They won the game a couple of times, but bad coaching once again left them undone and made the hapless Eagles victorious. The defensive, offensive and head coaches -- all three -- repeatedly demonstrated foolish play calling, bad clock management, inability to get even the right number of players on the field, failure to manage time outs correctly, such disorganization that 11 penalties were called, and a total lack of trust in the demonstrated capability of QB Campbell's arm.

Worst of all was Coach Gibbs' repeat performance of his brainlock against the Giants: here, as then, he ran the ball over and over from inside the five, and so telegraphed his intention that a brick wall of defense was constructed and proved impregnable. This with an offensive line depleted by injury. As a result, he lost the game for his myrmidons. Soon they will want to quit on him, since his creativity has quit on them.

Consistent with the Washington sports media's parallel with the Village coverage of political matters, the coaching will go largely uncriticized, the few reporters who do criticize will be ostracized, and Coach Gibbs' insistence on operating according to the mores of the 80's (while the rest of league plays with spread formations) and under-utilizing the players' best skills will simply continue.

The coach was great in the 80's. It's a different game now. This sport, like world affairs, has moved on, but the Washington establishment in each case lives in the past.

If only the coaches, like Congress, had to be elected every two years.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys and Giants get better and the elite teams get much better. Are the Skins a metaphor for today's American politics? They certainly demonstrate traits alarmingly familiar in politics: Denial, stubborn authoritarianism, use of racist terminology ("Redskins" isn't really acceptable in any conversation), ignorance, misperception, income inequality among personnel and gross mismatches between salary and performance.