Will real 'Skins please stand up?

October 1, 2006 1:24 am

I'M NO Bud Collyer (original host of the hit game show "To Tell the Truth") but I'm going to ask the question anyway: Will the real Washington Redskins please stand up? Truth is, they can't, because a month into the 2006 season, not even the folks working at Redskins Park know how good the team really is.

Are the real Redskins the team that laid an egg on national television two weeks ago, a squad that was run off the field by a rival and couldn't even muster an offensive touchdown? Or are the true Redskins more like the team we saw last weekend--a unit that beat up on a bad team, and looked better than Eva Longoria doing it? Okay, so they didn't look better than Eva Longoria, but they were as close as a team can be.

Two weeks ago, the Redskins were seen as some sort of joke. Their quarterback was washed up, their offense was anemic and the team's defense was porous. One terrific performance against a tumultuous team later, and their offense is being viewed as top-notch, the same washed-up quarterback is now perfect for their system and the team's defense is back.

The Redskins aren't as good as they were in Houston last weekend, or as bad as they were in Dallas the game before that. There's no doubting, however, that they've come a long way since a season-opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings in early September. If nothing else, the Redskins are healthier than they were then, and it's been showing.

Don't expect the Redskins to amass 495 yards of total offense every weekend, particularly in today's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Quarterback Mark Brunell won't soon be completing 22 straight passes again. Conversely, though, don't expect the offense or Brunell to look as horrifically bad as they did against the Dallas Cowboys any time soon, either.

Some teams go all season without ever really knowing how good they are. It isn't uncommon for a team to fluctuate between contending and pretending on a week-to-week basis for weeks and even months at a time. Like the 2006 installment of the Redskins thus far, teams can look stellar one week and like they belong in a cellar the next. Welcome to the NFL.

Washington won't be one of those teams that float between contention and mediocrity. As a matter of fact, you should know just how good the Redskins are by the time you retire to bed this evening. The Redskins will face the most daunting of their challenges to date this season as they welcome to town today one of the league's most underrated teams.

This year's Jacksonville Jaguars aren't a whole lot different than they were last year. Jacksonville still dominates the line of scrimmage and showcases an overwhelmingly physical defensive unit. Despite a super-sized receiving corps capable of presenting matchup problems, the team's offense isn't much more than mediocre.

The re-emergence of Redskins All-Pro running back Clinton Portis last weekend couldn't have come at a better time. Don't expect the three-time 1,500-yard back to have a lot of running room today, however, as Jacksonville boasts the league's third-best overall defense. Jacksonville's also the NFL's third-best against the run.

The scoreboard operator at FedEx Field might as well bring a book to work with him today, because he may get bored. Only five teams allow fewer points a game than the Jags, and that's despite having already played two top-10 offenses. In other words, John Hall had better get his leg loose, because he's going to get some work.

By the end of the day, we'll have a much better idea of who the real Washington Redskins are.

An impressive performance against a vastly underrated Jaguars team would go a long way toward confirming Washington's early-season renaissance. A lackluster effort would verify that the team isn't among the elite yet, but instead somewhere between the elite and the bottom-feeding Houston Texans.

GRANT PAULSEN is an 18-year-old sportswriter who grew up in King George County and now attends George Mason University. He hosts a talk show each Saturday on XM radio. He can be reached at The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia Street, Fredericksburg, Va. 22401, or by fax at 373-8455.