Loading ...
It’s unthinkable that, in the nation’s capital, there is attention being given to much else besides the upcoming game against the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas Week has always been a big deal in the District of Columbia. But within the Washington Redskins organization, there is a lot more to think about than how to cover Dallas tight end Jason Witten. While the Cowboys’ Pro Bowler is certainly being scouted, the department out in Ashburn that does such things will also be watching the Seattle Seahawks QB Russel Wilson, the Green Bay Packers LB Clay Matthews and the Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson.
Because Redskins Head Coach Jay Gruden’s team clinched the NFC East Division Championship this past week when it beat its division foe Philadelphia Eagles 38-24, its Week 17 game the Cowboys will have no bearing on Washington’s playoff status. Because of that, Gruden must decide who to play Sunday and who to rest. The final week in the National Football League is rough. Guys are beat up. They are hurting. Some starters need the time off to be healthy enough to fight the good fight the following week in the first round of the playoffs.
By the same token, a lot is at stake in a couple of different areas. Not only are the Redskins fighting to have a winning record (9-7) for the first time since 2012, there are guys on the team that have played so well that they have records that they might accomplish or even break by the end of the regular season if they are able to play against the Cowboys.
As well, the team is on a roll right now. The momentum is high and players are in a groove. While there have been a lot of injury-replacements throughout the season, some guys have been healthy throughout. It might behoove the coach to let that momentum continue.
Consider the most obvious of these starters, quarterback Kirk Cousins. It might even be as important for the coaches to coach guys they’re accustomed to coaching as it is for the guys accustomed to starting to start (did you follow that?). And while it would be tempting to keep the QB out of Sunday’s game to avoid the risk of injury just before the playoffs, there are other things to consider… like all of the work he and his offensive teammates have already put in which brought the team to this point. For instance, Cousins and wide out DeSean Jackson have been impressive in the way their timing and trust in each other has developed. That is not something Gruden will want to risk messing around with before the playoffs.
By the same token, it’s not as if they’ll all forget how to play football in a few short days.
“Well, it makes a huge deal just because of the timing with the receivers and the snap count. There [are] a lot of nuances that having stability at that quarterback is very important, man,” Gruden said to reporters after practice Thursday. “It’s important to develop your chemistry, your scheme around the quarterback and our personnel as opposed to changing week-in and week-out. Fortunately, Kirk has stayed healthy and played well. We haven’t had to make changes but the consistency there with the play-calling and adjusting to what he does well has been very important and very beneficial.”
It’s most likely that Gruden will find a balance somehow between getting his starters necessary reps to keep them sharp and resting guys so that they’re most healthy for whoever the Redskins play in the Wild Card round of the 2015 NFL playoffs. This means he must decide not only who to eventually sit in the interest of future health but also who to put on the field in the interest of winning the upcoming game. Because there is no doubt about it… the Redskins want to win this upcoming Cowboys game.
For the backups that could be put on the field, this all means one thing: opportunity.
What better time is there to get some film out there for the world to see than right before the playoffs? There may even be guys brought up from the practice squad and guys that have not been active all season long, will be active.
Guys like linebacker Carlos Fields, cornerback Dashaun Phillips and DE Frank Kearse could see some playing time in the second half should the Redskins get a decent lead against Dallas Sunday. Also, QB Colt McCoy, receiver Ryan Grant and TE Alex Smith could get out there. It’s going to be a bit of a chess match for Gruden to decide who he’s going to start — and/or eventually sit —and he’ll count on his coaches to continue the great job they’ve been doing all season of getting the next man up and ready to go. And center Kory Lichtensteiger, out since early November with a pinched nerve and placed on IR/Designated to Return, has been doing more and more this week in practices and could play in the Redskins first playoff game.
Fortunately, the coaching staff — and especially defensive coordinator Joe Barry — has been doing this all year with the banged up team that is the Redskins. After General Manager Scot McCloughan has managed to find guys off the street to come in and fill in for injured players, Barry and his staff have done a superb job of getting them ready to play and playing not only adequately but well. Both the offensive and defense staffs will just continue to do what they’ve been doing. It will just be for a little bit more exciting reason. Guys like CB Will Blackmon, LB Mason Foster and RB Pierre Thomas have enough talent and have been coached so well that they’ve come in and basically played like starters within a few weeks.
As Barry wisely says, the team’s backups are not really backups… they’re just “starters in waiting.”
The decisions that the Redskins staff are going to be dealing with this week are a bit problematic in that they want to be sure they are making the right ones. But they are good problems to have, as Gruden has said a few different times recently. So far, the entire staff in Washington has done a really good job in most, if not all, aspects of their jobs. It’s probably a safe bet that will do so again this weekend.
Leave a Reply