The Redskins reach midseason with a string of mediocre efforts, several prominent players hurt and a coach yelling at his star on the sideline.
Is Norv back?
Parcells law says teams get the records they deserve. The Redskins deserve their 6-2 mark. They played well at Dallas and Philadelphia and survived four other wins. The Redskins are also not as good as the New York Giants and figured to mismanage their success with an upset loss to St. Louis. Yes, 6-2 seems fair.
But are they really a playoff team? Do recent narrow victories over losing programs indicate Washington is simply a good team and not a great one come playoffs? Are mounting injuries a precursor to losses when the schedule stiffens beginning Monday versus Pittsburgh? Can Clinton Portis and Jason Campbell continue franchise-record seasons?
My guess is the Redskins finish 11-5 as a wild card. The team seems to be slowing down, especially offensively. They need a bye week. Too bad Pittsburgh comes first. The Redskins just seem to be sitting on a loss against the Steelers. New York and Philadelphia might also defeat Washington. Otherwise, the Redskins should beat Dallas, Seattle, Baltimore, Cincinnati and San Francisco.
It’s a very favorable schedule. Washington might even win the NFC East title, but only if beating New York on Nov. 30.
The continued good fortunes largely come down to Santana Moss, Campbell and Portis. The defense and special teams seem fine. They’ll be just as good in the season’s second half as the first.
Portis and Campbell are having off-the-chart seasons. Portis is on pace for 1,888 yards after five straight 120-yard plus games. Campbell’s 100.5 rating is better than any Redskins quarterback over a whole season since 1970. Mark Rypien won a Super Bowl with 97.5 in 1991. Joe Theismann lost the Lombardi Trophy after a 97.0 mark in 1983 following a 91.3 the previous year when taking the title. Sonny Jurgensen’s best season was ironically his last with 94.6 in 1974 when the Redskins lost a wild card game.
It’s hard to imagine both players replicating their first eight games over the next two months. But, they should come reasonably close. If Moss can double his 42 catches for 658 yards, the offense will end its recently scoring malaise.
The only question is whether the team sustains more injuries. They’ve already taken a few hits. A few more might make them a nine-win team, but woeful Cincinnati and San Francisco in the final weeks should be a security blanket. Then again, that’s what everyone thought about St. Louis and Detroit.
If Washington reaches the postseason, they’ll be serious contenders. It may be Jim Zorn’s first playoff as a head coach, but he helped beat Washington twice in the last three years as a Seattle assistant. Maybe Zorn has the X factor for the postseason as he has in the regular season.
Maybe …
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
