The Redskins dance great. Nobody can deny them their dancing skills. They dance well after scoring touchdowns, they dance well after punt returns (ESPECIALLY those for touchdowns), and they dance well after big hits.

About the only thing they don't dance well after are field goals, but that just might be because they're too winded after holding their breath every time somebody wearing burgundy and gold tries to do just about anything with a foot and a football.

Even after that, it might be safe to say that Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato have put together, quite possibly, the best dancing team in the NFL that doesn't list Terrell Owens on its roster.

The problem with all that talent is that, for whatever reason, it doesn't quite translate into wins on the field. If anything, and Antwaan Randle El's little celebration after his 87-yard punt return for a touchdown serves as a perfect example, all that dancing translates best into is a sense of a team that has never really been there before, a team that doesn't realize that the whole POINT of their being on the field is to score touchdowns and make tackles and generally outperform the team on the other side of the ball.

This team wants the "respect" that comes most freely with, surprise, success and winning. The problem is, there ISN'T any success or winning, or at least not very much. What there is a lot of, and has been for several years, with the exception of last year's late season playoff run, is overblown expectations, over-hyped role players from other teams signed to be superstars here in DC, lack of attention to fundamentals, big hits rather than solid tackles, and a coaching staff that delegates rather than, well, coaches.

All of this was on display last Sunday against the Colts, and has been on four of the other six Sundays the Redskins have played regular season games this year. The play that maybe best defined the Redskins approach this year came midway through the second quarter when Andre Carter and Phillip Daniels "manned-up" and tried to separate Peyton Manning's head from the rest of his body while simultaneously trying to break both of his ankles. Whether the Redskins came into the game looking to rough up the Colt's quarterback is a no-brainer; every team in the NFL looks to rough up the opposing quarterback as a matter of principle. Whether the Redskins were willing to do so with cheap-shots, however, seems to also be a no-brainer, and generally serves as a reliable indicator of a desperate team, or at least of desperate players. Carter and Daniels will no doubt maintain their innocence; Manning and the referee that supposedly apologized to him for not calling a penalty on the play know better.

After taking the opportunity afforded by the halftime break to clear his head, Manning came out and did what players and teams SHOULD do. Namely, he regrouped himself and his team and proceeded to take the Redskins behind the woodshed for a lesson in what a real offense can do to whatever Gregg Williams has been putting on the field all season and calling a defense. The Redskins scored 8 more points in the half, but the third quarter essentially blew them out of the water and everybody watching the game knew it.

Marvin Harrison, the All-World Colt's receiver was quoted by Sally Jenkins in last week's Washington Post as saying, "They don't pay me to play, they pay me to practice. Playing, that's what you do for free."

It's a notion the Redskins might want to revisit, because for now, big hits, cheap shots, and great dances just don't seem to be paying the bills.