Not good enough. Right now, that's the Redskins. Losing to the Giants, in New York, was hardly a shocker. But blowing an opportunity to assert themselves against the Rams in their home opener, whiffing on a chance to set some sort of tone for the rest of the season going forward? Unacceptable.

Why, if Jason Campbell is expected to be the offensive leader of this team, will Jim Zorn not let him check out of plays when the Redskins find themselves in the red zone? According to Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post, Zorn doesn't like Campbell changing plays deep in the red zone because he's worried miscommunication might lead to a turnover.

Really? If Zorn is still worried that Campbell, in the second year of this system, is the miscommunicating-type come crunch-time, either the system isn't sound or Tweedledee and Tweedledum were right to try and ship Campbell out of town in the off-season. Given the near impossibility of it being the latter, I've got to wonder just what Campbell has to work with. Zorn's got to trust him. He has to.

Why, after boldly going for it on fourth down from just outside the end zone with time running down (the absolutely right decision, by the way), why would the Redskins call that absolutely awful sweep to the left side? How about pounding it right up the middle? Don't like 3 yards and a cloud of dust? Fine. How about using Cooley? Dude's like 7-11: open all day.

There were times during the game when the Redskins' offense looked like a real professional football team; those instances, sadly, were completely undone every time they got inside the 20. Usually, that's a result of bad play-calling, but lame-o execution never helps.

The hapless Lions play host to the 'Skins next Sunday. The Lions have now lost 18 regular season games in a row. They have a cannon-armed rookie quarterback in Matthew Stafford, an all-world wide receiver in Calvin Johnson and a defense that actually held Brett "Don't Call it a Comeback" Favre and Adrian Peterson to only 7 points in the first half this weekend. If the Redskins let this game get away from them, it will derail the season and might well mark the beginning of the end for the team in its current configuration.

The Redskins simply must beat the Lions this Sunday. I'd also suggest scoring a couple of touchdowns.

Quick Slants

I don't like this whole icing-the-kicker-at-the-end-of-the-game nonsense. From an entertainment perspective, it stinks. From a game perspective, it's totally J.V. From a player perspective, though, it's nearly criminal. One of these days, one of those special-teamers on the field is going to get absolutely wrecked on a play that means absolutely nothing because some head-coach is busily stalking a line judge, waiting for just the right moment to scream "Timeout!!" in his ear. That kind of strategery is not why I'm tuning in to watch the game.

Placio who? Looks to me like Eli Manning's found the receivers everybody was worried he didn't have with Plax in the clink. Steve Smith and Mario Manningham are the real deal, and Eli seems to be bound and determined to play up to his new contract.

T.O. dropped a beautiful ball from Trent Edwards on Sunday. I can't wait to hear whose fault that was. Luckily, we know it wasn't T.O.'s. Unfortunately, the Bills won so we'll have to wait another week for T.O. to get back to poisoning the locker room in Buffalo.

Jay Cutler earned himself a stay of execution from Chicago fans by helping lead his Bears over the Steelers. You don't really think that'll stop him from forcing throws into double- and triple-coverage down the road, though, do you?

I love the idea of Tiger Woods paying for personal grooming products with novelty checks. Tiger, meet Happy Gilmore; Happy, meet Tiger.

The New Orleans Saints are downright scary; Drew Brees is about as dialed in as any quarterback can be this early in the season. The fact that they play in the same Division as the Falcons makes the NFC South my sleeper division.

Milton Bradley, aka the Poison Pill, has been suspended for the rest of the season by the Cubs for conduct unbecoming. Somehow, this comes as no surprise. The fact that he's guaranteed two more years worth of paydays due to his current boneheaded contract, though, really puts the Cubbies in a pickle. Play him or trade him, Chicago's still gotta pay him. Nobody's going to take on that Musings from the Bullpen goodwill-vacuum without some serious green from Chicago.