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To beat the Rams at home by a score of 9-7 isn’t exactly impressive, but they’ll take it however they can get it. At least the defense seemed to be effective. Then again, it all happened against the Rams, a team that struggled to score throughout 2008 and seems to have the same problem in 2009.

They lost to the Detroit Lions in week 3. Either the Detroit Lions were finally do for a win and it just happened to be against the Redskins – or the loss against the Lions showed the lack of focus and determination the Redskins have.

Anymore defeats by inadequate teams and the Redskins fans, front office, and head coach Jim Zorn will see their Redskins be in last place in the NFC East.

The Washington Redskins have a very tough schedule when you consider they must play the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles twice a season.

If the Redskins can’t beat the Detroit Lions, what chance do they have against the better teams of the league. The Redskins need wins against the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Bucs and Oakland Raiders if they hope to even taste the top of the NFC East division.

The Redskins have to create offense and do it quickly before they fall too far back in the NFC East division race. The Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, and Philadelphia eagles are all better teams at the moment.

Their running game hasn’t been looking like it has in the past. Clinton Portis is no doubt one of the best running backs of the decade; he’s aging a bit, and seems to have lost a step.

Head Coach Jim Zorn is on the hot seat if he can’t create some spark with his offense. The Redskins are a proud franchise with a rich history, if Zorn can’t produce for the Redskins fans and ownership by motivating his players he won’t last the season. The players must come ready to play and not play the blame game either as well. .

For more Redskins discussions, head on over to the Redskins forumss at RootZoo Sports, the most active sports forum online

Alabama didn’t so much win their game against Tennessee on Saturday as much as they escaped. Despite playing one of their worst games of the year they managed to keep their undefeated season alive as nose tackle Terrance Cody blocked a potential game winning field goal on the last play of the game to preserve a 12-10 victory for the Crimson Tide. Alabama held a tenuous 12-3 lead late in the game before a Tennessee touchdown and recovered onside kick had them facing the specter of the defeat for the first time this season. Instead, Alabama improved to 8-0 while Tennessee slipped to 3-4.

College football pointspread players who took Tennessee as +14 road underdogs were in good shape throughout the contest and eventually cashed their tickets. The Vols improved to 4-3 against the spread while the Crimson Tide dropped to 5-3 versus the number. The 22 combined points went well UNDER the posted total of 41′. Tennessee has gone UNDER in 4 of 7 while ‘bama evened their college football totals record at 4-4.

After the game, Cody recounted his blocked field goal attempt that saved the day:

“I didn’t really get off the ground. I just reached my arm up. That’s how I got it. I knocked the blocker back. He was on his back.”

First year Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin wasn’t taking a ‘moral victory’ from the game:

“It’s a difficult loss to deal with. You come into a hostile environment and play the No. 1 team in the country, as I said before by far the No. 1 team in the country and the best-coached team around. You come in here and outgain them by nearly 100 yards and miss three field goals. I don’t believe in moral victories, we should have won that game.”

He explained the difficulty that placekicker Daniel Lincoln has getting elevation on his kicks since a quadriceps injury:

“He can’t kick the ball up high. If you kick the ball up high it’s never going to get there, so we can’t allow the penetration up front.”

Alabama coach Nick Saban views the game as a learning experience:

“You talk about how fragile a season is. You’re controlling a game, even though you may say it’s winning ugly. We’re still ahead 12-3 and totally controlling the game with 3 minutes, 29 seconds and the ball. That’s how fragile a season can be. You make one mistake and you have to go overcome it. I hope that there’s a lot of lessons our team can learn from this.”

Alabama has a week off before a tough game at home against LSU on November 7. They’ll play at Mississippi State the following week before a game against FCS Chattanooga on November 21. Tennessee hosts South Carolina next Saturday and Memphis the following week. They’ll play at Ole Miss on November 14.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer specializing in boxing, college football and NFL betting. He serves as a consulting handicapper for Sports-1 Sportsbook and is a noted authority on Internet sportsbook betting of all forms. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and several pet geckos.

The Florida Gators would go on to win the NCAA Football Championship, but it was a 31-20 victory over #1 ranked Alabama in the SEC championship game that got them there. The Gators scored 14 4th quarter points to secure victory in a contest that was an epic struggle for three quarters with five lead changes and two ties.

The Gators scored first, taking a 7-0 lead on a three yard Tim Tebow TD pass to Carl Moore. The Crimson Tide quickly answered, tying the score on an eighteen yard run by Glen Coffee and taking their first lead of the game at 10-7 several minutes later on a 30 yard FG by Leigh Tiffin. Florida came right back in the second quarter, tying the game on a Jonathan Phillips 19 yard FG and taking a 17-10 lead into the halftime break on another Tebow TD pass, this one to David Nelson from five yards out. Alabama regained control in the third quarter, tying the score on a 2 yard Mark Ingram touchdown run and then regaining the lead at 20-17 in the final seconds of the period on another Tiffin field goal. Florida put them away for good in the fourth, however, on a 1 yard Jeffrey Demps TD run followed by Tebows third touchdown strike of the day.

Junior quarterback Tim Tebow was the big star for the Gators. The junior QB had 216 yards passing with 3 TDs and no interceptions plus fifty seven yards on the ground. Florida head coach Urban Meyer praised Tebow effusively in his post game comments:

“I’ve had some great players, and I’ve got some great players on this team. But I’ve never had one like this. Tim’s got something special inside him. I’m not talking about throwing. I’m not talking about running. I’m talking about making everyone around him better. That fourth quarter was vintage Tim Tebow.

Alabama coach Nick Saban agreed:

“He’s a great competitor. He takes his teammates on his shoulders a lot. They have a lot of confidence he’s going to make plays, and they play that way. They scored two touchdowns where we had them covered about as well as we could cover them.”

The conventional wisdom is that the Gators are a speed and finesse team, but according to cornerback Joe Haden make no mistake that they’re tough:

“Our team is a tough team. The only reason they look past our toughness is our speed. They said we were a speed team and they were a tough team. We’re just as tough. We can still be pretty and fast and tough at the same time.”

Even in defeat, it was impossible to overlook the remarkable resurgance of Alabama football. In only two years at the helm, Nick Saban has amassed a 19-7 record at Alabama with no signs of slowing down.