Washington Redskins: Fast start incredibly important
The Washington Redskins need to come out of the gates in the 2018 season playing well to avoid becoming an early afterthought.
Plenty of teams need to get off to a fast start in 2018 and the Washington Redskins are atop the list. Not only are they in one of the most competitive divisions in the NFL, but their first two games could be their easiest stretch all season.
The defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles kicked off the season beating the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Without Carson Wentz, the Eagles struggled on offense. However, the defense remains championship caliber. Wentz is expected to return at some point this season, but that means the remaining NFC East teams will want to gain as much ground as possible in the interim.
Luckily, the Redskins have the easiest pair of games for the first two weeks. While the other teams in the division will play at least one playoff team from 2017 in consecutive weeks, Washington will face off against the Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts. Both teams missed the playoffs last season on their way to a combined 12-20 record.
After that, Washington has a brutal stretch of games from Weeks 3-5. They will face the Green Bay Packers, New Orlean Saints and Carolina Panthers before divisional matchups begin. It’s a gauntlet against some of the top offenses in the league that includes three former MVP quarterbacks.
Expectations are tempered for the Redskins this season, but the team embraces flying under the radar with the understanding a fast start could change that.
“That’s where we should be, really,” head coach Jay Gruden said last Sunday (via Redskins.com). “We were 7-9 last year and 1-5 in our division. There’s no reason why we should be on the radar. It’s our job to put ourselves on the radar and that’s by starting fast.”
A 2-0 start would go a long way towards keeping Washington competitive in a loaded NFC and they’d be lucky to host Dallas in week six with an above .500 record. Following Dallas half of their final ten games will either consist of division rivals or playoff teams from a year ago. And clearly, a 1-5 divisional record won’t get them to the playoffs in 2018.
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Obviously, the Redskins will abide by the mantra of taking it one week at a time, but they need to consider the bigger picture by placing an emphasis on the first two weeks. Otherwise, this season could become an early uphill battle.