Washington Football Team: Easiest and toughest stretches of 2021 schedule
Washington Football Team’s easiest stretch: Weeks 1-4
- Week 1 vs. Chargers
- Week 2 vs. Giants
- Week 3 @ Bills
- Week 4 @ Falcons
The Washington Football Team doesn’t have any particularly easy stretches of games in 2021. When breaking down their schedule, they always seem to have one really tough matchup against one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks every few weeks, bare minimum.
But at least to start the season, they are getting some games that should be winnable. The opponents on tap aren’t necessarily easy ones for Washington, but they match up well with most of the teams on the slate.
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The Chargers are a good Week 1 test for Washington. They have a great offense led by Offensive Rookie of the Year Justin Herbert, but their defense is still a work in progress. This will be a strength-on-strength matchup, but Washington has the pass rush talent needed to rattle Herbert.
And considering that Los Angeles will be breaking in second-round rookie Asante Samuel Jr. on the back end of their defense, Washington may be able to target him to break some big plays. Again, this game won’t be easy, but Washington has the tools needed to compete with the Chargers.
For the Giants, you could make an argument that they have the best team in the NFC East thanks to some of their offseason moves.
However, Daniel Jones held them back with his poor play at quarterback last year and was prone to turnovers. Washington didn’t get after him enough in their two meetings last year, but if they can get more pressure on him this year, they will force him into some turnovers.
On offense, things will be tougher for Washington against an improving defense, but maybe with Dalvin Tomlinson gone, they’ll be able to run on the Giants more with Antonio Gibson. If not, they can go after Adoree’ Jackson and rookie Aaron Robinson in the secondary.
The Week 3 matchup against the Bills is going to be very difficult, so that’s the lone exception in this stretch. Facing a mobile QB like Josh Allen on the road in Buffalo will be challenging, but on the bright side, at least Washington isn’t likely to get a snow game in Fitzpatrick’s return to Buffalo.
Finally, the Week 4 matchup against the Falcons might be the easiest one on Washington’s schedule. Atlanta has the potential to carry a dynamic offense, but their offensive line is weaker than it was last year and their defense is still a mess. Unless Arthur Smith’s staff can work their magic, that game against the Falcons should be a relatively easy win for Washington.
This four-game stretch wouldn’t be the easiest in a normal season, but with the schedule Washington has, it’s hard to find a more favorable stretch. Maybe they’ll get lucky and will get the Chargers while things are still falling into place with a new coach and maybe Jones won’t yet have improved for the G-Men.
Washington should have a chance to go 3-1 during this stretch. With this schedule, that’s about as easy as it will get.