The Truth about the Redskins' Season
Gary Cope, SkinsGridiron.com, Sept. 9, 2005

Ashburn, VA - All the offseason speculation; all the talk; all the drama; all the heartache; and all the years of losing have brought the Redskin nation to the brink of yet another season teeming with hope and possibility. All the columnists and analysts have thrown in their two cents: John "Riggo" Riggins thinks this is probably an 8-8 team at best, but he could easily see another 6-10 season. Most seem to think they're destined for last place in the division. The jury appears to be in - Joe Gibbs is not the coach he was 20 years ago.

Fans who this time last year were calling for a 12-4 season and a Super Bowl run (yeah, I was one of those) got smacked with a cold dose of reality and as a result, the fans' expectations for the upcoming season, generally speaking, are laced with a bit more reality. Most fans would be happy with a winning season, or at the very least, 8-8. Hell, just beat the Cowboys twice, go 2-14 and we'd probably call it a good year. That's where we're at in the history of this franchise. "Screw the playoffs, just quit losing to the 'Boys!"

The questions entering the season opener are plentiful: How will Clinton do? Will the secondary hold up with an aging and often injured Shawn Springs, a rookie corner who got burned badly during preseason, and bone-crushing free safety who has a felony gun charge hanging over his head. Can Lavar Arrington finally live up to the hype? Can our undersized receivers catch anything this season? And most importantly, can Patrick Ramsey play quarterback in this league, or did his traumatic stint under Spurrier ruin the boy for all time?

And let's not forget Coach Joe, who showed that he is human and he may not be the brilliant coach he was during his three Super Bowl stint. It was a different time and a different game. Things have changed and unless he's realized that, I don't expect this year to be much different. But hey, that's just me.

Granted, you have to give Joe credit for giving the shotgun a chance and consulting Alex Gibbs on how to stretch the sidelines to accommodate Clinton's game. Hopefully [Joe] Gibbs will leave the short yardage stuff to the big backs like Rock Cartwright and Ladell Betts. Portis has no business carrying the ball 340 times a season. He's a finesse back, not a bruiser.

Just so I cover all the obligatory pre-game rhetoric; the Redskins look good in some areas, bad in others, and downright atrocious in others. The offensive line is solid and gave the quarterbacks all the time and protection they needed this summer. If they stay healthy (and already there are chinks in the armor), time to throw shouldn't be an issue.

The defensive line looked a bit weaker up front than last year, and aside from Marcus Washington, there are no real proven linebackers on this roster. (Mention Arrington and I'll smack you.) The secondary is shaky, at best. How long before Springs gets hurt? And you know teams are going to throw at Carlos Rogers until he proves to the league that he deserves Champ Bailey-type respect. Taylor will have a huge year and will probably put more than a couple opponents on the IR, but his trial was pushed back to October, so who knows if his head will be in the game leading up to that date.

Dear Lord, the quarterbacks. What on earth will they do this year? Yes, I meant "they" because I have no doubt all three will play. I'm a worst-case scenario kinda guy, so here's how I see this season's quarterback situation playing out: Ramsey will start because Gibbs committed to him after last season ended (stupid, stupid, stupid). Ramsey will struggle, again, and after three and a half games, Gibbs will pull him in favor of the veteran, Mark Brunell, who will play well enough to keep the job, but not enough to keep the Skins in the hunt for a playoff spot. So, with about three games left and the Skins out of the chase, they'll put the kid (Jason Campbell) in and give him some snaps. How's that for worst case?

About the only dependable position for the Skins is running back. Portis, good. Betts, good. Cartwright, good. The only problem is, will the offensive scheme utilize their skills properly? Who knows...because you see, the truth about the Redskins 2005 season is, no one has clue a about what's going to happen. Not me, not Coach Joe, not Ramsey, not the ESPN dorks, no one. That's the beauty of it. We have no friggin clue.

Go down the Week 1 games and tell me one game where one team is a lock to win over the other. You can't. And if you do find one, you're kidding yourself. Welcome to the NFL … where parity is our specialty. Not good if you're in an elimination league.

Finally, a prediction for Sunday's game against the Bears. I say the Redskins win, but it won't be pretty and it won't be impressive. It'll be an ugly win against a pretty good defense that's relatively healthy. What dooms the Bears (my hometown team), is a rookie quarterback. Not to take anything away from Kyle Orton, but he's a rookie that's going up against a defense that should be at least as good as last year. Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams is a smart man and will exploit Orton's rookie-ness.

Bears 13, Redskins 17