It doesn’t get any easier for the 1-3 Washington Redskins this week as the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks make the trip to FedEx Field for Monday Night Football. This will be the Redskins’ second consecutive primetime game, the first of which was an absolute debacle against the division foe New York Giants. The Seahawks are coming off of a bye week and find themselves at 2-1 heading into this matchup.
“Debacle” is the only way to describe the last time these two teams met. The Redskins, after coming off a thrilling seven game winning streak, won the 2012 NFC East division championship in a decisive fashion against the Dallas Cowboys and were hosting their first home playoff game since 1999. Robert Griffin III, though still feeling the ill-effects from a LCL injury, was flying high and started the game off well against the wild card Seahawks.
Then, disaster struck. Griffin appeared to re-injure the knee early on in the game, and after the Redskins secured a 14-0 lead, the offense sputtered due to Griffin’s obvious injury aggravation. Despite this, head coach Mike Shanahan stuck with Griffin until he no longer could. Griffin would go on to tear his ACL and the Redskins have not recovered since. While Seattle would ultimately win the Super Bowl the following season, the Redskins have posted a combined 4-16 regular season record since that game.
While the 2014 version of the Seattle Seahawks has lost a game, they do not appear to be showing ill-effects of the infamous “Super Bowl hangover”. Richard Sherman and the vaunted Seattle defense are still highly physical, Russell Wilson is still making clutch plays at the right time, and Head Coach Pete Carroll seems to never lose the fire to win. This team is still considered a perennial Super Bowl favorite, and why not? They have built the team the right way and could quite possibly be better than they were last year.
The Redskins are in turmoil and need a good game and victory against a tough Seattle opponent on Monday night. Kirk Cousins is coming off a five turnover game and needs to shake it off against the most talented defense in the league. Our keys to the game will focus on what the Redskins will need to do better in order to secure the upset of the season thus far. Seattle is favored by seven points and the difference there could come down to the simple things that allow a football team to succeed.
Keys to the game
Limit mistakes
Penalties and special teams gaffs have plagued Washington so far this season. In order for the Redskins to secure a victory, the little intricacies that don’t even factor into an overall game plan need to be executed perfectly or this team will continue to struggle. Mental errors have easily taken what could be a 2-1 or even 3-0 team to 1-3. For what it’s worth, mistakes can be overcome with sound play. But that isn’t happening either, and Seattle is a team that will take advantage of mental errors and quickly bury a team.
Have a short memory
Kirk Cousins was clearly rattled in last Thursday’s game against the Giants. The lasting images of this game will be Kirk with his head hanging down on the sidelines. This cannot happen again. The Redskins need a confident Cousins, one who can manage a game and make the throws necessary to move the ball down the field. He can’t be scared or tentative; Seattle will crush him if he is. If Cousins wants any chance of starting for Washington or anywhere else, his performance in the next two games is crucial. It’s the difference between a five or six year multi-million dollar deal or spending his career as a backup. (and time could be running out.)
Cousins will make mistakes against this defense. They’re too good and he’s still too green not to. The key is to shake off the errors and treat each drive as a new opportunity. Learning from mistakes but also maintaining a forward perception of things is imperative for an NFL Quarterback. Seattle’s offense is certainly nothing to scoff at, but the performance of the Redskins offense and the utilization of the many weapons it has is the major factor in the outcome of this matchup.
Out-physical the Hawks
Seattle is the most physical team in the NFL, on both sides of the ball. The Redskins must match this hit for hit and pound for pound. If Washington comes out on the field as soft as they did Thursday night against New York, it will be a long night. Percy Harvin will be looking to put up huge numbers in this game so throwing the timing off there is important, though that would mean Haslett would need to bring the corners up closer to the line of scrimmage and that rarely happens.
Our Predictions
I expect the Redskins to play better than most think, but will ultimately lose this one. Seattle has a reputation for being a bad road team, but they will have half the FedEx Field crowd behind them and will win this one in a route. Seahawks 35, Redskins 13.
I don’t envision the Redskins having any easier a time with the best defense in the NFL that they did last week with the Giants. In fact, I expect the Seahawks to have a field day both on offense and defense. The Redskins just seem incapable of getting out of their own way with penalties, making a tough job even more difficult. You just wish the league would stop scheduling the team for national TV games at this point. Seahawks 31, Redskins 10.
Cousins completely fell apart when faced with a little adversity against a mediocre defense and the teams problems snowballed. Now they have to face the defending champs. They might be a little healthier and more prepared but I don’t think there is anything that will significantly help this team against an opponent of such a magnitude. The Redskins will be lucky to get out of the first half without the boo birds coming out. Seahawks 30, Redskins 13.
Seahawks as both teams set new records. Seahawks 70, Redskins 0.
Kirk Cousins doesn’t throw as many interceptions this week but the offense still struggles to move the ball against the highly touted Seahawks defense. Coversely, the Redskins defense again struggles to get pressure, as Russell Wilson is able to get the ball out of his hands quickly (like Eli Manning last week) and put up points. Seahawks 35, Redskins 17.
If there was ever a season-saving game, this would be it. After being embarrassed on their home field against division rival New York Giants, the Redskins host the defending champs with hopes of at least putting an end to a mini two-game slide. With backup Kirk Cousins seemingly forgetting how to play quarterback last week, throwing four picks over a span of eight pass attempts, the Redskins are going to need a Monday Night Miracle to keep this week’s match-up remotely competitive. Seahawks 35, Redskins 17.