Walking through the hallways of the school you can see a multitude of students adorned in Washington Redskins jerseys. With the Redskins acquiring their seventh win of the season in overtime against the Baltimore Ravens, the team’s record is seven and six.
Fans are now excited by the fact that the Redskins have won four straight games and are now in second place in the NFC East division, only one game behind the division leading New York Giants.
With the playoffs within reach many students are already predicting that the Redskins will claim either the division championship, with the automatic playoff berth it provides, or one of the two conference wildcard spots awarded to the two teams with the best record which did not win their division.
The Redskins’ season is already declared a success by the local fan base, which arrived at this conclusion without regard to the obvious. The Redskins play three more games this season against the Browns, Eagles, and the Cowboys all of which have the potential to catch the team unprepared. The Cowboys, which play the team in the season finale, will seek revenge for their loss against the Redskins in their own stadium on Thanksgiving Day.
The Redskins not only have to win all three of their next games but they also have to hope for a slip up by the Giants if they hope to catch up with them in the standings. The main focus for the Redskins is winning their next three games in order to put themselves in a position to claim the wildcard or the division title.
Not only do the Redskins have to worry about their next opponents but they must also pay attention to the health of their rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, who left the fourth quarter of last weekend’s game with an apparent injury to his right knee that has now been classified as a sprain.
Kirk Cousins, a rookie, was the quarterback who led the Redskins to victory in overtime this last Sunday. Although he performed phenomenally in the time he played, it is very uncertain how he will do if, pending the health status of Griffin III, he is forced to place the weight of the team on his shoulders.
I am as happy as the next guy that the Redskins are finally having a productive season but I see the next three weeks as an uphill battle that, if Griffin III is unable to play, the Redskins most likely will lose.