As the team picks up the pieces from a three-game losing streak, the prevailing question surrounding the Redskins this week isn’t a pleasant one.
Has Washington once again hit rock bottom?
“It could get worse,” Barry Cofield said. “Sadly, it could get worse.”
We’ve seen worse, but last week’s loss is a painful reminder the Redskins are still far away from establishing themselves as legitimate contenders. Their 3-1 start is a thing of the past, and now the talk shifts to whether or not the Redskins can salvage another season gone horribly wrong.
“We’re not technically out of it, but this is just obviously devastating,” said Brian Orakpo after the shutout loss to Buffalo. “It’s very frustrating.”
Drafted out of Texas, Orakpo knows a thing or two about winning, and each week the Redskins lose, you can see the pent-up frustration building on his face. He still believes teammates are putting in the preparation, but for some reason, the Redskins have been thoroughly outclassed over the past month.
“Usually the saying is hard work pays off, but it’s just not paying off for us right now,” he said. “I don’t know what it is because we’ve got a lot of character guys on this team … We just can’t pinpoint any problems we have on this team because this is a cohesive unit.”
Sports
Orakpo is being generous because the play of the entire offense has been lackluster at best. The Redskins are averaging just 16.6 points per game and have scored 27 points in nine quarters with John Beck.
Injuries haven’t helped Beck in his first real stint as a starter. However, he put up zero points on Sunday and took 10 sacks – some of which were his own fault. Thus far, he’s failed to live up to the hype he received this preseason.
“[He] is going to go through some growing pains as I shared with you guys before,” Mike Shanahan said. “There’s going to be some good games, there’s going to be some games that are a little off. I would say that [Sunday] was one of the games that John was a little off in.”
While Beck tries to discover his game, London Fletcher and other key players must send the message that they won’t tolerate another lost season.
“I think we can bounce back, but it’s going to take effort by everybody,” Fletcher said.
Not rock bottom yet, but it’s pretty darn close. The Redskins need some sort of spark to jump-start what is a season gone awry. A playoff spot doesn’t appear to be feasible, but with nine games left they still have time to prove they’re a team with a future.
“We’re still in a situation where [we] could turn it around, but we have to [actually] do it not talk about it,” Fred Davis said.
