With just two playoff appearances in the last 12 seasons and finishing third or worse in the NFC East in each of the last four, nobody expects the Washington Redskins to compete for the NFC East title in the first go round of the Ron Rivera era. Three straight third place finishes and a wretched start to the 2020-21 season saw Jay Gruden get shown the door after losing the locker room in the middle of the season. The franchise has failed to surpass its season win total odds in each of the last three seasons. Even so, linemakers at online sportsbooks opened their win total up at 5.5-games. This came as quite the surprise to NFL bettors who immediately pounced and forced a correction down to 5 which is 1.5-games less than last season’s impost; Washington went on to win three games and go 6-10 ATS. In doing so, they were awarded the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft which they turned into Chase Young in hopes that his ability to rush the quarterback at the collegiate level carries over into the pros to allow for the young defense to turn the corner sooner rather than later. Though they didn’t need an edge rusher, Young can average 10+ sacks a season and that’s a caliber of talent no team in the NFL would mind having on its roster for the next decade.
Washington Redskins Season Win Total: 5
When you win a total of three games all season with only one coming in front of the hometown faithful, there isn’t a whole lot to get excited about. Except for the fact that Washington actually has some exciting, young up and coming talent on the roster that should thrive under successful coach Rivera and his staff. Dwayne Haskins didn’t do much to impress in his rookie campaign. Through nine games and seven starts, the former Ohio State Buckeye only threw for 1,365 yards, a 7:7 TD/INT ratio and only completed 58.6 percent of his passes. His 76.1 QB rating was one of the worst in the league. That said, he finally started to look like he was getting it at the tail end of the year in a pair of tough, competitive defeats to the division rival Eagles and Giants. Should Rivera and new offensive coordinator Scott Turner instill more confidence, he could take a giant leap in his sophomore campaign.
Likely making his job all the more easy will be the 1-2 RB/WR punch of Derrius Guice and Terry McLaurin with each impressive when healthy and on the field last season. Guice has had an extremely rough go of it since being drafted in the second round of the 2018 draft. The kid simply hasn’t been able to stay healthy! Despite only having his number called 42 times, he ended up being the Skins second-leading rusher with 245 yards and 2 TD. He also added another 79 yards and a touchdown catching passes out of the backfield. Having already devised a heavy RB-laden game plan calling the shots for Christian McCaffery in Carolina, you know darn well Rivera will look to showcase his young talent now that his knee issues are said to be in the rearview mirror. Guice should be a popular target for prop bettors early on until linemakers catch up.
There is some major receiving talent on Washington’s roster; arguably the best in years! McLaurin was nothing short of a one man show a season ago hauling in a team-high 58 receptions and turning them into 919 yards and seven saunters into the end zone. He averaged nearly 16 yards per reception and because of it will be highly sought after in both season-long and daily fantasy leagues. Complimenting him will be Kelvin Harmon, Trey Quinn, newcomer Cody Latimer and big-bodied tight end Jeremy Sprinkle. Heck, even newcomers Antonio Gibson and Antonio Gandy-Golden should make splashes. Should the offensive line find a way to keep Haskins upright and open holes for Adrian Peterson and Guice, Washington won’t bring up the rear of the most pertinent offensive stat categories like it did last season.
Washington Redskins Football Schedule
Week 1: Eagles at Redskins, Sunday, September 13, 1 p.m. ET
Week 2: Redskins at Cardinals, Sunday, September 20, 4:05 p.m. ET
Week 3: Redskins at Browns, Sunday, September 27, 1 p.m. ET
Week 4: Ravens at Redskins, Sunday, October 4, 1 p.m. ET
Week 5: Rams at Redskins, Sunday, October 11, 1 p.m. ET
Week 6: Redskins at Giants, Sunday, October 18, 1 p.m. ET
Week 7: Cowboys at Redskins, Sunday, October 25, 1 p.m. ET
Week 8: Bye Week
Week 9: Giants at Redskins, Sunday, November 8, 1 p.m. ET
Week 10: Redskins at Lions, Sunday, November 15, 1 p.m. ET
Week 11: Bengals at Redskins, Sunday, November 22, 1 p.m. ET
Week 12: Redskins at Cowboys, Thursday, November 26, 4:30 p.m. ET
Week 13: Redskins at Steelers, Sunday, December 6, 1 p.m. ET
Week 14: Redskins at 49ers, Sunday, December 13, 4:25 p.m. ET
Week 15: Seahawks at Redskins, Sunday, December 20, 1 p.m. ET
Week 16: Panthers at Redskins, Sunday, December 27, 1 p.m. ET
Week 17: Redskins at Eagles, Sunday, January 3, 1 p.m. ET
Washington Redskins Schedule Analysis
There are a couple areas the Redskins rank out well in. They might even actually be elite! As a team, Washington tallied 46 overall sacks a season ago to rank No. 10 in the stat category. Matt Ioannidis led the team with 8.5, Montez Sweat had 7, Jonathan Allen chimed in with 6 and Ryan Kerrigan 5.5. Each and every one of those players lined up along the defensive line. Throw Chase Young into the mix on the outside, and it’s pretty safe to assume the Redskins will be successful in 2020-21 when their front–seven is able to overwhelm the opposing front. Another area the team excels in is special teams with Steven Sims Jr. arguably the most exciting kick/punt returner in the entire league. The kid’s got breakaway speed; if you give him any daylight through a seam he’ll put six on the board real quick and let you know about it. I seriously have all but one of their first six games designated as being winnable; no joke! I also find it telling that linemakers hung a 5.5 on a team that only mustered three wins all of last season and looked horrendous in a number of games. The fact that the betting public hammered the under dropping it to 5 has me very excited about the line value to the point that the over will be one of my larger season win total investments regardless of the heavy juice.
Washington Redskins Win Total Prediction: Over 5 -125
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