You've gotta hand it to Washington's alleged NFL team.There's the offensive nickname. Not to mention claiming a player off waivers not long after he allegedly beat up a woman — again. And let's not forget the organization's unwillingness to pursue a legitimate quarterback — yes Antonio Brown Jersey , there's at least one out there — with the playoffs on the line. Oh, and while we're at it, quietly trying to push through a plan for a new stadium that would undoubtedly serve as another raid on the public coffers.Let's go ahead and give this bunch a new moniker: the worst franchise in sports. Washington's NFL team has some stiff competition, of course. There are horribly run franchises all over the sporting landscape.Even within its own league, it's hard to dismiss the not-long-for-Oakland Raiders, who had the gall to announce they were bolting for a financial windfall in Las Vegas a full three seasons before they actually planned to skip town, smugly counting on the good people of Oaktown being nothing more than silver-and-black-clad suckers willing to support a lame-duck franchise. Now, it looks like the team might be homeless in 2019 after Oakland officials filed a lawsuit to recover some of the tens of millions of dollars they've invested in the team and its current stadium.The Raiders deserve to be banished to a season of aimless wandering after turning their backs on Oakland for the second time, trading away two of their best players, and handing the keys to the franchise to broadcaster-masquerading-as-coach Jon Gruden, who has guided them to three wins in his first 13 games.But we'll still go with the Washingtonians as the ones most faithfully following the path of Be Worst.A brief recap:— Reuben Foster, a troubled young man arrested not once but twice this year on suspicion of domestic violence, was claimed off waivers by Washington shortly after being released by the San Francisco 49ers. While we have little faith that any NFL team really cares all that much about dealing with this scourge on society — see: Kareem Hunt and countless others who've had similar brushes with the law — Washington turned the cynicism meter up to full blast before ripping off the knob.— While giving Foster what amounts to a fourth chance (he's also got a marijuana arrest on his rap sheet), Washington wouldn't dare consider giving even a second look to a quarterback who had the gall to kneel during the national anthem as a protest against racial injustice. Again, Dan Snyder & Co. are hardly alone in the two-years long blackballing of Colin Kaepernick — see: 31 other NFL teams — but the hypocrisy really stands out in the nation's capital.After all, this team was in the hunt for the playoffs when it lost starting QB Alex Smith to a gruesome leg injury and backup Colt McCoy to a broken fibula. Last week, Washington trotted out the carcass of Mark Sanchez, whose last glimmer of relevance came toward the end of Barack Obama's first term. A 46-10 loss to the woeful New York Giants (who could've seen that coming, except everyone?) led Washington to make another change for what could be their last shot at making the postseason.Exit Sanchez, enter Josh Johnson, who has twice as many NFL employers (this is his 12th team) as career starts (Sunday's game at lowly Jacksonville will be his sixth, and first since 2011). Johnson gave Washington fans plenty of reason for hope when he declared "just a week ago, I was at home in the hood, chillin' with the kids, chillin' with my family and thinking on the couch that I might never play in the NFL again." Also, he prepped for his new gig by playing the "Madden" video game . Washington would probably be better off just playing the game's namesake, 82-year-old John Madden, at QB.— While Snyder's horrific reign as owner — see: only five playoff appearances since buying the storied franchise in 1999 Amari Cooper Jersey , dwindling attendance at the FedEx Mausoleum, the RG3 fiasco, the embarrassing reign of coach Mike Shanahan, and so many other missteps that a full documenting would require transforming this column into book-form — he's keeping up the push for a new stadium that, like so many others landed by his socialist-loving brethren, would surely require the taxpayers to turn over a hefty chunk of what occupies their wallets. The Washington Post reported last week that Snyder is working with the outgoing Congress and the Trump administration to pull off an underhanded maneuver: getting a provision in a new spending bill that would allow him to build on the site of team's former District home, RFK Stadium. A very Snyder-like move, indeed.— Finally, let's never forget that awful nickname, the one that Snyder steadfastly refuses to walk away from and won't be typed out on this keyboard. I checked again with Merriam Webster. Yep, that word is still "very offensive and should be avoided."Much like Washington's NFL team.The worst franchise in sports.__Paul Newberry is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry /pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/paul newberryRaiders week 2 Ballers & Busters vs Broncos: Part two BustersTahir WhiteheadAgain, I ask you to pull your face out of the stat sheet. Whitehead led the team with 6 tackles (5 solo). But that doesn’t tell the story of his day. The Broncos weren’t getting much in the first half on offense. Their biggest play was a 53-yard run on which Whitehead was blocked to clear the path. He was later blocked on an 11-yard run. The Broncos had just 79 yards rushing in the first half and Whitehead was at least partially responsible for 64 of them while he was yet to log a tackle.To lead out the second half, the Broncos went right down the field to score. Whitehead still didn’t have a stop and on their touchdown run from one yard out, was easily cleared for the score.Following the big drop by Keith Smith on fourth and one, the Broncos took over at their own 33. On the first play, Whitehead gave up a 22-yard catch to immediately put the Broncos in Oakland territory. The drive finished off with Whitehead giving up an 11-yard catch, 9-yard run, and a 3-yard run to put the Broncos in scoring position from the 1-yard-line. The following play, he had his one positive play, teaming up with Marquel Lee to stop a dive at the goal line for no gain. But the Broncos would score on the next play on a Case Keenum scramble.With 1:58 left, and after a holding penalty backed them up to their own 10-yard-line, the Broncos had a ways to go get into field goal range to win it. Whitehead helped out greatly. He gave up a 14-yard catch and a 4-yard catch on third and 3. With a fresh set of downs and :22 seconds left on the clock, the Broncos got in scoring range in two plays to seal the win.Donald PennPenn looked downright lost out there at times. Von Miller can do that to tackles on the pass rush, but this is about more than that. It’s everything. No matter what the coaches say about him, he does not look comfortable on the right side at all.The first play of the game saw Marshawn go for six yards. That was thanks to blocks by Rodney Hudson and Gabe Jackson. And had Penn blocked his man, it would have gone a lot farther. The first play of the next drive, Penn gave up the sack. The Raiders were bailed out of the play by a holding penalty, but the sack still happened and it wasn’t because Carr held the ball too long. The Raiders game-planned for him to get rid of the ball quickly Leon Hall Jersey , which is the biggest factor in how they officially had just one sack allowed.If you guessed Penn was the one to give up that sack, you guessed correctly. On the first third down of the second quarter, Penn would give up the sack again. This time, it would not get wiped away by a penalty. It came on third and three and backed the Raiders up to make for a 46-yard field goal try which Mike Nugent converted.Late in the first half, the Raiders would get in the end zone for the first time. What was to be a 13-0 lead, became 12-0 because Penn missed his block to get the point after attempt blocked. That blocked extra point would be the difference in the game. So, instead of the Broncos driving for a tie at the end, they drove for the win. He would also give up another run stuff for no gain.Brian PriceThe only reason Price even got in this game was because of injuries. But even then, he shouldn’t have played in this game. He would play just 17 snaps and was utterly useless in those snaps, recording just an assist as his only stat. Well, unless you’re the Broncos. For them, he was quite useful.One of the Broncos’ halftime adjustments must have been to go after Price because they brutalized him from the jump in the third quarter. On three consecutive plays, they ran through Price’s position for 5 yards, 6 yards, and 11 yards. That set the tone as they drove for a second half opening touchdown.He came back in early in the third quarter and gave up a 2-yard run on third and one and a 3-yard run to set the Broncos up at the one-yard-line. They would score the touchdown two plays later. And Price would be cut two days later.Bruce IrvinIrvin has had a rough the first two games without his former partner in crime Khalil Mack on the other side. And it’s clearly wearing on him. There were three plays in this one that maligned the team in the second half. The Broncos touchdown drive to begin the second half may never have happened if not for Irvin. On third and seven, Leon Hall made the tackle short of the sticks. The Broncos were ready to send out the field goal unit, but Irvin was busy ripping into the official to draw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that put the Broncos in first and goal at the 4-yard-line.Come the fourth quarter, the Broncos were on the move again. And once again were in third down. Irvin was in position to make the stop for a loss, but Royce Freeman made a move and left Irvin reaching at air to pick up 7 yards and the first down. The Broncos finished off the drive with another touchdown.And finally, on the Broncos final drive with under two minutes left, Irvin was clearly not into the play. He loafed over to the right side, pushing Arden Key inside. Then he bit on the fake left as Case Keenum ran right. Irvin had made it his job to hold the edge and then ran away from it. It set th Broncos up in third and short. They would convert and you know the rest.Keith SmithWe’ve talked about his drop a few times, so I won’t go into it too much again. It with the Raiders up 19-0, at the Broncos 33-yard-line. Going for it there was a sound decision. And the play went great and would have yielded a first down had he caught the simple dump pass. Instead, no point. No TD, no field goal, no nothing. The Broncos took over on downs and drove for a TD of their own. That’s at least a 10-point swing. In a one-point game. Brutal. See the Ballers
