I'll admit to not watching the Rams-Redskins game in its entirety; the 50-point spread and the virtual guarantee that things would be unofficially decided by halftime didn't really pique my interest. When I saw St. Louis was leading late in the fourth, it caught my attention, and I ended up watching the final six minutes or so.
Which included a Clinton Portis touchdown to give the 'Skins a 17-16 lead, followed by Marc Bulger matriculating the ball up the field (no thanks to Richie Incognito) to set up a Josh Brown game-winning field goal as time expired.
This was Jim Haslett's first game in the post-Scott Linehan reign of terror, and apparently, the former informant and Saints coach is serious about turning things around in St. Louis. You see, in addition to coaching up the troops, Haslett also leads by example.
Late in the third quarter Sunday, as a shanked Durant Brooks punt headed down field for Washington, Redskins "gunner" Leigh Torrence was blocked out of bounds by the Rams.
"We jammed him out of bounds," Haslett said. "He was coming on me, so I figured it was me or him. If he was going to run me over, I was going to get him. So I got a good shot on him."
That's right, the head coach of the St. Louis Rams appeared to get a little shove in on Torrence during a game. That explains why Torrence and Haslett were jawing at each other on the sidelines after Brooks' punt went out of bounds. ... "I didn't want to get run over," Haslett said. "You see those coaches that get tackled? That wasn't going to be me. ... It's not a big deal. But really, I was not going to get run over."
First, I think it goes without saying that any ball coming off Durant Brooks' foot is probably a shank. Second, I saw the highlight of Haslett and Torrance flapping their gums and while it was sorta funny, I didn't think much of it.
Until Torrance gave up a 43-yard pass play to rookie Donnie Avery on that last, fateful drive, to set up the winning Brown field goal. The lesson, I guess, is this: scrubs should be seen and not heard -- even against the Rams -- because anything can happen.
