An onside kick? Whaaaaaaat?

It was Monday night football and the fate of the USA was in the hands of the Redskins and Steelers on election eve. The last Redskins game in Washington before the election has correctly predicted the winner of the White House in 15 of the past 16 elections so of course the election is over right now before millions of people have even voted! If the Redskins lose, as they did tonight, that means that the party in the White House now is going to lose the election. So folks, you heard it here first, Barack Obama is the next president of the United States. No ifs, ands, or buts here. *Sarcasm* Seriously, go out and vote tomorrow no matter who you're voting for and don't be an ass and believe the fate of a football game tells the fate of this country, you need to let your voice be heard.

Now that we've lectured you on your right to vote and how you should exercise that right, let's talk about football! First off, what was with the onside kick to start the game? Seriously, WTF?! Who does that? What a way to start the game, giving the Redskins a nice present. They couldn't even get a first down but got three points anyway. Then on their next possession they get another gift from us and another three points. Six points in four minutes while they've done basically nothing. We thought, here we go, and fortunately we were wrong. Things didn't turn around right away for the offense, but the defense looked great. Lots of three and outs for the "D" and seven sacks, including two for Woodley and one-and-a-half for Harrison. Ike Taylor was playing really well and has been the last couple games we feel, he needs to keep it up. And how about that blocked punt? Insane. The defense was definitely doing it's job. And speaking of people doing their job, James Farrior was on fire, making tackles left and right. His play on fourth-and-goal near the end of the game to bat away that pass from Campbell was awesome. He's how old? I don't think anyone cares.

While we're discussing James Farrior we feel the need to bring up that roughing the passer penalty. What was that? He lead with his helmet? Yeah, their helmets touched, but that's about all we could call it. That was also quite a show put on by Campbell but we'll leave that alone. Our main point is the fact that the NFL really needs to decide on strict guidelines for these calls. It's ridiculous. Justin Tuck of the Giants had a roughing the passer call on him for an extremely clean hit, while another player we can't recall right now hit Trent Edwards of the Bills, slamming his head into the ground and that was fine. This is an embarrassment that needs to be cleaned up.

Big Ben had another rough night out there and things weren't looking good when it came to getting beat on by the opposing defense once again. He ended up leaving just before half-time while Washington had the ball to head to the locker room for x-rays. The injury appears to be the same type of shoulder injury he had before and doesn't appear to be serious. Mike Tomlin said he was potentially capable of coming back into the game, but Big Ben never did return and that left the Steelers in the hands of Byron Leftwich, who turned out to be very capable. Completing seven of ten passes for 129 yards and a touchdown with a passer rating of 145.8, he led the Steelers to a victory. Only one player complained about Leftwich and that was Santonio Holmes. He said it was tough to adjust to him because the ball gets there in a hurry. When told of that comment, Leftwich didn't say anything at first and then said he needs to work on that. We agree, Holmes dropped a few too many passes. Heath Miller also stayed out of the game with an ankle injury that we hope is not too serious, he's an important part of that offense.

We can't end this post without mentioning Willie Parker or the Steelers fans tonight. Parker looked good after not playing for a month with a knee injury. He also looked good after the game talking with the ESPN crew, quite the charming guy. The ESPN crew also had to compete with Steelers' fans chanting HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO! after the game. It still always amazes us how many Steelers fans there are in visiting stadiums and how they can actually compete with the home crowd. In watching ESPN after the game, one of the announcers said he had a friend in radio who said there were about 30,000 Steelers fans there. We have no idea how close to a real number that is, but it sure sounds good.

Before we go we feel the need to mention that this Thursday night the Browns are going to start Brady Quinn at quarter back against the Broncos. Should be good how the kid does. At least the fans got their wish after chanting BRADY! BRADY! during their last loss. We'll have to keep an eye on him...

We'll probably be back later with links. For now, here's the box score and recap from ESPN.