The Washington Redskins have always found ways to ruin their chances of being talked about as a winning football team, as of late it has been injuries while in the past it has either been a stagnant offense or just wretched run defense. This year was different though, Cousins was gone and what seemed like an ongoing revolving door at quarterback has finally come to a stop with the trade and extension for Alex Smith that locked him up for four years after the current year already had left on his prior contract with Kansas City. The run defense finally looked like it may be the best it ever has been with a Jonathan Allen looking like a young star in his rookie year after it got cut short by injury, Matt Ioannidis looking like the most improved player on the whole team let alone on the defensive side of the ball, and then they added another ‘bama boy to the line in Da’Ron Payne who looked to make an immediate impact in the front seven with his ability to stuff the run. The offense went out and got the speed to take the top off defenses in which they lacked since the departure of 2 time 1,000 yard receiver DeSean Jackson in 2016 with Paul Richardson Jr. from the Seattle Seahawks. The oh so bad running game that has not produced at all since the arrival of Head Coach Jay Gruden seemed to have a lot of hope going into the season when Washington drafted Derrius Guice in the second round in the 2018 NFL Draft. The new aquisitions on bot sides of the ball seemed to have fans with the most excitement and hopce since the rookie year of first round draft pick Robert Griffin III. Now here is how it all fell apart.
August 9, 2018 the Washington Redskins were about to show the world how this new and improved Redskins team would fair in the NFL even if it was a preseason game and a small sample size. All was going well until 2:40 left in the first quarter of a 7-0 game that Washington was winning when highly anticipated rookie running back took the field and received his sixth carry. As Colt McCoy takes the snap Guice burst to left of the Patriots defense with the power and explosiveness that Redskins fan have be craving. Guice picks up the first down and more with spin and a stiff arm to pick up 36 yards and the hearts of every ‘skins fan watching. As the dust settles Guice remained down keeping all Redskins fans in suspense and disbelief, as the night continues Guice comments come out saying he was fine and expects to be ready for week one. Later in the week more news come to light facing the Guice injury which is what every Redskins fan was trying to avoid; Derrius Guice Torn ACL Done for the 2018 Season. The new leaves people around the NFL is shock, this is what started what seemed to be a string of misfortunate events for the ever so promising 2018 Redskins.
Fast forward to Week 9 at the Redskins look to take on the decimated Falcons team due to injuries to their star players. The game started bad for the Redskins and never got better as the Julio Jones, Mohammed Sanu, Calvin Ridley, Telvin Coleman, Matt Ryan, and Ito Smith all look like superstars against an unmotivated redskins defense. The redskisn end the game with all types of question marks being asked like if this team was for real, if they made the right move at QB, or if Jay Gruden should be on the hot seat, but the biggest question was the status of new signing Paul Richardson Jr. The fans and teams morale took a huge blow when it was revealed that he was going to need season-ending surgery on his injured AC joint. The Redskins are now without two pieces of what they thought their offense was going to be at the start of the preseason.
It is Week 11 in the 2018 season. New addition to the Redskins Adrian Peterson has sparked life into a dead Redskins running game. The Redskins are atop the NFC East and sitting pretty at 6-3. The Redskins look to take on the hot Texans at home, the game has been how the season has gone all year, the offense struggling, as Smith throws two INTs, while the defense is barely keeping the team in the game. The third quarter rolls around when JJ Watt and Kareem Jackson combine for a sack against Alex Smith on third and 9. As Jackson is doing a celebration the entire Redskins already struggling offense hangs in the balance while Alex Smith still in on the ground holding his leg in what looked like excruciating pain. New after the Redskins lose 23-21 to the Texans in a nail bitter, as Colt McCoy come into the game to relive Smith and leads the Redskins back into the game as he immediately throws a quick touchdown to Jordan Reed, the news breaks and all hope for what looked like a sure fire playoff season for the Redskins end when the fans fin out that Alex Smith broke his leg 33 years ago to the date that Joe Theismann did back in 1985. Fast forward to December 12, 2018 it does not look good for Smith’s career as we find out he has had several surgeries on his apparently infected leg.
Key losses during the season to the Saints, Falcons, Texans, Cowboys, Eagles, and most recently the Giants have sent what looked like a team to look out for in the NFC into a downward spiral that left fans demoralized and unmotivated. This is where the drama that seems to always hinder the Redskins at the worst times comes rolling around when some of the players decide to call out the fans that have tried to keep positive about a team that just does not put out good preformances week in and week out. Some fans have taken to social media to call out players such as defensive captain Mason Foster for poor play and lack of effort from the team on Sundays in which resulted in Foster making crude comments about his teammates and the fan base. Another player that has decided to talk about his plans for the off season was Zach Brown who figures that according to JP Finlay of NBS Sports Washington, “I’m just sitting here just doing what I’m supposed to be doing ’till it’s time for me to leave” and “You see the writing on the wall. It is what it is. Just here now I just got to contribute to the team and help us get to the playoffs.” These qoutes from a guy who Redskins fans loved just a year ago as he was making plays all over the field. It is just sad to see how a couple of big losses and a team that seems to have no true leadership and accountability outside of safety D.J. Swearinger Sr. which includes the coaching staff has this once promising team finding themselves not being in position to even win games anymore. The Redskins are coming to a point where they are either gonna go to ways the roster could stay together and work out the problems they have or the entire roster and front office will get gutted clean and a new regime will come in and look to try and start fresh and turn this thing around in the right direction. Whichever way that ownership decides to go, as a Redskins fan myself I just want to see this team succeed on the field. I feel like winning solves everything, so the question is what happened to the Redskins. The Redskins just beat themselves with tough injuries, poor showing on prime time, and the inability to play for each other instead of the players own individual agendas.