The Redskins have been historically bad this season but it’s made worse by their inability to take advantage of a historically bad NFC East.
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If someone were to ask you to name what you thought was the most frustrating thing about the Washington Redskins 2019 season, what would you say?
Is it the Trent Williams situation, or the tempered development of Dwayne Haskins? Maybe another year of questionable planning from Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder? Perhaps it’s all of those combined, which have culminated in one giant mishap for the Redskins:
They missed out on taking advantage of a historically dreadful season from the rest of the NFC East.
Washington’s division has long been one of the toughest in the NFL in recent history. Along with the Redskins, the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, and New York Giants have combined to be the most successful division in the NFL since the 1970 NFL merger, with 21 NFC championship wins and 13 Super Bowl victories. You wouldn’t know that by looking at it thus far in 2019, as the division has a combined record of 13-24 just past the midway point in the season which ranks dead last in the NFL. The next worst division is the AFC South, which sits at 15-21 while being boosted by an 0-9 start from the Cincinnati Bengals.
While the Redskins aren’t the only team to blame for the abysmal season in the NFC East, they surely get a big piece of the pie. However, looking around them and seeing the turmoil felt by divisional rivals does almost more harm than good, as it shows what could have been possible if the team could have put together a few wins this season; if they could have found a way to put points on the board and actually resembled a professional football team with a path forward. Those are two big ‘ifs,’ but the point stands.
The Eagles — who won a Super Bowl in the last two seasons — sit at 5-4 without a capable defense. The Cowboys — who are one of the NFL’s most historically successful teams — sit at 5-4 with a question mark at the QB position. The Giants — who have a future Hall of Fame running back and a QB who is growing more capable by the week — sit at 2-8 with another chance at a top pick in 2020.
Then there’s the Redskins, sitting there at 1-8 with no answers for the present, and no plan for the future. When they look around at the rest of the division, it’s unlikely that they’ll smile and utter the adage that misery loves company; rather they’ll see this all as a big missed opportunity. If they couldn’t find a way out of this dogpile version of the NFC East in 2019, then how will they ever do it in the future?
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