It was on this day, October 26th in 1969, that a Redskins team coached by the late, great Vince Lombardi defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 14-7.
Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen scored both Redskin touchdowns, one with his feet, and one with his arm. The second, a 17 yard pass to Charley Taylor.
On October 19th, 1987, ten Dallas Cowboy players crossed the picket line to play in a Monday Night Football game during an NFL strike. They were 8 point favorites against a Redskins team that was still using 100% replacement players. The replacement Redskins team spanked the Cowboys 13-7 right in Texas Stadium, thusly creating one of the greatest underdog victories in NFL history, one of the most memorable Monday Night Football games in NFL history, and the inspiration for the movie, The Replacements.
They weren’t garden variety players that crossed that picket line either – Hall of Famers Tony Dorsett and Randy White were among the group, as was starting quarterback Danny White.
The staunch Redskins defense received some tough injury news yesterday – rookie defensive lineman Jonathan Allen is done for the remainder of the 2017 season. Allen suffered the injury in the second half of Washington’s 26-24 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Allen sustained a Lisfranc sprain, and although at first Redskins head coach Jay Gruden seemed optimistic about a quicker return, news broke yesterday from several outlets that Allen will require surgery, and is indeed done for the remainder of 2017.
Week Seven could be a make-or-break week for the Washington Redskins’ 2017 Playoff aspirations. Every game is important in a 16-game season – every divisional game even more so. When you’re facing the only team ahead of you in the divisional race, and losing gives them both wins this season and the first tie breaker, it’s pretty safe to say that the Redskins hopes for winning the NFC East this year could very well come down to the result of this early week 7 game. Beating the Eagles won’t guarantee them success, but losing to them could drastically affect the Redskins betting odds of getting to the playoffs via a divisional first place.
That’s no small feat given that the game will be played at Lincoln Financial Field, and the Redskins secondary could potentially have more holes than swiss cheese.
Huge match up this week for the Redskins as they face their division rivals, and the team between Washington and first place in the NFC East – the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite only being week seven, this is the second time that the Redskins have played the Eagles already this year, with Philly winning on opening day. Losing this game would mean that the Eagles have the critical first tie breaker of head-to-head record.
So Ryan Kerrigan and the entire defense are going to have to find a way to shut down Carson Wentz and the Eagles offense.
With Josh Norman on the shelf for a couple of weeks, Bashaud Breeland will step into the limelight a little bit.
Nicknamed Breeland Island in his rookie season, the Redskins cornerback will definitely be tested this week, as he will face former Redskins receiver Pierre Garcon and the San Francisco 49ers.
Kyle Shanahan must have certainly circled this week’s matchup between his San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Redskins, with a big, fat magic marker. After all, he hasn’t been shy about slinging some passive aggressive mud around, about his time in the nation’s capital. His team is struggling; and he’d like nothing more for those struggles to come to an end at Fed Ex Field on Sunday. Does Shanahan’s return affect the Redskins odds for the next game?
It doesn’t appear so, with the Redskins being given their first ten-plus point spread of the season (11), over the winless 49ers.
Shanahan is in his first year of a six year deal with the 49ers, and they are re-building. Perhaps that gives him a distinct advantage over the two guys that went before him, and only got one year each. One of those guys was current Redskins defensive line coach, Jim Tomsula, and the other was Chip Kelly. That turnaround makes Shanahan the third coach in three years, following a time where Jim Harbaugh was producing winning teams there. Including a team that made it all the way to the Super Bowl.
Two things were clear at the end of the Redskins game against the Chiefs on Monday night, Washington had not only lost the game, they had lost some personnel as well. The two went hand-in-hand. They will benefit greatly from an early season bye week, as the extra time will obviously allow some injuries to heal enough to play. How those injuries progress will affect the team Washington can field, and subsequently, the Redskins odds for the next game.
With the bye, Washington don’t play again until October 15th against the San Francisco 49ers. The Redskins had this game highlighted on the calendar already, as they will be facing former coach Kyle Shanahan, and it will be Pierre Garcon’s first time back at Fed Ex Field since leaving in the offseason.
The Redskins suffered a tough loss to the Chiefs on Monday Night, and given the ridiculous injuries that piled up, it isn’t that hard to understand why a Washington defense that was stuffing Kansas City – suddenly couldn’t.
While there have been mentions of the injuries in many articles, few seem to talk about the collective effect that these injuries had. There were so many that it was hard to follow. Several players went down – only to return; making it even harder to follow.
I have to admit, even though I am used to the fickle nature of NFL fandom, I was quite surprised at the number of people in the twitterverse that were throwing the Redskins under the bus for losing the Monday night game. Not because they lost to a good NFL team – but for failing to recognize some very glaring NFL game facts. Like the injuries the Redskins had to contend with.
I’m just going to take a quick look at the defense and point a few things out. I grabbed the Redskins depth chart from ESPN, and then started making a few annotations. Here is what I came up with.
As huge fans of the mighty Redskins, we are always interested in learning more about our favourite team and its players. For example, did you know that the Washington Redskins were not always known as the mighty Washington Redskins? In fact, they were originally known as the Boston Braves, but changed their name after just one year!
Only 5 years after the name change in 1938, halfback Andy Farkas ran the wrong way and was tackled for a safety. Farkas, however, went from goat to hero when he led the Redskins to a 7-5 comeback win over the Detroit Lions.
Did you know that legendary defensive back Darrell Green won the title of ‘fastest man in the NFL’ four times in a row?
Can you name the Washington Redskins quarterback who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983?