The Preseason Matters

by Richard Rogers

August 18, 2017

Yes, I’m going to talk about the pre-season. We’re told preseason games are meaningless. We’re told they’re risky and the NFL should cut them to three games.  After all, college football doesn’t have a “preseason”. Remember when Clinton Portis sustained a shoulder injury while chasing down a defensive back after an interception?  I remember he was openly critical of Joe Gibbs and his decision to play him in that game.  Currently, the Redskins have already amassed one season ending injury and a slew of nagging injuries, including top TE Jordan Reed, Preston Smith, Josh Doctson, and the list goes on.  The man I call the “Urban Legend”, Junior Gallette, hasn’t played in an NFL game since Barak Obama was halfway through his second term.

I get it. Why risk your star players for meaningless games? But are they meaningless?  I say no.  The Redskins are an improving team, but they deserve zero benefit of the doubt that the preseason means nothing for them.  They’ve lost two of their last three openers.  Against the Steelers last season, they looked completely ill-prepared and woefully outcoached. Year after year we hear about the glory days of winless preseasons that ultimately turned into a Super Bowl. Those days are long gone. There’s an entire generation of Redskins fans who have no idea what I’m talking about.

The Redskins, particularly, on offense, looked horrible last week against the Ravens.  The offensive line was pushed around. The running game was non-existent and Cousins didn’t look like much of anything because he played for six snaps. The defense, on the other hand, looked a bit better. Yes, there were mistakes, but I saw speed, “want to”, and a glimpse of the intensity that the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach are famous for.  Perhaps the offense is believing its own hype.: Cousins put up great numbers, but “if he just had a defense”, this would be a playoff team. I have a major issue with nonchalance, especially from a team that embarrassed themselves in last year’s opener, and last year’s closer. We still hear cute nicknames like “Hogs 2.0”.  In your dreams Trent! This offensive line has something to prove in my eyes. Albeit not in the preseason, I don’t trust that they can just flip the blocking switch from “cruise control” to “road grader”.  I haven’t seen it, and until I do, I’ll believe what I last saw.

Injuries are a part of football.  Would I be upset if the Redskins lost Cousins, Williams, Crowder, or Allen to a serious injury?  Hell yeah, but I’d get over it.  What would really grind my gears would be a continuous poor showing in the preseason and a lackluster performance against the Eagles in the opener.  Am I panicked? No. I’m frustrated because my team rarely looks like a well-oiled machine headed into the season. To be fair, many teams struggle early, but our struggles, particularly on offense, look like effort, not schematics.

This is an important season coming up for Jay Gruden, for Kirk Cousins, and for the Redskins front office which is still catching heat for their unceremonious dismissal of the best General Manager we’ve had since Bobby Beathard.

They need to get right.