Oh man, what is all of this gloom and doom of 5-11 ... 7-9 .. stuff? I feel like you guys have been reading too much of the "poster's" posts.
The key is going to be how healthy the o-line stays ... and how successful the Redskins are at addressing the inevitable injuries. So my predictions are prefaced by that ability to keep them performing at a decent level, and I think RG3's mobility will help the o-line issues tremendously. Keep in mind that Rex was a sitting duck that couldn't outrun a nose tackle.
RG3 will no doubt have his rookie moments, and we all have to be patient when those things pop up .... but I believe even with that, he'll perform at a level well exceeding Rex in 2011. And though the schedule is tough, we're fortunate enough to have the weakest part of it early (excepting NO), which will allow RG3 to get rookie mistakes worked out without costing the team a bunch of L's early and digging a hole the team can't pull out of.
Since the Redskins seem to always lose a couple of games we are supposed to win, and win a couple we are supposed to lose ... without specifying , I say we could start out at 4-2 or even 5-1 easily. And if we do, we could legitimately finish either 9-7 or 10-6, just by going 5-5 for the final 10 games. That is doable if RG3 has a good rookie season.
If RG3 has a "great" rookie year, I say the Skins could finish 11-5 and win the division ... just look at last year .... NYG won it with a 9-7 record, we beat them twice, and we lost to the Cowboys by very skinny margins and could have won both of those games.
The Redskins are a legitimate 6-10/7-9 team with Rex at QB ..... and I think RG3's skills can account for at least 3 more wins.
Furthermore, I agree that Pittsburgh is not the powerhouse it has been in the past, and the Cowboys and Giants have their own set of problems that I don't feel makes them significantly better this year than they were last year. I believe the Redskins improved more than either the Giants or Boys. How we handle Filthy will go a long way in determining the division and payoffs this year.
As a wild card issue ... not only does RG3 help the Redskin o-line and inside running game (due to his ability to run, preventing defenses from stacking the box and overcommitting to stop that run game) as well as helping pass pro ... his ability to move the chains will tremendously help keep the defense fresher in the latter stages of games, compared to the 3 and out contests Grossman and Beck seemed to want to have.
Offensively, I think Garcon represents a legitimate outside threat that is going to open up even greater opportunities for Moss to have a killer year working out of the slot ... and Fred Davis will also benefit. RG3 has good vision, and his mobility will equate to many more big plays in the passing game, and more points.
Defensively, I'm not as worried about the secondary as most are ... as I think Morris is going to be a difference maker, as I've already noticed the Redskins playing more aggressively and not giving these 10 yards cushions at the line. That will cost us some big plays, but in the long run, more press coverage tends to slow down that short passing game, and will allow the pass rush more opportunities. If the defense had one major flaw last year, that is were I saw it most .... too much room was given up by the corners for those easy 5 yard, chain moving pass and catch plays.
I'm optimistic, from a tangible and measurable point of view. (I think
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But then again, we could go 4-12 and see Jon Gruden become the new 2013 Redskin head coach.
