The Washington Football Team is looking for its first division title since 2015.
It’s safe to say that 2020 has been a rough year for just about everyone. And when it comes to the NFL and business, it has been an almost unfathomable offseason for the franchise in the nation’s capital. Among other things, the organization opted to retire its name and is currently known as the Washington Football Team.
On the field, the club is looking to rebound from a dismal 3-13 season with a new head coach in veteran Ron Rivera, who spent nine-plus seasons with the Carolina Panthers and has his share of success. The team made news this week with the hiring of new team president Jason Wright (via John Keim of ESPN).
Washington’s last division title came in 2015 when the team rallied late in the year and finished with a 9-7 record. The franchise’s last double-digit win season came in 2012 when they captured the NFC East with a 10-6 mark. However, over the past four seasons, this is a squad that owns a combined 25-38-1 win-loss record.
The Philadelphia Eagles are the reigning division champions. But the NFC East has not had a repeat winner since the Birds won it four straight years from 2001-04. It’s a quartet that has seen its share of last to first division winners in recent years.
So why not Washington under Rivera, who led Carolina to four playoff appearances in a five-year span and an appearance in Super Bowl 50. Here is how this club could get it done?
3. Re-establish stability at quarterback.
The team’s fascinating quarterback room includes 2019 first-round draft choice Dwayne Haskins, former Carolina Panthers’ backup/turned brief starter Kyle Allen, undrafted rookie free agent Steven Montez from Colorado and, of course, inspirational Alex Smith. Via FanSided’s Emily Adams, the latter is ready to embark on what could be an unprecedented comeback.
Smith was the team starter for the first 10 games before going down with that horrible injury and what proved to be a loss at home to the Houston Texans. Since Smith went down, Washington has used five different starting signal-callers (Colt McCoy, Mark Sanchez, Josh Johnson, Case Keenum and Haskins) in its last 22 contests and managed a 4-18 record.
Terry McLaurin, who played with Haskins at Ohio State, likes what he sees from his current teammate (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). “He’s dropped some weight and stuff like that,” said the talented wide receiver. “But the growth I’ve seen from him is mental focus. He’s focusing more. He’s in the building a lot earlier, more than he used to be. I just see his mental growth more than anything.”
Regardless of who actually wins the job, keeping the same performer behind center (granted he is performing efficiently) would be vital.
2. Learn how to win within the division again.
Back in 2015 and under head coach Jay Gruden, Washington managed a late surge, finished 9-7 and won the NFC East. The team managed to win four of its six games within the division, including a sweep of Philadelphia.
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But how things have changed since then in more ways than one. The club is a combined 6-18 vs. their three divisional rivals the past four seasons and were an abysmal 0-6 vs. the Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants in ’19.
Washington has dropped six straight to the Birds and dropped three in a row and seven of their last eight to the rival Cowboys. Half of the club’s six divisional wins the past four years have come against Big Blue. In six setbacks to their NFC East brethren in 2019, the team allowed a whopping 212 points, an astounding 35.3 points per game.
In all but one of those setbacks, Washington allowed a minimum of 31 points. Compare that to their other 10 contests this past season when the team surrendered 22.3 points per outing.
Washington not only enters the upcoming season with four straight losses, but the club has dropped 10 consecutive games to their NFC East rivals. Rivera’s team hosts the Eagles in Week 1.
1. Unleash a potentially fearsome pass rush.
The hiring of defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio was complimented by the fact that the team would be making the switch to 4-3 defense. And that could add up to some pretty bad news for the likes of Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz, Dallas’ Dak Prescott and the New York Giants’ Daniel Jones, who will be facing quite the formidable lineup twice during the regular season.
There is veteran Ryan Kerrigan, who was limited to 12 starts and contests in 2019 after not missing a game in his first eight seasons. He’s racked up 90 sacks and 26 forced fumbles while being named to four Pro Bowls.
There’s 2019 team sack leader Matt Ioannidis (8.5), followed by Montez Sweat (7) — the team’s second first-round pick a year ago — as well as Jonathan Allen (6). And in April, Washington used the second overall pick in the draft to land fearsome Ohio State defensive and Chase Young. The latter could make Sweat even more effective (via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post).
Del Rio inherits a team that managed 46 sacks and a respectable 22 takeaways. But the club also gave up 49 offensive touchdowns (35 through the air) and were 31st in the NFL vs. the run. But could an even more potent pass rush lead to more opponent miscues?