U-G-L-Y, these 'Skins have no alibi -- but they have a sweet D
Pete Prisco
CBS Sportsline.com
Washington Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell didn't mince words as he walked off the field at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday night.
"That was nasty," Brunell said.
That's being kind.
Skins Know They Need to
Do More
George Willis
New York Post
The Redskins were understandably giddy over their wild-card victory over the Bucs Saturday afternoon, but among the offensive unit it was a bittersweet celebration.
Advancing to Sunday's divisional playoff game was the objective, but it was tough to feel totally satisfied after earning only 120 net yards in their 17-10 triumph over Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium.
Redskins stretch lore from ‘Hail’ to Boston and more
John McGrath
The News Tribune (Tacoma)
Some info on the Washington Redskins, who will face the Seahawks in the second round of the NFC playoffs on Saturday:
• Owner Daniel Snyder grates some with his meddlesome presence on the sidelines, but compared to franchise founder George Preston Marshall, the 41-year-old communications tycoon is as invisible as the Seahawks’ Paul Allen.
Marshall, typically flamboyant in a cape-length raccoon overcoat that touched his shoes, once took a seat on the bench.
The opposing team’s bench.
'Skins' success begins up front
Edward Lee
The Baltimore Sun
As much as he loves the corner blitz and as much as his defenses are geared toward funneling the ball to the linebackers, Washington Redskins assistant head coach Gregg Williams understands that a good deal of a defense's success stems from the play of the defensive line.
For
Redskins, Gibbs still the best asset
Steve DeShazo
The Free Lance Star (Fredricksburg)
The world finally believes in Joe Gibbs now. His players may have had a shred of doubt last season, but they bought into his gospel long before the cynical public did.
That faith has paid off in a remarkable season that isn't over yet. And Gibbs is the best thing the Washington Redskins have going for them as they enter the second round of the NFL playoffs.
Seahawks will expose conservative Redskins
Jason Cole
NBCSports.com
There’s this tendency during the NFL playoffs to assign supernatural tendencies to teams, such as saying that destiny is on their side or that the stars have aligned.
Or, more simply, that they have a great will to win.
As the playoffs head into the second round, look for some people to assign those qualities to the Washington Redskins. They survived two challenged calls, an awful offensive performance and at least one remarkably bad play call by coach Joe Gibbs at the end of Saturday's first-round playoff game to get past Tampa Bay.
Redskins capitalize on Bucs' turnovers
Skip Wood
USA Today
About an hour after his team's playoff win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs lingered in a hallway and peppered an aide with questions and demands regarding various scheduling details for the week ahead.
Since Gibbs had the 17-10 wild-card win in hand, his mind had raced ahead to preparations for Saturday's outing at the Seattle Seahawks.
Bye Jolly, Seahawks Are Ready
Scott M. Johnson
Special to the Washington Post
The goal seemed a little odd at the time, if not entirely unrealistic.
Muddled in a six-year streak in which they had lost every time after a bye week, the Seattle Seahawks went into this season with a first-round playoff bye among their most important objectives.
That's just where the surprising Seahawks stand after posting the NFC's best record (13-3) heading into Saturday's game against the Washington Redskins, and no one within the Seattle locker room is worried about the idle time having any negative effects.
Seahawks battling history as well as Washington
Steve Kelly
The Seattle Times
How long has it been?
Mack Strong was 13 years old. Matt Hasselbeck was 9. Shaun Alexander was 7. Lofa Tatupu was 2. And Mike Holmgren was the quarterbacks coach at Brigham Young the last time the Seahawks won a playoff game.
Chuck Knox was Seahawks coach. Dan Doornink was the running back. And the Kingdome was one of the most formidable home-field advantages in the league.
It was Dec. 22, 1984, and 62,049 people crammed into the Kingdome to see Ground Chuck grind a 13-7 victory over the Los Angeles Raiders.
Surging Washington poses challenge for rested Seahawks
Geoffrey Arnold
The Oregonian
The Seattle Seahawks' playoff opponent is a familiar one. They lost to Washington this season, and if they expect to gain a measure of revenge Saturday, they will need to change some key factors.
Washington, which defeated Tampa Bay 17-10 on Saturday in an NFC wild card game, handed the Seahawks one of their three losses this season. That 20-17 overtime loss occurred Oct. 2, and though the Seahawks reeled off 11 consecutive wins before a meaningless season-ending loss at Green Bay, they haven't forgotten the loss.
