Week 16 Reflections

When Sean Taylor died on November 27th, the Washington Redskins season went into a tailspin.

They had just lost their third straight game two days prior to Tampa and were sitting at 5-6 including a 1-3 record against their rivals in the NFC East which was being dominated by the Dallas Cowboys at 10-1. Five days later, the Skins lost their fourth in a row to Buffalo at home with Sean still on everyone's mind. The next day, he was buried.

Vince Lombardi once said, "Success demands singleness of purpose."

Washington, now 5-7, had only three days to prepare for Chicago on Thursday night, and they couldn't ask for a better leader in the midst of this emotionally unstable crisis than Joe Gibbs. Their beloved head coach reeks of success and has the fortitude and character to pilot this team through such a storm. The crux of the moment was if the players would respond and rally behind the one who knows all about "singleness of purpose."

The Skins came out focused and full of fervor in front of their home fans, and Chicago had no chance losing 24-16. The price was high though as QB Jason Campbell was lost with a dislocated knee cap. Backup QB Todd Collins became the field general that led the team to victory.

The schedule called for Washington to travel to NY next to face the rival Giants, and the team came together and won convincingly 22-10. Up next was another road game in the thundering Metrodome to face the Minnesota Vikings last week, and the result was the same as Washington cold-cocked the host 32-21 and left them seeing stars and their playoff dreams fading.

These last three wins have shown one thing about this Washington Redskins team: They have singleness of purpose thanks to their head coach who gives the credit to the team and its on-field leaders, "I don't know of a team - I haven't been a part of one - that's overcome this much ... It's almost like they're going to overcome whatever's out there. It's also caused a certain camaraderie and chemistry."

Well, the Dallas Cowboys are what's "out there" next, and something tells me this Skins team will be ready and impregnated with electricity as they face their hallowed foe in a must-win situation.

Gibbs summed it up just right, "Everything that we've worked for, for 15 weeks, goes on the line this weekend."

And, don't you know that the spirit and memory of their fallen comrade will be on their hearts and minds as they clamor to take their successful journey to the next level --- the playoffs.

Win or lose, it's very clear that Joe Gibbs needs to be here for the very near future.