Week 17 Reality Checks: Washington vs Eagles

3. The Reality Is, football is about more than just stats and measurables.

Don’t be that fan that says football players should “just play the game”…they they shouldn’t be affected by outside noise or the stuff of real life that impacts the rest of us. A week ago, this team lost one of their captains to a season-ending car crash in which he was the driver and his girlfriend was killed. Two teammates were there at the scene and watched it happen.

Earlier this week, one of their defensive stars go news that his brother was shot and killed near Richmond. That kind of tragedy cannot and should not be ignored or downplayed by the players and coaches on the team. If those tragedies aren’t weighing on them, that would be concerning on a human level…and any fan who expects every player and coach to be able to simply go about business as usual has their priorities out of whack.

That said, the ability to perform well in spite of difficult distractions is a key characteristic of a quality team. If the team is able to put together a disciplined and focused performance on Sunday in spite of the difficulty of their circumstances the last couple of weeks, it will indicate a measure of mental fortitude necessary for long-term success. Look for the number of pre-snap penalties and obvious assignment busts apparent in this game to get a feel for how locked-in they are.