OPINION:
Now the Washington Redskins have something to play for in the final game of the season Sunday.
Last season it was for a place in the NFL playoffs.
This year, though, the stakes may be higher.
The Redskins have a chance to go 8-8 with a win over the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.
That would mean this franchise would go three straight seasons for the first time since 1999-2001 — the early days of owner Dan Snyder’s infection of the organization — without a losing record.
Heck, that’s got to be worth a banner at Redskins Park.
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The Redskins have convinced themselves that if they beat the woeful two-win Giants Sunday, they will have accomplished something by finishing with an 8-8 record.
“It’s important for a lot of reasons,” coach Jay Gruden told reporters after their 27-11 win over Denver in the final home game of the season. “For one, everyone wrote us off and questioned the character and quitting and I knew it wouldn’t happen. The guys stepped up and played their tails off and there is still a lot to play for. We’re playing a division rival on the road at the Giants’ stadium. I think these guys will be fired up, ready to play and try to get back to 8-8 and finish with three games in a row — a three-game win streak at the end of the year, which is important.”
If they hope to win, they’ll have to be more fired up than when they played the Giants at the end of the 2016 season — their pathetic 19-10 loss at home.
But that was just for the playoffs. This is for sustained mediocrity.
“We had a losing season in 2014 and in 2015 and 2016 we didn’t,” Kirk Cousins said. “We had a chance after leaving L.A. against the Chargers to go 8-8 and put an end to three straight losing seasons around here. That means a great deal to me, and we’ve been talking about that all week. That is where our focus is — get to 8-8. It’s not 13-3, but it’s not a losing season.”
No, it’s not.
I get why the coach and players are creating this sense of accomplishment. They use whatever means they can for motivation. But there are fans buying into the notion that a victory Sunday against New York will mean they have done something noteworthy.
I get that, too. When you get hit on the head with a 20-pound sledgehammer year after year, and then your abuser switches to a ball-peen hammer for three straight years, yes, it certainly does feel better. But you’re still getting bashed in the head, now for so long that you don’t even realize what life is like without the hammer. You’re just grateful for the change in pain.
But that’s the trap that we fall into in Washington when we have lived for so long without an end result of true worth, from every sports franchise that fans root for. The success of our teams are judged by their own failures and not how their accomplishments – or lack of them – compare to their competitors. As a result, the expectations and demands by fans in this town have been lowered.
We should expect more from the Washington Redskins.
Instead, the standards for success for this franchise have sunk so low that three straight non-losing seasons is a feel-good story.
The reality is that the Washington Redskins will have gone 26 straight seasons without an 11-win season. Every other team in the league during that time has won 11 games at least once – even the Cleveland Browns. The reality is that every team in the NFC East has played in the Super Bowl in the last 25 years except the Redskins – yes, even the Philadelphia Eagles.
The reality is that 25-22-1 over three seasons means absolutely nothing, if your goal is to win something of worth.
It’s not a step-by-step league. It’s year to year, and any thought that the outcome will be better next year if these Redskins are healthy is a foolish leap of faith, brought down by the reality of what this franchise has done – not what you hope it will do.
The cheerleaders are right about one thing – if they lose to this bad Giants team in the final game of the season for the second straight year with the idea there is something to play for, that 7-9 record will look a heck of a lot worse than 8-8.
• Thom Loverro hosts his weekly podcast “Cigars & Curveballs” Wednesdays available on iTunes, Google Play and the reVolver podcast network.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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