Most fans outside of Washington don’t want much to do with the Redskins being placed in front of their eyes during a primetime slot during the season, be it on Sunday or Monday Night Football. Still, though, each team in the NFL is guaranteed at least one prime time game per season, giving them a chance to show the world what they’ve been working on, or in some cases, what they have left to do.
The NFL will release all 32 schedules on Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET, so we will get to see when the Redskins do in fact get to play on the big stage — assuming that we get an NFL season at all. So who might they play in the prime time game? It’s likely to be a matchup that is fraught with narratives and storylines, so here are our rankings for who it might be.
No. 5 — AWAY: Cleveland Browns
It may not seem like the Browns and Redskins have had much of a rivalry as of late, but that’s mainly due to how bad both teams have been over the past decade. In reality, these two squads have been linked to one another in several ways in recent memory. The main string connecting the two was the Trent Williams trade, where Cleveland was said to be a suitor for a long time, though a deal didn’t eventually get done. Former Washington interim head coach Bill Callahan is now in Cleveland as well, coaching the offensive line, and former Browns QB coach Ken Zampese is now in Washington, overseeing Dwayne Haskins’ development.
This may not be the most entertaining game to watch for the common fan, but it would feature two rosters full of young talent with high expectations ahead of them.
No. 4 — HOME: Baltimore Ravens
Outside of this game featuring one of the most dynamic and fun offenses in the NFL, it may not be too exciting as far as storylines go, but what takes place off the field is what has us intrigued by this matchup. The Ravens vs. Redskins is a battle for the greater D.C. area fanbase, and Baltimore has started to inch ahead in that race as of late. Over the next five years, it will be incredibly fun to watch as both teams battle over this turf war. There are only 33 miles between the two teams’ home stadium, which, at less than an hour drive, should put FedEx field in danger of being infiltrated this season. It’s hard not to think that the Ravens have an extreme upper-hand in this matchup, but down the road, it will be a great battle to watch.
No. 3 — HOME: Carolina Panthers
Who doesn’t love a good battle of the exes? Most of the Carolina Panthers’ former coaches are now in Washington with the Redskins, having followed Ron Rivera over to D.C. Some of their former players are now in Washington as well, including QB Kyle Allen and LB Thomas Davis. While the Panthers look to start a new regime in Carolina, the Redskins have virtually slapped a Washington logo over the Panthers’ old equipment and called it their own. It would be fun to watch both sides interact during this one.
No. 2 — HOME: Cincinnati Bengals
Other than the No. 1 and No. 2 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft facing off against each other, this is a pretty boring game to put on national television, but that matchup between Joe Burrow and Chase Young is quite juicy. Both players were briefly teammates together at Ohio State before Burrow transferred to LSU. Young will also be standing alongside a couple of other Buckeyes, with Terry McLaurin and Dwayne Haskins on his team — the latter of which beat out Burrow for the starting spot at Ohio State.
Obviously, seeing as they had the first two picks in the draft, neither team can boast much bragging rights coming into this one, and the NFL fanbase would likely be pretty upset if this matchup was on our screens for a Monday Night Football game, but the schedulers at ESPN love to give us at least one stinker per season, and I have a feeling this could be it.
No. 1 — AWAY: San Francisco 49ers
You wanted storylines? We’ll give you storylines. The biggest and most recent connection between the 49ers and Redskins sits at the left tackle position, where Trent Williams was finally traded from Washington to San Francisco on Day 3 of the 2020 NFL Draft, ridding the Redskins of a player who didn’t want to be there and giving the 49ers one of the best players in the game. Win-win, I guess…
Aside from Williams, there is also the contentious relationship between Kyle Shanahan, the coach of the 49ers, and the Redskins. Shanahan was fired as offensive coordinator for Washington in 2013, but it turned out the better for him, though he seems to still have some hard feelings towards the team. Just last year, Shanahan had some words to say about the organization before the two teams met on the gridiron.
The 49ers are far-and-away the better team here, as they made a trip to the Super Bowl earlier this year, but there is a ton of drama packed into this matchup, and I wouldn’t be shocked to see it play out on a Sunday night.
