Mind Games Not Working In D.C

Maybe we owe Albert Haynesworth an apology after all.

Only two months after America was forced to watch the Mike Shanahan-Albert Haynesworth soap opera play out in D.C, Donovan McNabb has become the latest victim of the head coach's ridiculous mind games and antics.

Down six with close to two minutes to play, Shanahan benched his "franchise" quarterback and replaced him with backup Rex Grossman---yes that Rex Grossman, with the game on the line. Up until that point, McNabb had a respectable stat line, 17-30 for 210 yards 1 TD 1 Int and 4 carries for 45 yards, and led the Redskins offense to 25 points.

McNabb's performance on the field hardly seemed worthy of a benching but Shanahan saw otherwise. In an effort to justify his actions, Shanahan has come out with new answers seemingly every hour, each one being more ridiculous then the one before it. It started with McNabb not being knowledgeable of the team's two minute offense, proceeded to McNabb needing to rest an injured hamstring, then evolved into McNabb not having enough cardiovascular health to keep up the tempo in a two minute drill.

In regards to not being ready for a two minute drill, Donovan has been a Redskin since April 4th and has been in the league for 12 years, certainly enough time to know what to do. He was also able to bust off a 36 yard run in Sunday's game so the injured hamstring and cardiovascular health seem to be ok. See a trend here? The excuses are ludacris.

The only thing worse then a dumb mistake is a dumb mistake that is followed up with pathetic excuses. Though the Redskins may feel they have underachieved with a 4-4 record, without #5 they may very well be winless. The team has one of the worst offensive lines in football, no running backs worth mentioning, and a wide receiving core that featured the ancient Joey Galloway as a starter for five games. Oh and not to mention, the defense is ranked 31st against the pass and 20th against the run. All in all, the team stinks and McNabb is one of the few bright spots.

Back in August, Albert Haynesworth dealt with benchings and embarrassments at the hands of Shanahan and McNabb has followed suit. Apparently Mike Shanahan has decided he is going to make an example of the team's most important player in McNabb and arguably the team's best player, Haynesworth. For a coach who has won exactly ONE playoff game since 1999 to be so arrogant and manipulative isn't just off-base, its outrageous.

Luckily for Donovan, however, his contract is up at the end of the season and he will have the freedom to go where he chooses. Washington has not made worthwhile efforts to resign the future Hall of Fame quarterback, and with this latest maneuver it appears the writing is on the wall.

Hey Donovan, maybe Philadelphia wasn't so bad after all?