The players remind themselves of last year’s turnaround, pointing to it as hope for this season.
There’s only one problem — that is, in addition to a struggling defense, inconsistent offense and two banged-up offensive stalwarts: The schedule.
The Redskins have the NFL’s fourth-hardest schedule during the remaining nine weeks.
At 2-5, that’s not what the Redskins need to work their way back to playoff contention. But eight of their final nine opponents are at .500 or above. They have a combined record of 37-29. Only Tampa Bay has a losing record and the Bucs host the Redskins.
Only Cincinnati (38-25), Miami (39-26) and Tennessee (39-24) face tougher roads. In the NFC East, Dallas (32-33) has the easiest stretch, followed by New York
It’ll take more than adding Ray Brown as an offensive line consultant for the Redskins to navigate this final stretch successfully.
So duplicating the five-game winning streak of 2005 will be difficult. Not that the players have looked too far ahead.
“You never know how it’s going to unfold,” Redskins defensive end Renaldo Wynn said. “You have to have tunnel vision. If you stray away from that, then you forget about what’s most important. No one is looking far ahead. Just knowing we’ve still got a shot, that motivates us to look one game at a time.”
On the other end of the schedule spectrum lies Minnesota (26-39) and Seattle (26-38).
For the Redskins, they have to hope the adjustments made during the bye week are better than the ones made at halftime of games. The Redskins have been outscored, 86-46, in the second half.
“One thing we’ve prided ourselves on here is playing well in the second half,” Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said. “We need to look at the facts and say, ‘What can we do better here?’ ”
Cowboys (4-3) at Redskins (2-5)
When: Sunday, 1 p.m.
TV: Fox Radio: 94.3 FM/92.7 FM/730 AM/SIRIUS Channel 123
