Washington Redskins Looking For Answers (NFL Week 2, 2018)

By: Tyrone Montgomery Jr.

Headline Photo Credit:Darrell Owens-LMS Network

LANDOVER,MD-SEPTEMBER 16,2018-The Washington Redskins hosted the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2 of this early NFL Season. It didn’t look pretty for the Jay Gruden led Skins as they were only able to put up 9 points against a defense that ranked 30th last season. The running game is what particularly hurt them the most as they only gained 65 total yards on the ground. Trailing the entire game, this forced Alex Smith to have to air it out the majority of the game. Smith however, played well, going 33/46 with 292 Passing Yards. One noteworthy thing watching the game was the play calling. Most of the plays offensively for the Redskins were short choppy plays and a ton of dump passes out of the backfield. Head Coach Jay Gruden took full responsibility at the postgame press conference.



Another thing that was noteworthy was the amount of empty seats in a home opener. The team’s announced attendance for Sunday’s home opener was 57,013, which means there were upwards of 20,000 empty seats — and that’s after removing some seats from FedEx Field. Last year Washington’s announced attendance for the home opener was 78,658. In 2007, more than 90,000 fans attended a game against the Cowboys. This is still a good football team, so there are positives to go along with the negatives. The Redskins appear to be fixing their issues offensively. On Monday, September 17th, they signed former Baltimore Ravens WR Breshad Perriman. Perriman was the 26th overall pick back in 2015 but unfortunately has had a hard time staying healthy. Additionally, they added another former first rounder (2013: 13th Overall), former Arizona Cardinals WR Michael Floyd as well. This should help tremendously in the passing game. Another positive to note is that this is only week 2, and the Redskins did get a win at Arizona. The Redskins are also tied for first place in their respected division, so they’re in great shape. The good thing about this offense is that it hasn’t even tapped into it’s possible potential. That lies within the hands of Coach Gruden. He recognized that he has to do better, and he will. Look to see this offense open up, having Alex Smith look deep more often with his new weapons. Even if they don’t convert on these passes, there’s always a chance for pass interference which will set them up to score easily. Despite the loss, the defense looked tremendously well as DJ Swearinger picked off Andrew Luck twice. AS OF There’s still a good chance Washington will win this division. I like their odds.