We all watched as the Washington Redskins schedule was released last week, setting the road map to a potentially successful season — at least in their terms. There are a number of tough road games on the docket, and a few that are extremely winnable here and there. While we may have predicted that Washington will end up going 5-11 on the season, what’s important to note is where those wins might come, and what that means.
Of course, 5-11 isn’t going to get you into the playoffs, but a string of wins at the start of the season, or a couple of victories in December might make the difference between starting and sitting for a couple of key players. With a young QB in Dwayne Haskins and a new coaching staff under the leadership of Ron Rivera, getting out to a hot start can make all the difference. Unfortunately for the Redskins, the start of the schedule is a bit tough, and it might be hard to find a win in the first few weeks of the year.
“New coach Ron Rivera will have his work cut out for him. Washington starts at home against the Philadelphia Eagles, the defending NFC East champions,” wrote Neil Greenberg, on The Washington Post. “Then the Redskins have back-to-back road games against the Cardinals and Cleveland Browns. Capping the four-game stretch is a matchup with the Ravens at FedEx Field.”
It lightens up a bit after that, with games against the NY Giants, the Detroit Lions, and the Cincinnati Bengals coming over the next couple of months, but wins there won’t mean a ton if Washington can’t find a way to steal a victory in the first four weeks. According to the Washington Post, there is a 34-percent chance the Redskins start the season with an 0-4 record and a 77-percent chance they go 1-3. If you look to the larger statistics, teams that start out the season with a 0-4 record have approximately zero chance to make the playoffs, while teams that go 1-3 make the postseason just 13-percent of the time.
The playoffs aren’t a realistic goal this season, but escaping that first stretch with a victory isn’t out of the question. If it happens, the rest of the season will be set up to be semi-respectable.
