Matt Bowen, The Examiner
2007-12-12 08:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

Santa is coming to town in a couple of weeks, and the Redskins are still playing meaningful football games, starting with the New York Giants on Sunday night.

It is a beautiful time of year.

I played on my share of teams that did nothing important come December, counting down the days until the offseason starts. Vacation plans are set, disgruntled veterans start talking about what teams they want to play for next season and practice seems like a marathon. For a professional football player, it doesn’t get any lower than that. Coaches get tenser, players get chippy with one another and the idea of “team,” takes a major hit. For one reason or another, your team wasn’t good enough. Many players will either be replaced or cut, and you play as hard as you can so you still have a locker come mini-camp in the spring.

The National Football League is a business. More specifically, it is the business of winning — and winning means making the playoffs.

Don’t kid yourself. This isn’t college football. Programs don’t get a three- or four-year window to turn things around. You win now, and win often, or it is time to pack your bags and catch the first thing smoking out of town. This logic comes front and center every season in December. Teams start to pull away from one another and establish themselves as playoff teams. Games get tighter, penalties and missed tackles decide seasons and playoff dreams, and unknown players become new heroes.

This is the best time of the year in the NFL.

The Redskins are on the cusp of the playoffs, even after all they have endured: The countless injuries, an awful tragedy and a four-game losing streak. Most teams would have quit. However, this team found a way to pull out a win last Thursday, playing on emotion, teetering on exhaustion. Because of this, they have something to play for come Sunday. Forget about the previous 13 games, because what happens in the next three is all that will be remembered. Something tells me that it is going to be worth watching.

As a player, win and you still have some fight left in you. Lose, and it is time to start thinking about where you are going to be next year.

Former Redskins safety Matt Bowen, a seven-year NFL veteran, contributes a weekly column to The Examiner during the NFL season.