe at home, at work and on the street.”
To enhance the warm feelings associated with a safe, welcoming and nurturing community, he’s hosting “Mike Lyles’ Labor Day Family Cookout” on SUNDAY, SEPT 3, from noon to 4 p.m. The FREE event will be held at 106 Johnsberg Lane. There will be something for everyone, including face-painting for the children, a live DJ and the smooth sounds of Lyles’ band, “The Eye in We.”
More than 300 people and a number of elected officials, community leaders, business executives and candidates for office are expected to attend as Lyles – a former two-term Bowie City Council member and a nationally renowned expert on human trafficking – strives to become Angela Alsobrooks’ successor in the State’s Attorney Office. There also will be a voter registration drive, resource information for crime victims and more.
Lyles looks forward to exchanging ideas with residents and having a great time in this farewell to summer. It’s a way to give back and show where his heart lies.
“My commitment is to ensure that this wonderful county continues to be a safe place to live and raise a family,” he says. “To that end, I will tirelessly seek justice to ensure the safety of our residents, while also ensuring fairness for those charged with crimes.”
To learn more about his “Compassionate Justice” campaign and make a donation, visit www.votemikelyles.com.
Posted on August 27th, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
We thought the NBA offseason couldn’t get any juicer after the blockbuster trade between Cleveland and Boston, which followed a sea change of summer movement involving Jimmy Butler, Paul George, Chris Paul and others.
The Kyrie Irving-Isaiah Thomas deal was unlike any in NBA history, with a potential league-wide ripple effect. The top two contenders in a conference don’t exchange All-Star players at the same position, especially the season after meeting in the conference finals. Players taken at opposite ends of a draft (Irving, first in 2011, and Thomas, dead-last the same year) aren’t traded for one another.
That’s crazy, right?
Maybe too crazy to materialize.
Cleveland received an impressive haul for its disgruntled point guard, netting Thomas, starter Jae Crowder, prospect Ante Zizcic and Brooklyn’s unprotected 2018 first-round pick. In theory, that package is enough to make LeBron James reconsider leaving Ohio, a relocation that’s widely presumed to occur after next season.
But now, everything is in limbo, reportedly because the Cavaliers don’t like the looks of Thomas’ hip. They might ask Boston to sweeten the deal, which could lead to a voided trade with everyone remaining in place.
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Posted on August 22nd, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
Let the hand-wringing begin. Furrowed brows are welcome, too. So is head shaking, tsk-tsking and muttering under your breath.
The $24 million quarterback and the coach with a two-year extension have failed miserably in leading Washington’s offense – the team’s clear strength – thus far through the preseason. Instead of resembling one of the league’s most high-powered units, the Skins’ starters have struggled to manage a measly first down. They move the chains as if moving mountains.
Their ineptitude has created mass consternation in some corners and outright panic in others. Doomsdayers see a worst-case scenario materializing with every errant pass and fruitless run. Critics who worried about the loss of offensive coordinator Sean McVay, along with 1,000-yard wideouts Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson, are doubling down on fearful forecasts.
Where’s Aaron Rodgers when you need him?
The Green Bay quarterback didn’t stick around long Saturday night – going 6 of 8 for 37 yards and a touchdown on his only drive – but the prescription he wrote for the Packers faithful three years ago could be beneficial around these parts today.
He gave them five letters: R-E-L-A-X. Relax, he said. Everything is going to be OK. The assurance was issued to calm a fidgety fan base after Green Bay’s 1-2 start in 2014. The Packers finished at 12-4 and advanced to the NFC championship game.
At this point, it’s fair to ask if I’ve fallen and bumped my head.
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Posted on August 17th, 2017
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
The story is told of a man whose wife would cut off both ends of a ham before cooking it.
One day he asked why, and the wife said she got the habit from her mother. The husband questioned his mother-in-law, who said she got it from her mother. When the man finally queried his wife’s grandmother, the old lady reached into the cupboard and pulled out a timeworn pan.
“This was all I had to cook with,” she said. “The ham was always too large, so I’d cut off both ends.”
In some instances, we’re like the wife, performing rote tasks with no idea why. I’ve often thought the national anthem at sporting events falls in that category. I’ve asked the same question Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel posed this week in a thought-provoking column:
Why do we even play “The Star-Spangled Banner” before games?
If you thought the NFL killed this story by blackballing Colin Kaepernick, you since have learned otherwise. Oakland’s Marshawn Lynch and Seattle’s Michael Bennett sat out the anthem during preseason games last weekend, around the same time Klansmen, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists held demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va. The ensuing hatred and violence harkened back to clashes from the civil rights era a half-century ago.
“I’ve been thinking about sitting during the national anthem for a minute, especially after everything that’s been happening the last couple weeks,” Bennett said Tuesday in an as-told-to Yahoo article. “It’s just been so crazy right now, and I felt like the conversation wasn’t over. I felt like this needed to be a continuous thing that’s going on. I know it offends a lot of people, that’s why I kept it straightforward. I love America, I love hot dogs, I love everything about it.”
Some folks can’t grasp the concept of Bennett – or anyone – claiming to love America, yet choosing to sit during Francis Scott Key’s most-famous work. Critics see a disconnect.
But Bennett, Lynch, Kaepernick, Philadelphia’s Malcolm Jenkins (raised fist) and others, see the perfunctory performance as the perfect opportunity to move conversations from pride to introspection. That’s more than a lot of us can claim when “Oh say can you see …” gets started.
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