Say what you want about Mike Shanahan’s ego, but the man knows how to install a good running game.

Just two years into his tenure as head coach of the Redskins, Shanahan has the team’s ground attack heading in the right direction. Two weeks after racking up 140 yards versus the Steelers and one week after torching the Colts’ defense for 215 yards, the Redskins were at it again on Thursday night, compiling 103 rushing yards against a stingy Baltimore front seven.

Granted, 103 yards isn’t overly impressive but don’t forget that the Skins were playing against a very good Baltimore defense and Week 3 of the preseason is when teams play their starters well into the second half. It appears as though Washington’s offensive line has taken to Shanahan’s zone-blocking scheme and is starting to gel. Cohesion is crucial to Shanahan’s system and the Redskins’ front five has apparently found it, allowing Tim Hightower to gain 56 yards on nine careers (6.2 YPC) with one touchdown last night.

Shanahan has taken a lot of heat over the past two years for the way he’s run things in D.C., specifically in his handling of free agent bust Albert Haynesworth and quarterback Donovan McNabb. And seeing as how this Rex Grossman/John Beck situation seems destined to blow up in his face, there may be more criticism of Shanahan to come.

That said, he didn’t just fall into his 152-108 career coaching record and let’s not forget that the man has won two Super Bowls. He’s quirky yes, but it’s not that big of a stretch to think that he’s starting to turn things around in Washington. We’ll know more once the regular season starts, but I don’t think the Redskins’ success on the ground this preseason is a fluke. Take notice, NFC East.

Predicting games in the NFL has become more difficult over the years with the emergence of parity in the NFL. The first couple of weeks always produce a number of shockers.

This year things should be even more unpredictable with the aftermath of the NFL lockout. You have a number of teams installing new systems, with other teams adding new quarterbacks. If you’re going to bet on the NFL in week 1, you’re going to have to watch developments in the preseason so see how different players and teams are responding to the changes. On the other hand, you also can’t put too much stock in the preseason. Hence the dilemma. But that also presents opportunities for astute observers.

Here are a couple of players and teams to keep an eye on:

Colt McCoy – He’s off to a great start in Cleveland. Cleveland is installing the West Coast offense, which typically takes a long time to master. Nobody will suggest that McCoy has “mastered” it after one preseason game, but it’s clear that he’s taking to the system, and that’s consistent with what experienced scouts thought about McCoy. He obviously has all the intangibles, and now he has an offense that is a closer match to his skill set.

Sam Bradford – Pat Shurmer is coaching McCoy this season in Cleveland, and last year Bradford excelled in Shurmer’s system. This season, however, Bradford gets a new system and coordinator with the arrival of Josh McDaniels. McDaniels has a good track record with quarterbacks, but we’ll have to see how Bradford adjusts. He didn’t get off to a great start in his first preseason game but there’s plenty of time.

The Bengals – This could be a disaster, as the Bengals might be going with rookie Andy Dalton. This kid has some ability, but jumping from TCU to the NFL is quite a leap. He wasn’t that great in his preseason debut, so we’ll have to see how he develops. The Bengals might be in the early running for the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.

The Redskins – This will be the real test of the Shanahan ego express. Who knows who will start, and we’ll see if the Shanahans are as smart as they think.

Donovan McNabb – Can he still play? Will he do better under coaches that give him a longer leash?

These are just some of the questions leading up to the season, so get to work! At least it’s more fun than reading up on labor issues . . .

Donovan McNabb seems thrilled to be free of the Shanahans in Washington.

“Some coaches say ‘Hey, it’s my way or no way,’ ” McNabb said via the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “You become robotic. That’s when you pull away from your style of play and the way of things that got you successful. If things don’t go as well as you’d like them to, you find out what the mistake was, you correct it and you go right back and get it done.”

Mike Shanahan is a control freak. His son Kyle Shanahan, the offensive coordinator in Washington, seems to be even worse. They personify a disturbing trend where coaches try to do too much, and they don’t let their players play. I think if you make football too scripted, you lose the ability to let your players improvise.

I admire teams like the Steelers that put players like Big Ben in a position where he can improvise and make great plays. Of course all of this is a balancing act, but the Shanahans seems to represent the extreme.

I have no idea how McNabb will do in Minnesota. He has some great weapons, but he’s also near the end of the line. That said, he’s a veteran, and it makes sense to let him play the game.

Albert Haynesworth is saying all the right things in New England:

To this point, Belichick has liked what he’s seen from Haynesworth.

“Albert has worked hard. I think that it’s coming (along),” Belichick said. “We’ve got a long way to go, so just take it day by day, but I think he’s doing fine.”

Numerous times in the team’s last two practices, Haynesworth has broken through the line to disrupt a play. He explained that he’s still getting his legs under him, but that the role reminds him of what he played in Tennessee, which would signal a Patriots shift to a 4-3 alignment, with Haynesworth in a disruptive role lining up shaded on the center or guard.

Haynesworth said he first got word of the trade to New England in a text message at 6:30 a.m., and was excited for the chance to play for Belichick.

“I always liked Coach Belichick, just the way he did things, the way the team performed, the way he handled the team and everything,” he said. “Now being on the inside, he’s very detail oriented and he demands perfection every time. I’ve been on some really good teams, with a lot of great players, but I’ve never been in a situation where it’s like perfection every time, not for a person but for the team.”

Haynesworth passed the Patriots’ conditioning test Sunday and said he feels like he’s in good shape, although there is still some rust to shake off.

In Washington, he expressed reservations about playing nose tackle in a 3-4 alignment. Asked if he’s willing to play in a 3-4 in New England, he responded, “I’m willing to attack the quarterback and kill the running back, knock everything back. Whatever gap the ball is in, that’s the gap I want to be in.”

Haynesworth said one aspect that has surprised him since arriving in New England last Thursday is how welcoming everyone has been.

Maybe he’ll revert to his old self, but context is everything in life, and Haynesworth seems to understand that he has a real opportunity here.

This also shows a real contrast between Bill Belichick and Mike Shanahan. I blame Shanahan and the Redskins for most of the problems last season with Haynesworth. Sure, the guy can be a real jerk, but he’s a dominating force as a 4-3 tackle, yet Shanahan insisted on playing him as a nose tackle in the 3-4. It was idiotic, and it helps to explain why Shanahan went through defensive coordinators in Denver like hot women go through shoes. In contrast, Belichick will happily alter his scheme to fit his talent. He wasn’t always like that. I had to suffer watching him coach the Browns back in the 90s, but he obviously became a better coach through the years. Shanahan on the other hand seems to be regressing as his ego grows.

Kleenex sales went through the roof the week that the 2011 MLB All-Star Game rosters were announced. That’s because from coast to coast, everyone from media pundits to MLB managers were crying about some of Bruce Bochy’s choices for the NL squad. Two skippers in particular, the Marlins’ Jack McKeon and the Pirates’ Clint Hurdle, were publicly vocal about Bochy’s perceived favoritism to some of his own players.

I wonder what McKeon and Hurdle have to say now after the National League downed their AL counterparts 5-1 on Tuesday night. Granted, the victory was largely thanks to Prince Fielder’s three-run dinger, some solid pitching performances by the NL staff, as well as the unavailability of some of the AL’s best pitchers. But just like in the 2010 postseason, Bochy managed yet another perfect game. He was aggressive on the base paths (particularly in the fifth inning when Angels reliever Jordan Walden took the hill), he made all the right moves with his pitching staff and he played the matchups incredibly well. He also didn’t even use Tim Lincecum or Ryan Volgelsong (two pitchers in which Bochy was accused of showing favoritism), and wouldn’t have used closer Brian Wilson in the ninth had Starlin Castro and Joel Harahan not allowed two runners to reach base.

If the Marlins or Pirates somehow manage to make the World Series this year, they’ll be the host team thanks in part to Bochy. Any chance that McKeon or Hurdle pick up the phone in that instance and show their appreciation for Bochy’s hard work over the last week with the NL All-Star team?

More Quick-Hits for Wednesday:

- James Harrison shared, uh, some interesting takes on Roger Goodell in the August issue of Men’s Journal. James used the words, “crook,” “devil,” “stupid,” “puppet,” and “dictator,” while describing Goodell, then threw in an anti-gay slur for good measure. “If that man was on fire and I had to piss to put him out, I wouldn’t do it,” Harrison told the magazine. “I hate him and will never respect him.” Tell us how you really feel Eminem James.

- I wish FOX had mic’d the head groundskeeper for Tuesday night’s All-Star Game because I would have loved to have heard what he said after watching Padres closer Heath Bell tear a big divot out of the infield when he slid into the mound. “Thanks a**hole, you know someone has to repair that right? Couldn’t have ran onto the field like a normal human being, huh?”

- Don’t expect the Mets to trade Carlos Beltran as fast as they did K-Rod. Not with Jose Reyes, David Wright and Ike Davis all injured. And I don’t think Beltran is a sure-bet to land in ‘Frisco either. If I’m Scott Boras, I’m telling my client to choose an American League team to waive his no-trade clause for, so that he can show his stuff as a DH for next year.

- Apparently Mike Shanahan is set on John Beck as his starter in 2011. That makes sense considering that when he benched Donovan McNabb last year, he immediately inserted Beck as the starter to get him ready for this season. Wait…what?

- I can’t wait for the NFL lockout to end so I can see how quickly teams sign free agents. Because I refuse to believe that these teams haven’t somehow been in contact with these players throughout the last couple of months. I know league rules prohibit teams from trying to contact players, but come on – this is the NFL. You know these teams have been sneaking around for months now. It’ll be interesting to see how much time elapses from when the lockout officially ends until when a team signs that first new free agent. If it’s more than 12 hours, I’ll be shocked.

Rotoworld has two interesting tidbits today on the quarterback situation in Washington:

John Beck is expected to enter training camp as the Redskins’ starting quarterback, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

“It will be his job to lose,” said Schefter, who is tight with coach Mike Shanahan after the two collaborated on a book in the late ’90s. Per Schefter, the Redskins bypassed QBs in the draft because they believe Beck is better than most of the group that was available in the middle of the first round. Beck doesn’t have a touchdown to show for his four NFL starts. He completed 27-of-48 passes (56.2 percent) for 300 yards (6.2 YPA) with a 2:2 TD-to-INT ratio against backups in last year’s preseason. Former Dolphins coach Cam Cameron has given up on Beck twice now, which leaves Shanahan as the 30-year-old’s lone backer.

And:

Free agent Rex Grossman appeared on ESPN 980 Radio Wednesday and said he is under the assumption that he will re-sign with the Redskins.

“I’m assuming that’s what’s going to happen,” he said. Grossman added that OC Kyle Shanahan and QBs coach Matt LaFleur personally asked him to throw with the Redskins’ receivers during the lockout. For now, we consider Grossman likely to be back in Washington to compete with John Beck. Most reporters covering the situation believe Beck will be ahead on the depth chart.

Am I the only one flabbergasted that people believe John Beck will be the Redskins’ starting quarterback next season? I get that this is all just speculation at this point, but I can’t be the only one who is raising an eyebrow to Mike Shanahan’s (potenital) madness here, right?

Beck isn’t without talent, but he didn’t exactly set the world on fire in Miami and I’m wondering what Shanahan sees in him to make him believe that he can start in Washington. I figured that Grossman, who Shanahan benched Donovan McNabb for last season, would be the favorite heading into training camp when the lockout lifts in the summer of 2032 – not Beck. (Assuming Grossman re-signs with the team, of course.)

But hey, what to do I know? Maybe Beck is the best fit for Shanahan’s offense and he just needed to find the right situation to succeed. Clearly the Redskins believe in him or else they would have drafted a signal caller in April, although they still could sign a veteran free agent like Vince Young when/if he becomes available later this summer.

Still, does anyone else envision Shanahan throwing a whole bunch of mediocre talent into a mixing bowl and just going week-by-week in terms of whom he starts at quarterback next year? Because I sure can…

Donovan McNabb must feel real secure about his status in Washington after hearing Mike Shanahan’s latest comments to the media.

While speaking at the NFL combine on Friday, the Redskins head coach said that the team wouldn’t make a decision on McNabb’s future until after the draft. Shanahan also said that he’s talked to McNabb’s agent but has yet to speak to McNabb personally since the end of the season.

Granted, Shanahan was vague in his comments so there’s still an outside shot that McNabb could return to D.C. next year. But John Fox gave more backing to Kyle Orton this week than Shanahan did for McNabb and Fox hasn’t even seen Orton practice yet. Chances are the Redskins aren’t going to pay McNabb the $10 million offseason roster bonus or the $1.75 million base salary he’s due next season.

If you read between the lines, it appears that McNabb is a goner if the Skins emerge from the draft with a starting quarterback (or at least someone that can challenge Rex Grossman for the starting job next season). With so many holes to fill, it’ll be interesting to see if Shanahan decides to address the quarterback position in the first round knowing that he doesn’t have complete faith in McNabb as his starter, or take his chances in the middle rounds on someone like TCU’s Andy Dalton, FSU’s Christian Ponder or Iowa’s Ricky Stanzi. (Or ignore the position completely and stick with McNabb.)

But no matter how the draft shakes out, McNabb will either start for the Redskins or start for another team in 2011. It would be foolish for the Redskins to pay him over $12 million next year and watch him hold the clipboard while Grossman plays. Things will be real interesting around Redskins Park at the end of April and early May.

Donovan McNabb said earlier in the week that he would like to remain in D.C. in 2011. But his agent Fletcher Smith is making it hard for that to happen.

Fletcher ripped Mike Shanahan and his son/offensive coordinator Kyle for being “beyond disrespectful” in their decision to bench McNabb. Then he went on to essentially say that the Shanahans have it out for his client.

From ESPN.com:

“I believe there is tension between Donovan and Kyle that’s rooted in the fact that Donovan has suggested modifications to Kyle’s offense based on intricacies Donovan has learned in his NFL career,” Smith wrote. “For example, Donovan has asked all year that the team run more screen passes to help manage the pass rush more effectively. Ironically, Kyle decided to employ Donovan’s suggestions after he unceremoniously benched him on Sunday.”

You have to appreciate Smith coming to defense of his client but is he honestly saying that Mike Shanahan benched McNabb and then Kyle Shanahan employed McNabb’s suggestions with Rex Grossman? As the ESPN article noted – that seems like a bit of an overstatement.

Mike Shanahan has recently fired back at Smith.

“As I stated earlier, when I traded for Donovan McNabb I had hoped that he would lead us to the playoffs,” said Shanahan. “No one wanted him to be more successful than me. When the team was 5-8 and mathematically out of the playoffs, I made the decision to evaluate our other two quarterbacks.

“This was not personal, but strictly professional. The decision was made in the best interest of the Washington Redskins and I stand by my decision. I will attempt to talk to Fletcher Smith directly to clear up every one of his misconceptions.”

If the Shanahans believe that McNabb can’t run their offense, then they did nothing wrong in benching him. If they honestly think Grossman is better than they would be wrong. But at least their reasoning behind McNabb makes sense. (If he’s not going to be here next year, why keep playing him?).

That said, if the Shanahans want McNabb back next year and expect him to compete as a starter, then their decision to bench him for the human turnover machine looks ridiculous. Because even though the Redskins are out of it they would still benefit from McNabb taking as many reps in Shanahan’s offense as possible – especially if he’s struggling to grasp the system. You don’t bench the guy and then say, “But hey, maybe you’ll be better next year. We’ll see you then!”

What a weird situation.

Let’s be honest: Sports bloggers know everything. Just ask us. As part of our 2010 Year-End Sports Review, our list of things we already knew this year includes Brad Childress’ biggest fail, Wade Phillips’ demise in Dallas and John Calipari’s troubles. We also knew Kevin Durant was the next great superstar (who didn’t see that coming?), Roger Clemens is the ultimate windbag and that “Matty Ice” knows fourth-quarter comebacks. We should have gone to medical school…

Contributors: Anthony Stalter, John Paulsen, Paul Costanzo, Drew Ellis and Mike Farley

LeBron is a frontrunner.

We all were a little surprised that LeBron left Cleveland, but the writing was on the wall. Growing up, LeBron didn’t root for the local teams. He followed the Yankees, Bulls and Cowboys, which in the 1990s constituted the Holy Triumvirate of Frontrunning. He wore his Yankee cap to an Indians game and was seen hobnobbing on the Cowboy sidelines during a Browns game. He says he’s loyal, but he’s only loyal to winners…unless they only win in the regular season, of course.

Brad Childress’ biggest flaw cost him his job in the end.

There were many reasons why the Vikings decided to fire head coach Brad Childress roughly a year after they signed him to a contract extension. One of the reasons was because he lost with a talented roster. Another was because he never quite figured out how to best utilize Adrian Peterson, which is a sin given how talented AP is. But the main reason “Chilly” was ousted in Minnesota was because he didn’t know how to manage NFL-caliber personalities. He didn’t know how to handle Brett Favre, which led to blowups on the sidelines and multiple face-to-face confrontations. He also didn’t have a clue how to deal with Randy Moss’ crass attitude, so he released him just four weeks after the team acquired him in a trade from New England. Childress was hired in part to help clean up the mess in Minnesota after the whole “Love Boat” scandal. But the problem with a disciplinarian that hasn’t first earned respect is that his demands fall on deaf ears. In the end, Childress’ inability to command respect from his players cost him his job. You know, on top of the fact that he was losing with a talented roster, he didn’t know how to best utilize Adrian Peterson, he…

Love him or hate him, George Steinbrenner will forever be one of baseball’s icons.

You may have hated his brash attitude, the way he ran his team or the way he conducted his business. You may even feel that he ruined baseball. But regardless of how you may have felt about him, there’s little denying that George Steinbrenner will forever be one of Major League Baseball’s icons. Steinbrenner passed away in July of this year. He will forever be a man known for helping revolutionize the business side of baseball by being the first owner to sell TV cable rights to the MSG Network. When things eventually went south with MSG, he created the YES Network, which is currently the Yankees’ very own TV station that generates millions in revenue. During his tenure, he took the Yankees from a $10 million franchise to a $1.2 billion juggernaut. In 2005, the Yankees became the first professional sports franchise to be worth an estimated one billion dollars. While many baseball fans came to despise the way he ran his team (mainly because he purchased high priced free agents with reckless abandon due to the fact that he could and others couldn’t), don’t miss the message he often made year in and year out: The Yankees are here to win. He didn’t line his pockets with extra revenue (albeit he generated a lot of extra revenue for his club) – he dumped his money back into the on-field product. Losing wasn’t acceptable and if the Bombers came up short one year, you could bet that Steinbrenner would go after the best talent in the offseason, regardless of what others thought of the approach. How many Pirates and Royals fans wish they had an owner with the same appetite for victory?

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Donovan McNabb hasn’t played like the second coming of Y.A. Tittle this year, so let’s not act as if he’s the difference between the Redskins finishing this miserable season 3-0 or in a fiery blaze of their own hell. (They’ll probably choose the latter.)

But for crib’s sake, he’s still light-years better than Rex Grossman, whom Mike Shanahan will start against the Cowboys this Sunday.

Once again, the Redskins have befuddled the masses. Both McNabb and Shanahan say that McNabb is healthy, yet Grossman received an increased amount of reps this week practice and has been named Sunday’s starter. But why? Because he gives the Redskins their best chance of winning? That can’t be it. Grossman can hold his own when he plays on a team that employs the top ranked defense and a returner that sets his offense up at midfield every possession. But last time I checked, the Redskins had neither of those at their disposal.

So if McNabb isn’t hurt and Grossman doesn’t give the Skins their best chance of winning, then why start him? The only logical explanation is that they know McNabb won’t be around next year and therefore, are trying to see what they have in Grossman. They signed McNabb to an extension in mid-November but only committed $3.5 million more in guaranteed money so they aren’t tied down to him financially. They could release him and only lose $3.5 million in the process, which is chump change when it comes to a starting quarterback.

Thus, that must be the reason Grossman is starting on Sunday – because McNabb’s days in Washington are numbered. They have to be, or else why start the human turnover machine? Because McNabb still doesn’t have a feel for Kyle Shanahan’s offense? If he’s going to be a part of the Skins’ long-term future, then both Shanahans would want McNabb to get as much playing time as possible in preparation for the future. They wouldn’t bench him so he could take cues from Rex freaking Grossman.

Yep, that has to be it. McNabb is done in Washington. No coach in his right mind believes Rex Grossman gives his team its best chance of winning. He may play well for a quarter, a half or even an entire game, but over the course of a season Grossman is not the answer. If Shanahan knows this, then he must also know that McNabb’s time in D.C. is up.

Update: Rich Campbell reports via his Twitter page that Shanahan has informed McNabb that there’s no guarantee he’ll be brought back in 2011. ESPN’s Adam Schefter also says that, “It’s obvious that Donovan McNabb will not be back in Washington this season.”

This is a downgrade to the entire Washington offense: Santana Moss, Chris Cooley, Anthony Armstrong…even Ryan Torain, who is going to get even more attention as the Cowboys dare Rex Grossman to air it out. I see Moss and Torain as fringe WR2 and RB2, respectively, while Cooley becomes a fringe TE1 play.