As the Washington Redskins head to Baltimore to play the Ravens in their last preseason game, current opinions about the team are mixed.
As with most ball-clubs, optimism was high early in training camp. Washington had resolved the quarterback problem by signing veteran Alex Smith, its most potent offensive and defensive players would be back and ready for Game 1 of the regular season (RB Chris Thompson, TE Jordan Reed, offensive linemen Trent Williams, Morgan Moses and Brandon Scherff, LBs Zach Brown and Mason Foster; DL Jonathan Allen) and both units’ talent had been improved with the draft selections of defensive tackle Daron Payne and running back Derrius Guice. Smith seemed to be fitting in well, and players worked hard and showed a lot of talent during practices.
Since then, the Redskins have lost two things: Guice to IR (torn ACL) and two of their three preseason games.
The first loss listed has been accepted and dealt with by the acquisition of veteran RB Adrian Peterson who, by his performance in preseason Game 3 against the Denver Broncos, looks to be a great replacement. The latter — the preseason games — are where the mixed sentiments enter.
It’s not so much that the Redskins lost against the New England Patriots and Broncos. It’s the way the most recent defeat happened that is concerning.
Preseason Game 3 is traditionally the dress rehearsal for starters in the NFL. Smith and most of the other starters played almost a half. Aside from Peterson, the starters didn’t look ready and it was an all-around poor performance.
The veteran QB didn’t seem to have much chemistry with his receivers and the defense couldn’t tackle. Once again, third downs could not be converted (at least until third-string QB Kevin Hogan entered the game) nor could the Broncos conversion attempts be thwarted. This is concerning because Redskins head coach Jay Gruden has had trouble preparing his teams for the regular season.
This week, Washington travels to Baltimore to take on the Ravens in the last game of the preseason. While starters wouldn’t typically take the field (it’s Gruden’s last chance to see his bubble players in a real game before the roster cut deadline this weekend), some think it’s still important that the Redskins get the taste of that Game 3 defeat out of their mouth. A win against the Ravens would do that and send Washington into the regular season on a high note.
But it’s just preseason. There is no game-planning for the Ravens. The staff is simply evaluating their players against another team and second-, third- and fourth-string players are getting game film out there.
Should it be more than that, however? Is it important that the Redskins beat the Baltimore Ravens in their preseason Game 4 before heading into the regular season?
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No, that’s what the last preseason game is about it’s about getting to the final 53 players that will make up your team. It’s an evaluation game in a nut shell. I don’t like it but that’s what it is.