No Offense, but It Was a Washout

You can wash those white jerseys now. Their magic finally ran out.

Did you see how many of them were streaked with the blues and the greens that had been painted on that soaked field? (Oooh, somber literary foreshadowing: It was like the colors and the end of the season were blurring together.)

The Redskins came oh-so-close to seven in a row -- and would have been oh-so-close had John Hall made that field goal. You could see it in Mike Holmgren's bitter beer face as he paced the sideline. (Honestly, have you ever seen a guy who looks more like he's having an acid reflux attack than Holmgren?) But you can't depend on miracles every week -- even when Seattle tries to help.

The Seahawks coughed up the pigskin like it was a hairball. Shaun "I Feel Like I've Had My Bell Rung by Quasimodo, but Hey, Did You See Me Dance After Matt's TD?" Alexander and punt returner Jimmy Williams gagged up the ball without even being touched ! And later, Josh Scobey fumbled a kickoff return just after the Redskins finally scored. (I know what you were thinking: Whooey, it's Dallas all over again.)

But what does it say when your best offensive play is kicking the ball away and waiting for a fumble? Once again, the offense was mostly god-awful: three-and-out seven times in their first nine possessions. Derrick Frost had more touches than Clinton Portis! Washington's touchdown came on a fluke, when Santana Moss gathered in a deflected pass with two Seahawks sprawled at his feet. Even with three recovered fumbles and the league's MVP stylin' on the sidelines, the Redskins couldn't get enough points. They charged in the fourth quarter, but ended up harmlessly spinning around.

And this time the Redskins' defense didn't score by scooping up a fumble or running an interception in -- though Sean Taylor and Carlos Rogers had shots. Taylor came within spitting distance of picking one; you'd think the watery conditions would have worked in his favor.

So the streak ends at six, two games into the playoffs -- two weeks after anybody thought it would end back when the Redskins were 5-6. And for the first time in many years, there's reason to smile and say: Wait till next year.