Preseason ritual makes Redskins fans foolishly believe in what we see

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

There has got to be a name for the psychological exercise football fans go through every preseason — the annual ritual of watching something unfold with our own eyes, yet trying to convince ourselves it is not real.

Year after year, we see NFL preseason performances by individuals and teams that cause us to celebrate or panic, only to find once the regular season begins that we either got excited or scared for nothing — that the 4-0 preseason team is really a 4-12 squad, or the future for that five catch, 110-yard wide receiver is north of the border.

Is it “Willful Blindness” — ignoring the obvious, choosing to remain unseeing in situations where we could know and should know better?

Is it the “Cognitive Bias?” The “Backfire Syndrome?” Please, doctor, what is wrong with us?

What is it that keeps fooling us, year after year, into believing what we see in preseason when what we know has proven otherwise?

Is it simply the “Colt Brennan Effect”?

The Redskins won their second preseason game Friday night, a 22-18 victory over the New York Jets — a team that manhandled the Redskins 34-12 last year in a contest in which the Washington running game managed to gain just 33 yards.

Do we take Rashad Ross’ four catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns seriously?

Was the aggressive play of second-year linebacker Martrell Spaight a sign of regular season depth at the position?

It is maddening, because we have no clue. We are at a loss of what the goals of the coaches are in these games, no matter what they say publicly, and we are making judgements on performances against some opposition that will never see a minute of NFL regular season play.

Yet we remain at the mercy of the NFL’s preseason folly — a four-game schedule of delusion and illusion — simply because it is the first football we see after the Super Bowl ends the season before. We are so starved for pigskin action that it is asking too much for fans to watch what they are seeing without hope or fear.

Ross and Spaight represent hope — fans see Spaight as part of a rebuilt defense and Ross as an answer for the team’s need for wide receiver depth (especially with No. 1 draft choice Josh Doctson still unproven and sidelined with left Achilles tendon tendonitis).

Fear? Thy name is running back. That fear may be real, because it was real last year, when Washington finished 20th in rushing with an average of 97.9 yards per game.

The sole hope for the Redskins running game this year to date has been Matt Jones — the running back Scot McCloughan compared to Marshawn Lynch last year when he selected him in the third round out of the University of Florida.

There was those 123 yards on 19 carries in week two last season against the Rams, and little else after that to inspire that same kind of faith that McCloughan — who did little to shore up the running back position in the off season — seems to have in Jones. The rest of Matt Jones’ rookie season resulted in 367 yards rushing on 125 carries. Yet going into training camp, McCloughan insisted that Jones would have a “really good year” and told reporters that Jones would “shock people.”

Right now, a good year from Jones would shock people.

Jones separated the AC joint in his left shoulder Friday night against the Jets. He wound up with 31 yards on seven carries.

The others? Chris Thompson, a third-down back — four yards on 18 carries. Last year’s practice squad back Mack Brown — seven yards on two carries. Rookies Robert Kelley and Keith Marshall? A total of 34 yards on 13 carries.

Save for Pierre Thomas — a waiver pickup last December who was a decent contributor — sitting at home waiting for his phone to ring to come to Ashburn — that’s it at running back.

Redskins coach Jay Gruden told reporters after the game he would have to look at the Jets game film to determine his “level of comfort” at running back.

Redskins fans may not have to sit in on that film session. They have seen enough talented running backs through the years, from John Riggins to Clinton Portis to the gone-but-not-forgotten Alfred Morris — to know the truth about running backs. That fear is real.