Signs :Benefits of our schedule

[PREDICTOR]

I look for signs that it could be our year. There are always tell tale signs after a season is over and you look back...but I look for them BEFORE the season. Its all in how you interpret them, but here's what I see:

First off we play Chicago. Chicago has lost their number 1 QB.(sign) They have a QB controversy, some want Hutch to start and some don't. Either way, they have QB problems....and thats a problem for any team playing a heavy blitz oriented team. Their QB will be in trouble. Add to that...our first game is at home(sign) and that means a sold out crowd screaming...which once again means signal problems and false starts for Chicago. Hard to audible when you can't hear. We win the first game. A good sign.

2nd: We play Dallas on a Monday night. A nationally televised game which puts equal pressure on both teams. It reduces the effect of home field advantage because it has the feel of a Superbowl on National Television. This game is the KEY to the season. If the Redskins win this game, it will be the single biggest sign that things have changed and its a special season. Bledsoe does not have a track record of winning the big game.

3rd: The bye week. Couldn't come at a better time if the Skins win those first 2 games. Its kind of like winning a 2 game season...and then starting the season over in 2 weeks, but being fresh all over again. Patrick can really use those 2 weeks during the bye in order to exhale, go over his mistakes, and prepare for the next game. The Skins should benefit greatly from a bye because every player could be 100% for that 3rd game of the season.

Those can be sign posts along the way. Conversely, if we didn't have a bye until week 10 and we started the season against New England and Indianapolis in away games...I would have to say those are bad signs. You can interpret your own way, but I think these may be signs that life is about to favor us.

[Underwater Ally]

We should definitely beat Chicago. I'd be pretty concerned if we didn't. Dallas will be a tough one. I think there is every reason we should win that one, but we've always found ways to loose to Dallas before. If we win that and are 2-0 heading into the bye, and have avoided serious injuries, I think we'll have a great deal of confidence for the rest of the season.

I can't agree that having our bye week so early is definitely a good thing though. You make an interesting point about it feeling like an abbreviated season after that, and it being a good opportunity for Ramsey to regroup. But if I'm not mistaken, the last time we had a really early bye, the players were saying that it was really tough to play so many games in the middle and end of the season without a break. It takes a toll on the players bodies. If we are fighting for a playoff spot toward the end, as I hope we will be, having such an early bye could come back to bite us. I hope thats not the case though.

[Warhead36]

Yes but having a late bye can kill momentum as well. What if you're on a 5 game win streak and come up to a bye week? Thats the last thing you'd want.