The Washington Redskins have been a National Football League franchise since 1932 and their glory days are in the rear view mirror. Since Joe Gibbs retired for the second time as Redskins head coach in 2007, Washington has only had one winning season which was in 2012 when they won the NFC East for the first time since 1999. Jay Gruden is in his first season as the Redskins head coach and he is the eighth head coach in Washington since Dan Snyder purchased the team in 1999. Gruden was hired to maximize the ability of Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III who is the face of the franchise. But that will not be the case in 2014 as Griffin will miss the majority of the 2014 NFL season as he is recovering from a dislocated ankle that he suffered during the Redskins 41-10 victory in Week 2 over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Regardless of Griffin’s situation, the Redskins are a team that is searching for answers in the early part of this season.
After being throttled 45-14 this past Thursday night at the hands of the New York Giants, the ‘Skins are 1-3 and they are looking up in the NFC East. Aside from being 1-3, Washington is also 0-2 within the division.
With Griffin in the lineup the Redskins offense was non-existent in their 17-6, Week 1 loss to the Houston Texans. Griffin was of course injured during the Redskins 41-10 dismantling of the Jaguars in Week 2. But in their last two games, the Redskins have allowed a combined 82 points to the Philadelphia Eagles and Giants. Now it is back to the drawing board for Gruden and his crew as Washington’s Week 5 opponent is none other than the Seattle Seahawks who are the defending Super Bowl Champions which will be followed by a road game against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6. This season could be getting away from the Redskins before it really starts.
Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins was called upon in relief of Griffin against the Jaguars and in that game he was 22-of-33 passing for 250 yards and a pair of touchdowns with no interceptions. Last Sunday in Philadelphia, Cousins picked apart the Eagles defense to the tune of 427 yards and three touchdowns. But this past Thursday night versus the Giants, Cousins wasn’t the same quarterback as he was picked off four times. Cousins appeared to be rattled as he was forcing the football. The Giants converted six Washington turnovers into 24 points. But the Redskins defense didn’t fare that much better against the Giants as New York was 11-of-16 on third down.
In their past two games Washington’s defense was torched by Eagles quarterback Nick Foles and Giants quarterback Eli Manning respectively. Both Foles and Manning passed for at least 300 yards while the Redskins defense only combined to force one interception and one sack in those two games. The Redskins defense does have 11 sacks on the season, but that number is skewed due to the fact that 10 of those sacks were against the Jaguars.
Dan Snyder
In his time as the owner of the Redskins, Snyder has hired Super Bowl winning head coaches along with relative unknowns to lead his team. Over the years Snyder has also attempted to spend heavily on free agents and when that didn’t work he tried to build his team through the draft. With all of this the results simply have not been there and the blame has to fall squarely at the feet of Snyder. Since the Redskins last Super Bowl Championship, every other team in the NFC East has made at least one appearance in the NFL’s Title Game. Aside from their struggles on the field, the Redskins also have to deal with the controversy surrounding their team name as it has been deemed to be offensive by some Native American groups. The call for the Redskins to change their team nickname continues to grow, but Snyder is not willing to budge; for now.
More than ever the Redskins need to find an identity. This is something that Washington has not had since Gibbs retired for the first time in 1992. In Gibbs’ first run with the Redskins, they only had one losing season and they won three Super Bowl Championships with three different starting quarterbacks. Gibbs did it because he had a system that worked. But under Snyder whoever the Redskins bring in to lead this team seems to fail and that appears to be the case for Gruden in 2014 at least as Washington is on a path for their fifth season with at least 10 losses in the past six campaigns. The football fans in the Nation’s Capitol should buckle up for a very long season as the Redskins appear to be second-class citizens to the Eagles, Giants, and Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East.
Source: Pro-football-reference.com
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