CHANGE IS HERE: A New Era in Washington (NFL Head Coach 09)

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REDSKINS SACK 49ERS 23-6
The Washington Redskins had 9 team sacks in a game in which the defense dominated to catapult them to a first round bye, and the #2 seed in the NFC. The defensive unit was missing starters LE Victor Abiamiri, and ROLB Rocky McIntosh due to injuries.
Free agent rookie, ROLB David Vobora, starting in McIntosh's place led the defense with 9 tackles, 4 TFL, and 3 sacks. His production has some wondering if he performed well enough to receive a contract extension. "I just wanted to take advantage of the opportunity I was given," said Vobora.
The offense struggled at times, as Coach Case was very conservative in his play-calling. "It was good to get the win, and get the bye to get some guys a chance to heal, stated the coach, "but we have some concerns on both sides of the ball heading into the playoffs."
The other teams heading into the playoffs are Tampa Bay, Seattle, Minnesota, Dallas, and Philadelphia. When asked whether the team would like to get another shot at Dallas, Coach Case responded, "we don't care who we play, we expect to win any game on our schedule."

Passing:
J.Campbell 12-18-0-171 2 TD
Collins 0-2-0-0

Rushing:
X.Omon 19-39
Betts 13-25
J.Campbell 3-1

Receiving:
Doucet 3-53 TD
Moss 3-40
Cooley 3-29
M.Peterson 2-31 TD
Randle El 1-18

Defense:
Vobora 9 tackles, 4 TFL, 3 sacks
Fletcher-Baker 7 tackles, 2 TFL, INT
C.Campbell 4 tackles, 3 TFL, 3 sacks

NFC East
y-WSH 14-2
x-DAL 11-5
x-PHI 10-6
NYG 10-6

NFC West
y-SEA 13-3
STL 7-9
SF 6-10
ARZ 5-11

NFC Central
y-MIN 8-8
DET 6-10
GB 6-10
CHI 3-13

NFC South
z-TB 16-0
NO 10-6
ATL 5-11
CAR 3-13

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PASSING	RTG	TD	INT	Yards	Comp	ATT	Comp%
Jason Campbelll	115.4	33	10	3754	242	376	64
Todd Collins	39.6	0	0	12	1	4	25

RUSHING	ATT	Yards	TD	Avg	Fumble
Xavier Omon	266	1045	9	3.9	6
Portis	121	418	3	3.4	6
Ladell Betts	107	324	3	3.0	7
Jason Campbell	41	235	1	5.7	2
Boomer Grigsby	5	14	0	2.8	0

>

RECEIVING	Rec	Yards	TD	Avg	Drops
Early Doucet	57	1006	11	17.6	9
Santana Moss	48	717	7	14.9	3
Antwaan Randle El	41	656	5	16.0	11
Chris Cooley	34	440	4	12.9	3
Mike Peteson	25	413	2	16.5	5
Kevin Robinson	13	265	3	20.3	0
Boomer Grigsby	10	140	1	14.0	3
Clinton Portis	5	34	0	6.8	1
Ladell Betts	4	35	0	8.7	0
Xavier Omon	3	32	0	10.6	0
Keenan McCardell	2	14	0	7.0	1
Todd Yoder	1	14	0	14.0	1

Pancake Blocks: B. Albert & Grigsby 9, Kendall 7, Rabach & Samuels 6, R.Thomas 3, J.Connor 1

DEFENSE	Tackles	TFL	Sack	INT	DEFL	FF	FR	TD
Laron Landry	110	12	0	6	19	2	1	2
London Fletcher-Baker	100	26	3	4	7	5	3	0
Yeremiah Bell	82	13	3	0	5	0	1	0
HB Blades	61	19	2	1	2	0	0	0
Rocky McIntosh	60	30	13	0	4	0	1	0
Tony Bake	58	23	9	0	1	2	0	0
Jacques Reeves	56	2	0	3	6	0	1	1
Fred Smoot>>	45	1	0	0	9	2	0	0
Calais Campbell	42	18	10	0	2	3	0	0
Zack Bowman	40	4	2	2	3	1	1	1
Shaun Smith	21	6	5	0	0	1	0	0
Victor Abiamiri	21	10	5	0	1	1	2	0
Cornelius Griffen	20	9	6	0	0	1	1	0
David Vobora	14	5	4	0	0	0	1	0
Frank Okam	10	4	4	0	0	0	0	0
Danny Clark>>	8	2	1	0	0	0	1	0

Alexis Serna 16/19 FG, 30/30 XP

Durant Brooks 46-1709 37.1 avg, 30.1 net, 8 inside 20, long of 50

London Fletcher-Baker was announced in a press ocnference as the Defensive Player of the year. It is not the only award that Washington took home however, as Coach Case was also announced as the Coach of the Year.

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WILDCARD WEEKEND

There were no suprises this weekend as each of the home teams ended up with victories, setting the table for next week's divisional matchups. Here are the outcomes from the game sthis past weekend.

#4 Minnesota (8-8) defeated #5 Dallas (11-5) 30-27
#3 Seattle (13-3) defeated #6 Philadelphia (10-6) 27-24
#4 Cincinatti (10-6) defeated #5 Jacksonville (11-5) 35-21
#3 San Diego (11-5) defeated #6 Denver (10-6) 21-14

Next weeks Divisional Schedule:
#3 Seattle (14-3) at #2 Washington (14-2)
#4 Minnesota (9-8) at #1 Tampa Bay (16-0)
#3 San Diego (12-5) at #2 Indianapolis (14-2)
#4 Cincinatti (11-6) at #1 New England (15-1)

Washington has allready beaten the Seahawks once this year back in week 12, when they traveled to Seattle for a 32-15 victory. It was the game in which Zack Bowman got his first start, and laron Landry's interception for a touchdown was the highlight of the game.

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CINCY UPENDS NEW ENGLAND
In a playoffs in which thier have yet to be suprises, came a huge one. the Cincinatti Bengals defeated the New England Patriots at home 35-28. Many believed that New England was the favorite to win it all, but a passing attack led by Carson Palmer was too much for New England to handle.
In other playoffs news, the games went as expected. Tampa Bay had no trouble with the Vikings winning 42-14, and San Diego lost to Indianapolis 17-38. The remaining game is a rematch as the Seahawks will look to upset the Redskins.

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ONTO THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP
The Washington Redskins ahve advanced to the NFC title game in Coach, Justin Case's first year as head coach, after defeating Seattle 27-10. The game was well in hand by the end of the first quarter, and Washington simply dominated the game clock, and methodically won the game.
For the first time in the year the team didn't seem to press to score often, rather opting to steadily run over and around the Seahawks. Jason Campbell only threw 16 passes, 13 of which were completions in a game with which the team seemed content to grind out.
Jabar Gaffney had a big day for Seattle grabbing 8 receptions for 136 yards, and a touchdown. Matt Hasslebeck had some difficulty getting on the same page with any of his other receivers, as he ended with 269 yards passing.
The victory means that Washington will travel down to Tampa Bay next weekend, in a game that promises to play to the Redskins strengths. They have shown all year that they can run effectively against the Tampa 2 defense. If the Buccaneers are unable to stop the run, the Redskins could have any easy go of it.

Passing:
J.Campbell 13-16-0-217 TD

Rushing:
X.Omon 23-93, TD
Betts 14-50
J.Campbell 1-9

Receiving:
Moss 4-63, TD
Cooley 4-63
Doucet 2-48
Robinson 2-28
X.Omon 1-15

Defense:
Bake 4 tackles, 3 TFL, 3 sacks
Griffen 4 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 sacks

AFC Championship: Cincinatti (12-6) @ Indianapolis (15-2)
NFC Championship: Washington (15-2) @ Tampa Bay (17-0)

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NO CONTEST, SKINS DEMOLISH BUCS, 65-10
The NFC Championship game seemed to be over before it started as the Redskins did everything that they scripted, leading to the lopsided victory. The team wanted to run well, it did with 190 yards on the ground, the team wanted to create turnovers, it did with 2 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles. Tampa Bay seemed helpless to stop them, as thier season ends with its first loss.
Injuries played a huge part in the game, and staring quarterback Jeff Garcia, went down in the second quarter and wouldn't return. Brian Griese replaced him, but was also injured in the forth quarter, but by that time the game was decided.
Washington got some big days from Xavier Omon, and Ladell Betts as eeach of them alomost eclipsed the 100 yard mark. For the second week in a row, the team threw less than 20 times, but didn't need to as it controlled the game clock.
The AFC Championship game was not much different, as Indianapolis won easily over the upstart Bengals 42-7, setting the table for the Super Bowl in two weeks.

Passing:
J.Campbell 13-15-0-274 3 TD

Rushing:
X.Omon 21-92, TD
Betts 10-94, 2 TD
J.Campbell 1-4

Receiving:
Doucet 4-87, TD
Randle El 4-121, TD
Moss 2-24
M.Peterson 2-29
Cooley 1-13

Defense:
Z.Bowman 7 tackles, TFL, 2 INT, 2 FF

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SUPER BOWL XLIII
WASHINGTON CONTROLS COLTS, 38-14

Both coaches knew that Washington wanted to control the clock, and chew up yardage on the ground. Indianapolis was just never quite able to stop them consistently. The Redskins dominated in time of possesion holding the ball for 41:20 compared to 18:40, and clinching the victory for rookie coach, Justin Case.
"We are very excited to bring the trophy home to Washington, the guys have played well all year, and have done this as a team," stated Coach Case. It may well be the biggest surprise in a few years, and many preseason pundits had Washington going 6-10 and out of the playoffs.
The game looked to favor Indianapolis early on as Mannin hit Dallas Clark for a 68-yard touchdown pass with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter to go up 7-3. All year Washington had struggled to control the passing attack, and it seemed as thought the secondary was in for a long day. However the team regrouped and responded in the next few quarters not giving up another score.
Meanwhile the offense was methodical in marching the ball down the field, and at halftime the Redksins were leading 17-7. "Coach told us that the game was ours to win, that we just needed to control the clock," said game MVP, Xavier Omon, "we knew we would win if we could run the ball effectively in the second half."
Washington showed it was disciplined enough to outlast a Colts team that scores quickly. Omon added two rushing touchdowns in the 3rd quarter, and caught another in the 4th to seal the game.
Coach Dungy responding to what the momentum shifter was responded, "the fumble by Joseph (Addai) in the second quarter seemed to bring them to life." For those who have followed the team all year, the answer might well be, "when they hired Coach Case."

Passing:
J.Campbell 15-24-0-248, 2 TD

Rushing:
X.Omon 28-89, 3 TD
Betts 9-67
J.Campbell 5-17

Receiving:
Doucet 5-119
Moss 4-50
Cooley 2-31
Randle El 1-29
Betts 1-7
X.Omon 1-6, TD
Grigsby 1-6, TD

Defense:
Fletcher-Baker 5 tackles, 2 TFL

Scoring:
1- WSH: Serna 27-yd FG 4:04
1- IND: Manning 68-yd pass to D.Clark (Vinatieri) 3:12
2- WSH: J.Campbell 6-yd pass to Grigsby (Serna) 4:41
2- WSH: X.Omon 2-yd run (Serna) 0:36
3- WSH: X.Omon 3-yd run (Serna) 1:41
4- WSH: X.Omon 5-yd run (Serna) 8:51
4- WSH: J.Campbell 6-yd pass to X.Omon (Serna) 3:11
4- IND: Manning 7-yd pass to A.Gonzalez (Vinatieri) 1:17

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GM, THREE COACHES OUT IN WASHINGTON
Former Redskin GM, Danny Spyder, knew his days were numered, after a season in which Coach, Justin Case, changed the way Washingotn does business. "I knew from day one that if we won I would be out," said Spyder, who prefers to build through free-agency.
"We appreciate all of Danny's contributions to the team," announced Case, "we just felt we wanted to go in a new direction." But, what direction that was was uncertain, because as soon as Spyder was removed, owner, Peter Ambrose hired another one of his guys in first time GM, Jeremy Strauser. There are multiple unconfirmed reports that this has caused a rift in the owner and coaches relationship, resulting in a shouting match at the team offices.
The hiring of Struaser was not the only surprise however in the coaching ranks as RBC, Stump Mitchell, resigned with the team, then promptly quit, to take over the QBC job in Indianapolis. There are reports that Mitchell was hoping to be moved into the Offensive Coordinator Position, or Asst. Head Coach Position.
Oddly enough, Mitchell, goes to a Colts to replace the terminated, Jim Caldwell, who was announced as the new Redskins QBC, after the team handed Jack Burns his walking papers. The only other coach to be released from his contract was DLC, Joe Palermo.
The team announced replacements for the vacancies at RBC, Kirby Wilson, and DLC, Tim Spangler. These are the first additions to the staff by Head Coach, Case, because Ambrose has limited his power over the staff.

OUT:
GM Danny Spyder (44)- fired
QBC Jack Burns (39)-fired
RBC Stump Mitchell (99)-quit
DLC Joe Palermo (21)-fired

IN:
GM Jeremy Strauser (19)
QBC Jim Caldwell (99)
RBC Kirby Wilson (38)
DLC Tim Spangler (23)