Sunday Night Quarterback, Week 2

Yeesh.

I am not going to spout venom about how you can't go into the red zone five times and come away with nine points.

I'm not going bleat about being unable to get off the field on 3rd down against a team as bad as the Rams is not excusable.

I'm not going to rail about how Jim Zorn seems increasingly overmatched for simple game management tasks, like not realizing you should wait until the game clock runs down before calling timeout (when your team is winning and, you know, wanting to leave the other team with as little time as possible).

I'm not going to complain about those things (actually, I guess I just did) because to do so would somehow indicate that I was surprised by what I saw in this game. That I somehow expected a different result.

Watching this team as long as I have, I no longer expect them to hold onto the football when they're driving at the end of a half.

I don't expect them to leave less than a seven-yard cushion to a receiver on 3rd and four. Your kid can do that math, right?

Last week, I asked what an acceptable result would be against a Rams team that was 2-14 last year, and opened the year with a 28-0 drubbing against a non-playoff team.

Here's the answer. If you think the Skins are a playoff team, this result was unacceptable.

But what if you know that they're really a mediocre team that would overachieve to win nine games? If that's what you know, then 9-7 against the Rams sounds about right. And this week's game against Detroit (0-18 going back to last year with a rookie quarterback) will still be unresolved deep into the second half.

May not seem like it, but I'm in a better place about all this now...