'Skins' road remains challenging

[Eagle091]

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2005/112005/11132005/145410

IF SEAN SPRINGS is half as proficient as a prognosticator as he is as an NFL cornerback, the Washington Redskins are in for a grueling second half.

Springs, a ninth-year lockdown cover corner, proclaimed after his team's most recent victory that 10 wins "probably won't be enough to win the NFC East."

Springs is known for shutting down the opposition's top receiving option, but the man who covers wideouts tighter than the lid on a pickle jar knows that his team has a long way to go. At this juncture of the young season, winning the team's first division title since 1999 is the last thing on the Redskins' minds.

"We're going to have to keep chugging away, one week at a time," Springs said. "Having two home division games still on the schedule is a big help, but right now we just have to worry about getting healthy and hitting our stride."

The Redskins are one of four NFC teams with 5-3 records midway through the season. They've beaten two of the five-win teams in their conference, and play the other this afternoon. It's difficult to say that a team is better than an adversary sharing their record, but if there is such a thing as good and bad 5-3 teams, the Redskins are one of the better ones.

"I don't know how good we are," said fatigued head coach Joe Gibbs following the Redskins' victory last weekend. "It isn't for me to say. I just know that being 5-3 over here is a real big deal."

The bottom line is that Washington has lost to three very good teams and beaten a few formidable opponents. The three teams who beat the Redskins are a combined 17-7, and two of them are division leaders.

Conversely, though, it isn't as if the Redskins are bullying weaker opposition, but instead taking the lunch money of teams their own size. Three of Washington's five wins have come against teams with five or more wins, two against division leaders.

One trait that usually separates playoff-bound teams from mediocrity is proficiency in close games, an area Washington has thrived in this season. All but two of its games, a 35-point blowout win and an embarrassing 36-point loss, have been decided by a touchdown or less. The Redskins have won four of the six games determined by seven points or fewer, evidence of the team's maturation and increased confidence in its second year under Gibbs.

As difficult as the Redskins' schedule was in the first half--seven of their eight games were against teams .500 or better--it isn't about to get any easier. The second half commences this afternoon with a showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, losers of two in a row.

Today's tilt could go a long way toward focusing a distorted and blurred playoff picture, and if the season ended today the final playoff spot would come down to a tie-breaker between Washington and Tampa Bay.

In its final eight games, Washington will play six teams currently .500 or better. The Redskins still have three division games left, two at home, where they are a league-best 4-0.

Regardless of what happens, the players and coaches in Washington's locker room know that with eight games to go, they control their fate.

"We're over .500, too, so its not like we're playing better teams than us," defensive end Phillip Daniels said. "We've just got to keep this thing going and be consistent, because just winning one out of every two isn't going to do it. I believe in these guys and what we can do, and as long as we play together we're going to be fine."