The Washington Redskins may only have the 28th toughest schedule in the NFL, but that’s honestly pretty fortunate, given their current standing in the league. Not many people expect the Redskins to be good in 2020, and almost nobody is predicting they will make it to the playoffs. When breaking it down, we gave them five wins on the season, which felt pretty accurate. ESPN’s John Keim predicted six wins. At this point in time, it’s all pretty much a crap-shoot.
While the final result may be either north or south of our initial prediction, the fact is that there are games that the Redskins absolutely must win if they want to be respected in the NFL. To us, these are those five games.
Week 1 — vs. Philadelphia Eagles
They almost made a statement in 2019 by beating the Eagles on the road in Week 1, but they let it slip through their fingers. The opportunity presents itself once again this year, but it will be at home this time around. I think every Redskins fan and player knows that this team has what it takes to beat Philadelphia, they just have struggled to do it as of late. If Washington wants to put themselves on the map and show that they are a team worth talking about, with a defense that’s among the best in the league, a Week 1 divisional win will get the job done.
Week 9 — vs. New York Giants
The NFC East isn’t exactly the strongest division in the NFL, and the fact that the Giants and Redskins are at the bottom of it says a lot. Each year Washington is gifted two games against the Giants, and they still tend to walk away from the series without taking advantage of it. The new regime for the Redskins needs to capitalize on easy games like this and add a check to the win column when they can. Until they manage to do that, there’s no way they’re crawling out of the bottom of the division. The Redskins also play the Giants on the road in Week 12, setting up what could be a great four-game run in the middle of the season. We didn’t predict Washington to sweep New York on the season, but some did, and it’s not out of the question.
Week 10 — at Detroit Lions
Dwayne Haskins got his first career win against the Lions in 2019, and he has a chance to start his first winning streak against them now as well. Detroit may not be the worst team in the league, but they’re far closer to the bottom than the top of the power rankings, and they’ve failed to do much in free agency or the draft that’s willing to change the public’s perception of them. To be a good team you have to beat the bad teams, and Detroit is one of the bad teams.
Week 11 — vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Both the Redskins and Bengals were the two worst teams in the NFL last year. There’s no debating that — they had the first and second picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. However, the Redskins need to make it known that they don’t plan to be on the bottom for long. Cincinnati may have gotten the shiny new quarterback in the draft, but Washington added an instant impact player to an already stout defensive line, and they’ll be able to show everyone during this game why that was the right pick.
Week 16 — vs. Carolina Panthers
Whenever you cross paths with an ex-partner, it’s important to show that you’re doing better off than they are. That’s how normal people think, right? Well, it may not be what Redskins coach Ron Rivera is willing to admit to the press, but it has to be somewhere in his mind when his new team hosts his old team, who fired him after losing to his new team last year…
Rivera, along with much of the coaching staff from Carolina, has now set up shop in Washington, and they’ll look to prove that it wasn’t the coach who was the problem with the Panthers.
