Washington Redskins (previously known as the Boston Redskins and Boston Braves)
- 2011 Record: 5-11 (4th in NFC East)
- 2011 Point Differential: -79 (24th out of 32)
- 2011 Strength of Schedule (per PFR’s SRS system): +0.8 6th)
- 2011 Adjusted Net Yards per Pass Attempt (offense): 4.9 (t-22nd)
- 2011 Adjusted Net Yards per Pass Attempt (defense): 6.2 (22nd)
- 2011 Adjusted Pythagorean Record (accounting for Strength of Schedule): 6.1-9.9 (24th)
- 2010 Adjusted Pythagorean Record: 6.2-9.8 (t-24th)
And now we’re honored to have some special words on the 2012 Redskins from the biggest ‘Skins fan of them all, President Abraham Lincoln. Take it away, Honest Abe!
Three score and fifteen years ago our father, George Preston Marshall, brought forth on this city, a new football team, conceived in almighty toughness, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal – except Negroes. It would take us another score and four years before we would finally be strong-armed by the government into integrating the team. Not our finest moment.
Now we are engaged in a great divisional war, testing whether that franchise, or any franchise so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great gridiron of the NFC East – FedEx Field. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a new luxury suite (sponsored by Jamba Juice) for those who here gave their Personal Seat Licenses that that franchise might profit obscenely. It is altogether pretentious and unnecessary that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here (I’m looking at you, Rex), have consecrated it, far above our poor power to boo or throw pig snouts from the stands. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here (even though three different ESPN channels are airing or streaming this live in some capacity), but it can never forget what our great Redskins have done here. Slingin’ Sammy Baugh: both tossing and punting the pigskin with great aplomb. Sonny Jurgensen: showing our dear brothers and sisters across this great land that outstanding physical fitness is not a necessity for becoming a great field general. George Allen: leading the Over-the-Hill Gang to an unprecedented era of sustained success and gut-wrenching failure. Joe Theismann: bravely leading our squad to its first Super Bowl victory and showing us all a new way to bend our leg. And Joe Gibbs: taking proven principles from the venerable Don Coryell and matching it with a power running game in order to lead our squad to three Super Bowls.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who played here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is for Mike Shanahan to hearken back to the time he was a genius among men and forget about ever again playing John Beck in a meaningful contest. It is for Daniel Snyder to realize that building through the draft, rather than dispersing $55 million into the hands of Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan, is the proper way to build a team. It is for our great new hope, Robert Griffin III, to make good on his incredible potential and lead this team forth to victory over the dreaded Cowboys and Giants. And it is rather for us fans to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these inductees in the Redskins Ring of Fame we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these players shall not have lost in vain — that this franchise, under Dan, shall have a new birth of Super Bowl victories — and that we shall never forget this refrain by which all wisdom and understanding springs forth from:
Hail to the Redskins,
Hail Victory,
Braves on the Warpath,
Fight for old D.C.
Random thoughts
The Redskins gave up a king’s ransom of draft picks to the Rams in order to move up and pick Robert Griffin III, but the heavy price will almost certainly be worth it. In his final season at Baylor, RGIII completed 72.4% of his passes, threw 37 touchdown passes in comparison to just 6 interceptions, and had an incredible 11.7 yards per attempt. By the way, he also has world-class speed but, unlike most scrambling quarterbacks coming out of college, always looks to throw the ball downfield and runs only as a last resort. He and Andrew Luck are two of the greatest quarterback prospects to ever come out of college; it’s almost a divine accident that they both entered the draft in the same year…Unfortunately for RGIII this year, his teammates are still mostly the bumbling bunch from the past few seasons. The Redskins upgraded their receiving core by signing Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan in free agency but, in true Redskins style, did so by massively overpaying both (particularly Garcon, who is an extreme boom-or-bust receiver)…Defensively, the Redskins’ pass rush led by Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan did a credible job of getting after the quarterback (copyright Mike Singletary), but the secondary had massive problems after LaRon Landry got hurt. Washington’s response to fixing these coverage woes was to sign noted turnstile Brandon Meriweather and Vikings castoff Cedric Griffin, who wasn’t good enough to stay on one of the few secondaries worse than D.C.’s. Good choices!…
Outlook
The Redskins spent part of the offseason doing what they always do – throwing huge money at average players who will never play up to their billing – but they finally made a great long-term move by trading up in the draft to pick Robert Griffin III. It’s tough to envision the Redskins competing this season, for a variety of reasons. First, as we’ve noted ad nauseum, virtually all rookie quarterbacks struggle – even incredibly gifted and smart ones who seemed destined for superstardom. Second, they’ve got one of the three toughest schedules in the league; their NFC East divisional foes all are serious playoff contenders and they also have to match up against the NFC South and AFC North. Good luck. And third, and perhaps most importantly: they really kind of suck. Add that all up and it amounts to what looks like a high draft pick for the Rams in 2013 (the Redskins sent that first-round pick, plus several others, over to St. Louis in the RGIII trade). But the most important commodity in the NFL is a true franchise quarterback. And now that the Redskins seem to have one, their long-term future is finally starting to look bright.
2012 Projected Point Differential: 341.0-384.5
2012 Average Projection: 6.9-9.1 (4th in NFC East)
Now for some fun news, gang, so everyone gather around your computers and keep your ears peeled. My good buddy Lucas runs a blog entitled Confessions of a Sportscaster – you can find the link on the sidebar, but screw it, we’ll put a link here, too – and you should read it because it’s quite entertaining and thoughtful (right now, he’s halfway through his NFL divisional previews, so now would be an ideal time to bookmark that URL if you haven’t done so already). And Lucas comes up to me the other day and he says to me, “You know, Nathaniel, we should combine blog forces and create an NFL picks league on ESPN.com in which we select winners against the spread, competing against each other and anyone else who is interested for the purpose of enhancing our own personal enjoyment and lording bragging rights over each other.” And I said to Lucas, “You know, that’s a great idea, let’s do it!” Then we went back to drinking Gatorade and playing games of H-O-R-S-E.
Someone Still Loves You, Alberto Riveron 