The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

Game of the week

Tampa Bay at Washington, 1 p.m. ET

Redskins' fans believe they have a playoff team, their first since 1999, and it's all because there's another multi-million dollar coach in town. Excuse me, but didn't we hear this battle cry when Steve Spurrier was hired? Or was that Marty Schottenheimer? This time, fans say, it's different because the coach is Joe Gibbs, who won three Super Bowls with the Redskins and made it to the Hall of Fame. They may be right, but Gibbs will have to do it the hard way: he lost his starting right tackle, Jon Jansen, for the season. Look for Gibbs to feature a lot of running back Clinton Portis, a short passing game and field goals. Plenty of field goals. When Gibbs coached Washington in the 1980s his place kicker went to bat so often and swung so well he became the league MVP.

Something you might want to consider: Gibbs lost his first five games when he started with the Redskins in 1981. Yeah, I know this is different, but he's up against a team that won the Super Bowl only 17 games ago.