It just sat there.

The ball sat there on the Washington Redskins 27 yard line.

Ryan Kerrigan, just two seconds ago, had violently knocked it out of Carson Wentz’s hands. It bounced and wobbled from the 25 yard line back two yards and just sat there.

It was as if someone had pressed pause on the DVR. Kerrigan was on top of Wentz and Chris Baker was on top of Kerrigan. In a permanent 3 Stooges pose, all three could see the ball and all three looked at it helplessly as it just sat there.

Time moved slowly as if it were some horrible dream where there’s a monster about to eat you alive and suddenly your legs can only move an inch at a time and you can’t run away. The agony!

As many Redskins fans undoubtedly screamed at their televisions over and over again: “Pick it up you idiots! Pick it up!”

Trent Murphy magically, triumphantly appeared from what must of been a Stargate wormhole and scooped up the loose ball ending the suffering and worry for Redskins fans everywhere.

There could not have been a more appropriate ending to this game in which either team could have won if only someone would just take control once and for all, and put us all out of our emotional suffering.

The rollercoaster of emotions began from the beginning of the game, until the very end. Allowing the Redskins to continue to dream about the playoffs for one more week. Although it is becoming increasingly clear that it might be just that, a dream. But more on that later.

The Redskins defense began by allowing another long drive to start the game but held the Eagles to just 3 points. It appeared at first that the Eagles offense was going to come out aggressively and set the tone on this maligned Redskins defense on just their 2nd possession when they went marching down the field again and were at the Redskins 3 yard line when Wentz threw a touchback interception to cornerback Deshazor Everett in the endzone. Redskin fans surely praised all the gods when that play was made I can tell you.

It was one of the many turning points in this game, as the Redskins took away sure points from the Eagles. Disappointingly, the Redskins marched down the field only to have kicker Dustin Hopkins hit the crossbar yet again this year and attain the low honor of missing the most field goals for NFL kickers this year. The Redskin front office should most definitely send Hopkins a message by having some kickers tryout on Monday to at least see what they have, if only to send the message that his inconsistency will not be tolerated.

Thankfully by the time the 2nd quarter had rolled around, the Redskins seemed to find their footing and helped Robb “Fat Robb” Kelley make an excellent 22 yard rumbling touchdown play and place themselves back in control of the game.

The Eagles would go on to score and take back the lead with just 38 seconds left in the 2nd quarter sending both teams to their locker rooms with the Eagles leading 13-7.

Then surprisingly, in the 3rd quarter the Redskins used the hurry up offense and Kirk Cousins threw a rainbow of a pass that landed over Desean Jackson’s right shoulder in what might of been his best catch of his Redskins career for an 80 yard touchdown pass. It shocked his former team into a state of numbness. Which he reveled in with smiles and laughter. What a villain he has become to his former team, you know it hurts them to see it.

The Eagles on the next ensuing drive, tried to make a field goal with the help of their tight end Brent Celek as the long snapper. The original long snapper had injured their wrist and now Celek was the next man up. It ended poorly as the snap was botched and the Eagles turned the ball over on downs.

Then a small miracle happened. The Redskins marched down the field and scored a touchdown pass off a fade to Pierre Garcon in the Redzone. A fade for a touchdown! A Christmas miracle! God bless us, everyone. The only thing that would of made it sweeter is if it was on 3rd down. That foul demon will have to be slayed at a later time, but for now, the fade monkey seems to have died a glorious death.

The Redskins were up 21-13. They had stopped the Eagles in a three and out and were going to end this game on another long drive right?

Wrong.

The pick six by Eagles cornerback Leodis McKelvin made the game excruciatingly close at 21-19.

With an additional field goal by the Eagles making the game 22-21, which by the way, has a funny story to how it came to be as Celek was also knocked out of the game and the Eagles had to find another long snapper to help make the kick. I dreamt of having one of their fans come drunkenly down on to the field with beer in hand, batteries in pockets and proudly announce that they were here for the coach, hell for the city, if needed. It almost came to be but the Eagles found a professional football player instead to help make the kick.

The Redskins marched down the field on the ensuing possession by converting a crucial 4th down and scored on a pitch to running back Chris Thompson who scrambled 25 yards into the endzone with 1:53 left in the game. Finally giving a short respite for the suffering Redskins fans.

Undoubtedly many Redskin fans at that point in the game also knew there was too much time left for the Eagles to possibly win the game, with the current state of this Redskin defense. Luckily, Kerrigan created havoc, time stood still, and the defense made the play of the game.

While the victory was sweet, the playoffs remain just slightly out of reach. And as the weeks move toward the end of the season it looks less and less likely that Redskin will make the playoffs. Due to the Arizona loss last week they no longer control their own destiny and will need help from some friends and enemies to sneak in.

The Redskins will have to win out in order to get in no matter what happens and it might come down to the last week of the season, if they are lucky. For the Washington Redskins the playoffs do not start in 4 weeks. They have already begun. Lose and they are more than likely out of contention and must turn their eyes toward next year. Win, and they might just get a chance to make some noise and over come some more adversity.

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