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Yahoo: 2016 NFL Preview: Will a tougher schedule upend the Redskins?


superozman

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I think this is one of the first articles I've seen where its gone into detail on why the Redskins could not win the East in 2016, that doesn't state "Because the Cowboys will win it".  Lots of focus on Cousins, which is understandable.  Kinda helps me take the Burgandy and Gold glasses off for a moment and bring me down to earth, with some logic.

 

 

"How heavily do you weigh strength of schedule in the NFL? Your answer will determine what you think about the Washington Redskins.

 

On one hand, we all know that playing the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers is tougher than playing the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans. So NFL strength of schedule matters, of course. But to what degree?..."


Rest at link:

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/2016-nfl-preview-will-a-tougher-schedule-upend-the-redskins-144410596.html?nhp=1

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Interesting read but to me the author kills his credibility by stating  "Washington’s lack of even one signature win last season is the reason I’m not picking them to repeat as division champions."  Can someone give an honest opinion on how we will finished based off talent AND strength of schedule.  

By his logic we should not have won 9 games last year because we won 4 the year before................Ohhhh and it was UGLY

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Interesting read but to me the author kills his credibility by stating  "Washington’s lack of even one signature win last season is the reason I’m not picking them to repeat as division champions."  Can someone give an honest opinion on how we will finished based off talent AND strength of schedule.  

By his logic we should not have won 9 games last year because we won 4 the year before................Ohhhh and it was UGLY

 

I fought with this too.  I tried to look from an outsider perspective, and can almost see what he is trying to say.

 

From my perspective, the Eagles win was a signature win.  They had recently beat the Patriots a few weeks before playing the Skins, and if they beat us, they would have been in the drivers seat for the division.  And it was in their house.

 

An outsider might look for us to beat NY in NY, beat a playoff team, as our only chances for a 'signature' win.  I think it's too short sited.

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What's interesting to me is how the sports analysts are completely writing off the improvements that the Redskins have made, as well.  You would think that we are going into the season with the exact same roster as last year.  They ignore the signing of Josh Norman (I almost forgot about it too, given that we hardly hear about it in the media) and the impact that Junior Galette is sure to make on our pass rush abilities.  Add to that, we are getting Duke Ihenacho back *and God-willing he is able to make it beyond the first game* Our defense should be vastly improved.  If not, I'm not at all upset with getting rid of Joe Barry because that's just way too much talent to not see a significant leap forward.  

 

I believe strength of schedule has something to do with it, but the media should not pretend we had the easiest schedule in the league last year and we still came out 9-7.

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The whole strength of schedule thing is dumb.  We might not have beaten anybody with a winning record last year, but if we lost to a few of the teams we did beat, those teams would have been .500 or better. 

 

We're one of those teams that other teams have to look out for this season because we were above .500 last year, right?

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 IMO, its difficult to judge a team by who they beat and base their future on the past. Teams trend up and down, a team may lose a key player and mentally collapse, a very good team may suffer a humiliating loss to a far inferior team and never recover.

 

Now, the one thing i do agree with, potential-wise, is the Washington Redskins have not won a post-season game in their last couple of trips to the infamous paloffs, and that too can weigh heavily on a team looking to get back there again. 

 

But, look at the situation this team is in right now; we have a potentially great QB in the making in Cousins [ provided he doesn't nose-dive ] a much better than average set of WRs, a set of TEs who can almost pose as a big WR, and most importantly, NO DRAMA BS !!! 

 

This team, if it stays healthy and hungry, will grow together, communicate with each other better, and cvould quite possibly be a bit of a surprise by getting to the big one [ hang on, my pipe is out ] and a coaching staff who seems to know what they're doing, hell the future's so bright i gotta wear shades...

 

SIC

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At what point would last year's record have been "legit?" 10-6? 11-5?

Let's say we won the 3 games against teams with losing records (Dal, NYG, and MIA). That would have been 12-4 still without beating a winning team. But would we still be having this conversation?

I agree with the poster above who said everyone seems to be ignoring any improvement by the Redskins.

A lot of the losses last year came early when Cousins was still getting comfortable, the coaching staff hadn't fully trusted cousins yet to put the ball in the air 40+ times a game, and injuries were out of control, especially against the Falcons and Jets.

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 IMO, its difficult to judge a team by who they beat and base their future on the past. Teams trend up and down, a team may lose a key player and mentally collapse, a very good team may suffer a humiliating loss to a far inferior team and never recover.

 

Now, the one thing i do agree with, potential-wise, is the Washington Redskins have not won a post-season game in their last couple of trips to the infamous paloffs, and that too can weigh heavily on a team looking to get back there again. 

 

But, look at the situation this team is in right now; we have a potentially great QB in the making in Cousins [ provided he doesn't nose-dive ] a much better than average set of WRs, a set of TEs who can almost pose as a big WR, and most importantly, NO DRAMA BS !!! 

 

This team, if it stays healthy and hungry, will grow together, communicate with each other better, and cvould quite possibly be a bit of a surprise by getting to the big one [ hang on, my pipe is out ] and a coaching staff who seems to know what they're doing, hell the future's so bright i gotta wear shades...

 

SIC

 

I had a debate with GoSkins on another thread regarding the impact the schedule will have on the Skins for 2016.  I still think this year's schedule is tougher than the 2015 version and will likely cause the Skins not to win the division.  But, GoSkins convinced me that the 2016 schedule is not as devastating as I first thought.  The Skins have improved from 2015 to 2016, so even with a tougher schedule, they have a shot at winning the NFCE (which is not that tough a division).  I am convinced that starting in 2017 the Skins should be a true contender for everything, after McCloughan has another draft and another off season. 

 

But, even for 2016, I agree the Skins appear to have a terrific passing offense with a QB on the verge of stardom and arguably the best receiving corp in the League (if TEs are included), and a good Oline for pass protection.  On defense, the CB position has turned from an area of desperate need to arguably the best tandem of starters in the NFL.  Pass rushing should be better with the return of Galette, and Hall with a season under his belt at safety should be fine.  We just need to keep our fingers crossed that the Dline will turn out better than what it looks like on paper now.

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Exactly

One knee ligament can make any game 10x easy or harder

Lot of truth in this. And suspensions...I'd be terrified of PIT's offense if they had Bryant available to them. As it is I'm only kinda scared.

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First place schedule is so overrated. It changes two games, compared to the rest of the division. That's it. 2 out of 16.

Yes, the panthers and cardinals are good teams. But let's not get carried away. If we get upended, that won't be the #1 reason

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I had a debate with GoSkins on another thread regarding the impact the schedule will have on the Skins for 2016.  I still think this year's schedule is tougher than the 2015 version and will likely cause the Skins not to win the division.  But, GoSkins convinced me that the 2016 schedule is not as devastating as I first thought.  The Skins have improved from 2015 to 2016, so even with a tougher schedule, they have a shot at winning the NFCE (which is not that tough a division).  I am convinced that starting in 2017 the Skins should be a true contender for everything, after McCloughan has another draft and another off season. 

 

But, even for 2016, I agree the Skins appear to have a terrific passing offense with a QB on the verge of stardom and arguably the best receiving corp in the League (if TEs are included), and a good Oline for pass protection.  On defense, the CB position has turned from an area of desperate need to arguably the best tandem of starters in the NFL.  Pass rushing should be better with the return of Galette, and Hall with a season under his belt at safety should be fine.  We just need to keep our fingers crossed that the Dline will turn out better than what it looks like on paper now.

 

 This is where the coaching position becomes more involved in 'cheerleading' and motivation.  If players come out flat, going through the motions, expecting the 'other guy' to get the job done, then yes, this team may not see a .500 season. Gruden needs to get into their heads; make them hungry, make them WANT to go higher, farther, be better.

 

When we look at it, any opponent we face HAS to give respect to this team and what they accomplished last year.  And they will. their biggest focus will be on Reed and bottling him up. that's where Gruden should come out with designed plays that appear to get Reed the ball, but end up using him as a decoy.

If this team comes out laxed, going through the motions, then yes they will get a **** slap of reality. There's no room for ****iness on this team; there's a goal, a place they want to be come February, and I think this team wants to be better. The first 4 weeks will tell a lot about this team and how they have progressed/regressed. Somebody has to win, somebody has to lose. May as well be us winning, right?

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I know it's that time of year when we have to keep regurgitating the same ole **** just to have something to talk about, but SoS is SO overplayed and used as a way to validate preconceptions about the team. As has been stated ad nauseum we beat losing teams last year BECAUSE we beat 'em, Skins success rendered the SoS less than it was? Huh? Whatever............

 

If I had to point to one thing that concerned me, it was the Carolina game, when a seemingly misplaced call stole a pick6 that made the team psychologically collapse. It sure felt like they sulked and just gave up on some level since "you can't play against the zebras too". May be just my perception but that play turned things.

 

I want our guys to be tough enough to weather those blows, to fight through the insanely bad calls you know will come, to just stay focused enough that they don't let anyone inside their heads, no matter what jersey they wear, especially the black n white stripe ones.

 

Shock the league and the world, win in spite of the refs, the media, the misbegotten opinions of others, just knuckle down and bring it on Sundays and I'll be good with whatever happens.

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It's not the strength of schedule that worries me.  It's how the schedule is played out.

 

The little stretch in November is deadly, no matter who you are.  Specifically, Sunday night at home against the packers, just to turn around and travel to Dallas for a mid afternoon game on Thursday against the girls.  That's tough.

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I think the biggest difference is playing a first place schedule. The rest of our division has to play the same teams except we have to play Carolina and Arizona and they dont. That is a huge difference in my opinion.

 

 Both of them are very beatable. Arizona strikes me as a fluke; I just don't see them having the success from last year. Carolina, well, Cam got away with alot, as did the refs cater  to them with favorable calls, but if Cam comes out overweight or plays sloppy, their defense will have to carry the load, and we got a good piece of their defensive puzzle with us now.  

 

It seems to be that way every year; the media locks onto 1 or 2 teams and blows them up with praise, then it carries over to the team. We were giving them all they could handle and more until the refs stepped in, then it was all over.

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I'm less concerned about Strength of Schedule (S of S) than I am about:

Strength of Running-game (S of RG): Comparing how well the Skins running attack might fare to help out Cousins' passing and comparing how well the Skins run defense might be able to stymie its opponents' running attacks.

Health of Roster (H of R): How well the Skins Roster avoids the injury bug to its key players as compared to what happens to opponents' rosters-- especially those within the NFC-East.

Those two comparative factors seem like an interesting way of pondering on how well the Skins might do in returning to the playoffs.

But candidly -- in all three comparisons-- one really can't rely on what happened in the 2015 season to predict what will happen for the 2016 season.

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It's not the strength of schedule that worries me.  It's how the schedule is played out.

 

The little stretch in November is deadly, no matter who you are.  Specifically, Sunday night at home against the packers, just to turn around and travel to Dallas for a mid afternoon game on Thursday against the girls.  That's tough.

 

I also agree that when and where we play teams will have more impact than who we play. The other thing the analysis completely ignores is our number of injuries last year that we had to overcome. We were the 2nd most injured team with the 4th most lost starter games due to injury. There are no guarantees that this will not happen again, but one would hope the chances are that it will not be as bad.

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It's such a week to week and year to year league.  Quite a few of the teams that we're considering to be really good will probably suck.  Also some of the crappy teams in our minds will end up being good.  That's why I love a new NFL season.

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