[SmootSmack]

Saturday's game against the Pats wasn't pretty. No way to sugarcoat that. And being the third preseason game it's the most important one. Which I guess is like saying Ashlee is the smart Simpsons sister. And, like someone keenly observed in another thread, you can't really compare this team entirely to 1991 because the core of that group had been around for a few years.

However, a few things to note. Raise your left hand if you recall at the end of 2004 and a 6-10 record when a whole bunch of people here were screaming "Gibbs has lost it, the game's passed him by." Now raise your right if you recall people panicking when Coles said he wanted out, and then we lost Pierce and Smoot on top of that. Now stand on your right foot if you recall the mass hysteria when Gibbs insisted that we hadn't seen the last of Brunell. Now hop on your foot if you remember the sheer devastation that engulfed much of this board when we lost three in a row last year including a pathetic loss to the Raiders that left us at 5-6. All hope was lost then remember?

By now most of you should be jumping up and down with your hands high in the air. But what ended up happening last year? 10-6 with a playoff win. Point is, actually I don't know what the point is, just that it seems there are way too many sky is falling attitudes.

What I've always felts separates Gibbs from other coaches is his ability to finish strong. There are few, if any, coaches in the history of the NFL that have his December record. What that tells me is that so long as the Redskins stay in contention through the first 8 or 10 games, they're in good position to separate themselves from the rest of the pack down the stretch.

So no, I'm not worried.