[sportscurmudgeon]

Hail to The Redskins:

OK, I'll argue with you about this because sometimes you have to look beyond the first stats:

The Falcons are the ONLY team in the NFL to have two backs with more than 500 yards rushing at the moment. Vick happens to be one of them. And their #3 rusher is over 300 yards. The Falcons AVERAGE 5 yards per rushing play; that is 19% better than the Skins average per running play. So, I agree; Portis is a better RB than anything on the Falcons, but the Falcons have a much better overall running game than the Skins do. Or did I miss the fact that Portis is at 1500 yards rushing already?

What makes that running game effective in Atlanta? They have a much better OL than the Skins do. I completely agree with you that the injury to Jansen was devastating to this unit this year, but still, the Atlanta OL is better than the Skins'.

The Falcons have a poor pass defense (something like 28th in the league) but they have a good run defense.

BTW, the Redskins' defense that has all those gaudy stats has yet to score a TD - not a single one. The Falcons defense has put three TDs on the board.

You neglected to mention special teams. Redskins have scored ZERO on special teams this year and have given up a TD. Falcons have scored once on special teams and not given up a score.

With regard to the wide receivers, I agree that Coles is better than Price as the lead receiver. After that, it's a wash. I don't think Gardner is such a significant step up from White that it matters and frankly I like Finneran better than Thrash at #3.

And at tight end it is NO CONTEST. Crumpler will probably go to the Pro Bowl from the NFC. Cooley is a good young rookie.

The single biggest difference between the teams is at QB - as you suggest. Michael Vick is better than Brunell and Ramsey and Hasselbeck and Gibran Hambone (if they ever bring him back to the team) added together.