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Redskins Reality Check: Realistic predictions for the team in Week 5 vs. Saints

By Tim Payne

NEW ORLEANS, LA - NOVEMBER 19: Michael Thomas #13 of the New Orleans Saints is tackled by DeAngelo Hall #23 of the Washington Redskins during the first half at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 19, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - NOVEMBER 19: Michael Thomas #13 of the New Orleans Saints is tackled by DeAngelo Hall #23 of the Washington Redskins during the first half at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 19, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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LANDOVER, MD – SEPTEMBER 16: Head coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins talks to quarterback Alex Smith #11 of the Washington Redskins against the Indianapolis Colts during the second half at FedExField on September 16, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD – SEPTEMBER 16: Head coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins talks to quarterback Alex Smith #11 of the Washington Redskins against the Indianapolis Colts during the second half at FedExField on September 16, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

6. Reality is, this is an opportunity for Jay Gruden and Alex Smith to make a statement.

Coming off a bye week, playing against a questionable defense in the same building where the Redskins couldn’t close the deal last year, this shapes up to be the perfect prove-it game for Jay Gruden and Alex Smith.

My immediate reaction to the loss against the Saints last year was that we had just seen the final nail in the coffin of the Redskins’ relationship with Kirk Cousins. It was just a game that felt very much like a microcosm of the entire Kirk experiment in Washington. There were the flashes of offensive brilliance, the ultimate highs in emotion and performance, and then there were the inexplicable lapses in play-calling and execution.

I felt then, and still do, that both the Redskins organization and Kirk would look back on that game as the beginning of the official end.  Had the Redskins pulled off that win, I think they would have made the playoffs last year, and in that case, I believe the entire narrative looks very different.

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But, Thompson got hurt, Cousins got called for intentional grounding, Gruden called the most conservative last two drives imaginable and wasted a challenge and time-out for no reason, and Drew Brees played like the all-time great that he is in seizing on all of those to muster an incredible comeback.  The season then died a slow and predictable death and Cousins left for greener pastures in Minnesota.  Meanwhile, Alex Smith was getting unceremoniously replaced in Kansas City despite having his best statistical season.

And now, the Redskins have Smith at the helm – a quarterback that Jay Gruden has said over and over is the perfect fit for his offense.  And Smith has Gruden, a head coach that wants him and believes he can lead the team to the playoffs and beyond.

If the Redskins are going places this season — if Gruden and Smith really are a match made in football heaven — then this would be the ideal moment to show the world.  In prime time, against a first-place Saints team, on the night their quarterback will most likely set the all-time record for career passing yards, at the scene of last year’s terrible collapse, Gruden and Smith can make their claim and state their case as the leaders of a true contender in the NFC. And if they do it, they’ll most likely have to do it without an outstanding rushing performance from AP, because that doesn’t seem likely against the Saints’ stellar rushing defense.

We can expect that they’re going to say this is just another game, and that this is a week-to-week league.  We can expect them to brush off any talk of last year. We should be disappointed if they coach and play that way.

Prediction: The Redskins offense comes out firing on all cylinders, Smith is sharp and aggressive, Gruden has the offense clicking and the play-calling is effective and creative, and the Redskins put up 30-plus points in spite of not having a dominant run game.

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