Give the Redskins credit: after stumbling and bumbling their way to a 5-6 start, the Burgundy and Gold somehow found it deep within themselves to reel off six straight, magical victories. They won at home. They won on the road. They won pretty and they won ugly. They won by playing as well as they could realistically be expected to play in each and every situation. Over the last two months these Redskins dug as deep as any Redskins team has ever dug. So for that, each and every bit of it, all of Washington should be proud. The 'Skins of old may not be back, but their heart is back, and that is itself a giant leap for any team.

The problem with all that, in simplest terms, is that the Redskins, in their current configuration, are maxed out. 10-6, a Wildcard berth and the second round of the playoffs are pretty much all this team can realistically expect. If Dan Snyder, Joe Gibbs and Gregg Williams are serious about taking this team to the next level, if they are serious about being in this for the long haul, if they are serious about putting another Lombardi Trophy in the trophy-case at Redskins Park, then these men need to sit down, take a long, hard look at the team they have put together, and accept the fact that this team, in its current iteration, is NOT capable of winning a Super Bowl. Period.

Every football team that has any realistic expectation of finishing the murderous slog that makes up the regular and post-season and coming out the other end as a Super Bowl Champion needs three better-than-average parts: offense, defense and special teams. Right now the 'Skins have only got two of those three parts. Gregg Williams has coached up a solid defense, a defense that spent much of the season keeping the team in games that otherwise would've slipped away. The special teams play has been solid if unremarkable, and at times as opportunistic as any top unit in the league. The worst kept secret in a town known for an inability to keep secrets is that the offense is the Achilles heel of this Redskins team and has been for the last two years. To be fair, the offense hasn't been good enough for longer than that, but let's just look at this current, Joe Gibbs built offense.

The second worst kept secret is quite simply this. (Pay attention now, because with all the re-birth, love-fest, mumbo-jumbo tripe being spouted around here it might be a little hard to hear.) The offense is not going to get to the next level with Mark Brunell at quarterback. IT. WILL. NOT. HAPPEN.

I know, I know, Brunell really was worlds better than he was last year. Honestly though, it would've been tough to have been worse. Brunell was the epitome of the stoic quarterback all last year, playing hurt, taking the blame, keeping his head down and his mouth shut. Which is all great, except for the fact that all that stoicism got him was his worst season ever as a starter, a 6-10 team record, and a whole league wondering who had sold Joe Gibbs the magic beans.

Brunell needs to be even better next season, though, and that's when the tack hammer of reality hits you right in the melon; this past season was arguably the best season Brunell has had since somewhere around '96, '97, '98 when the Jaguars were as good as they've ever been. His passer rating was right in the same neighborhood, and his touchdown to interception ratio was comparable. I promise you, Brunell is not getting any better than he is right now in this lifetime!

So anyone, Joe Gibbs included, who tells you that Mark Brunell IS going get just that little bit better enough to push the 'Skins over the hump is selling you a bum steer, and you need to think real hard about whether or not you're buyin'.

Brunell showed the heart of a lion this season, battling back from a season that would've landed most other guys on the trash heap. He battled through old injuries and new injuries this year, leading by example, as any great quarterback must do. To expect him to attain some new level of proficiency next year, at 37, is nuts. Even worse, it is unfair. Let him go home on a positive note, but don't expect him to be the guy. That time, is gone.