A few football thoughts.

• Until this year, Chris Simms had never led a game-winning drive. Ever. On any level, presumably including, like, middle school. And this was the guy who was expected to take his team down the field and score a touchdown against this defense in the last three minutes? As it turned out, he got a lot closer than I expected (thanks, Edell Sheperd, for being such a Clumsy Clint), but as soon as I heard that crazy bit of information, sometime in the third quarter, I felt pretty good about the Redskins defense’s chances in this game.
• Sean Taylor is an idiot. Apparently, once LaVar Arrington decided to get his act together and play a relatively disciplined game within the constraints of Gregg Williams’s system, a spot opened up for a new impetuous and incredibly talented screwup. What is it with DC athletes and spitting? Remember Roberto Alomar? Well, you probably don’t, but suffice it to say that he was another gifted star with a bit of a self-control problem. At any rate, while “jawing” after a play, Taylor apparently spat in the face of a Buccaneer while an official was trying to separate them. He was, predictably, given a 15 yard penalty that kept an extremely important Bucs possession alive, and also ejected from the game–ensuring that he wouldn’t be on the field for that long bomb that only dumb luck prevented from tying the game (well, dumb luck and Simms’s apparent destiny to always be a loser). Speaking of luck, Taylor has got to be thankful that the Skins’ defensive system is so good that a chump off the street can come in and play a role–it’s more or less a miracle that his expulsion didn’t mark the inflection point in this game. Congratulations, Sean Taylor, you’re our new laughingstock!
• Wow, that was the most pitiful offensive exhibition I’ve ever seen. And, statistically, it was in fact the worst offensive game any team has ever had in a playoff win. In a way, perhaps this should be seen as a positive: if they managed to win with an offense that awful, there’s no reason to think the defense can’t win three more games that way. And it’s true that they were playing the #1 defense in the NFL. Of course, they might find themselves playing the #2 defense in the NFL (Chicago) pretty soon, too.
• Along those ill-advised looking-past-the-next-game lines: I think that the Redskins have already beaten any team they’d have to go through in the NFC (Chicago, Seattle, NY, oh, okay, maybe not Carolina). So it’s not like it’s out of the realm of possibility. But, okay, that’s a bit of fannishness. They’re not exactly the favorite to represent the conference in the Big Game.
• But the main thought I have is: that was awesome. Washington must be a happy city today.

Also, it doesn’t look to me like the Patriots are going to be satisfied with one postseason victory. They walked off the field after demolishing Jacksonville (28-3!) as nonchalant as if they had just come to the stadium to get their W4s. They didn’t even play Tedy Bruschi, the cornerstone of their defense, just in case he might aggravate a recent injury. These guys have cojones. That said, they are an extremely vulnerable team. Their secondary sucks, which would be even more obvious if their front four weren’t completely ripping offensive lines apart. Their running game is spotty. They don’t have a single big game receiver, if you ask me. What they do have–that aforementioned front four, a savvy linebacker corps, a coach who is prepared for anything, and some guy named Tom Brady who has never lost a playoff game–ain’t bad, but if they win it all this year it’ll still be, by far, their most impressive championship.