OPINION:
When former New York Giants coach Ben McAdoo did his march through the NFC East recently in a New York Post interview, taking a blowtorch to everyone, he may have given the most accurate, honest assessment of the Washington Redskins.
“I think Philly, how much success has Philly had?” McAdoo said. “I think they’re going to have a hard time handling success. Dallas, I like their offensive line, but how long have we been saying that? Their defense, they got a bunch of young guys playing DB, Sean Lee is banged up a lot, and their D-line, they got a bunch of guys getting in trouble all the time. And Washington is Washington, right?”
Washington is Washington.
Or, as they told Jake Gittes, “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”
Some things just are. They have reputation, a history — an aura, if you will — of chaos and destruction. It is the way business is done, whether in Chinatown or Redskins Park.
That’s what McAdoo meant when he said, “Washington is Washington, right?” He is saying it really doesn’t matter what moves the Redskins have made, what talent they have accumulated.
Washington is Washington. They will find a way to self destruct.
That’s a reputation around the NFL that the Redskins have earned. They have the track record to prove it. And if you try to make the case that the days of dysfunction are gone — let us remember that they presided over the most absurd quarterback contract situation perhaps in NFL history. They turned the franchise tag — a provision in NFL labor rules supposedly to protect the franchises – into a weapon that Kirk Cousins used to get paid $44 million over the last two years, with nothing to show for it when Cousins left for Minnesota.
That’s not normal NFL franchise business, people.
That said, there were likely some days in Chinatown when justice prevailed, even if they were few and far in between. And there are some seasons at Redskins Park when the team they put on the field is good enough to at least keep the aura of self destruction at bay.
As the Redskins opened training camp in Richmond Wednesday, this squad may be one of those seasons.
There is this notion that this may be the most talented roster that head coach Jay Gruden has had since he was hired in 2014. That may be true.
Even so, most of the national NFL observers — and odds makers — see a team that may win just seven games again, as they did last season. Why? Because Washington is Washington.
But to be around quarterback Alex Smith — coming off a career year with Kansas City, with 26 touchdown and just five interceptions — and rookie running back Derrius Guice — and factor in an offensive line that reasonable people can expect will be healthier than last year, it’s tempting to raise expectations. Most of those expectations center on the offense. But I think it is the defense that will carry the day for the Redskins — if there is a day to be carried.
I think some of the destruction we see on the field this season may come from the Redskins pass rush. They could make life miserable for opposing quarterbacks, which generally leads to success.
Pro Football Focus ranked Washington’s pass rush sixth overall in the league. Here’s what they had to say:
“Of the team’s in our top six, this is the one that I expect will surprise people the most, and that’s because the Redskins pass-rush was quietly one of the best in the NFL last season. (Ryan) Kerrigan produced 18 sacks and added four hits and 42 hurries, but with the Redskins struggling in general, it felt like his big performance didn’t get the credit it deserved, despite making the Pro Bowl. Where the Redskins can really impress people this season though is on the defensive interior. (Matt) Ioannidis quietly produced the 14th-highest graded pass-rush grade among interior defenders last season, while the rising second-year star in (Jonathan) Allen was on course to also rank inside the top 20 before injuries ruined his first season in the NFL.”
They are right about Kerrigan, who is consistently one of the most underrated pass rusher in the league. Allen did show enough in his five games before he was hurt to believe he will be a force on that line. And Ioannidis — the fifth round pick out of Temple in 2016 — may have been their best interior lineman until he struggled with hand injuries. They are adding two defensive linemen from the 2018 draft – DaRon Payne, picked in the first round from Alabama, and Tim Settle in the fifth round from Virginia Tech — and both are highly regarded.
Here are the two wild cards that could make that pass rush elite — Preston Smith and Anthony Lanier.
Smith has always shown flashes of being a wrecking ball on the field – coming off an eight-sack season – but has been inconsistent and at times invisible. But this is a contract year for Smith, and, remarkably, many players play better when their multi-million dollar future is on the line.
Lanier, though, could be special. A free agent out of Alabama A&M in 2016, he proved to be a headache for opposing offenses in his limited play last year, with five sacks in 11 games of part-time duty. The headache? Sometimes he seemed unblockable.
The Redskins’ pass rush may carry this team out of the 7-to-9 win game limbo where they seem to be imprisoned.
What could hold them back? Jay Gruden.
The Redskins’ head coach is a media darling, a nice, glib guy who may be an offensive genius. But he has yet to show the ability as the head coach to prepare his team to play important games. Ben McAdoo saw that in person two years ago when the Redskins lost the 2016 season finale — a game Washington needed to make the playoffs — to a Giants team that had little to play for, having already clinched their place in the playoffs. And he saw it from afar after he was fired several weeks before a two-win Giants team defeated a Redskins squad in another season finale in a game that, according to Gruden, was important for his team to avoid a losing season.
So you can understand why McAdoo believes Washington is Washington. They are — until they prove otherwise.
⦁ Thom Loverro hosts his weekly podcast “Cigars & Curveballs” Wednesdays available on iTunes, Google Play and the reVolver podcast network.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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