Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
There is an old saying that goes, “I would rather be lucky than good.”
After losing badly to the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers, the Washington Redskins are a very lucky team. How so, you say? Well, at 0-2, they are tied with the New York Giants and only one game out of first place in the NFC East behind the Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys, who are 1-1.
So as awful as Washington has looked after two games, and let’s be honest — they have looked very bad, they can still get things together and repeat as East Division champions.
Now it is time to start becoming good, and they can’t let any more time go by before they start winning. So that means the winning has to begin this week at home against the Detroit Lions.
Washington needs to know if Robert Griffin III is ready to be the freewheeling quarterback he was last year — a player who inspired a team with an air of confidence and a little touch of swagger. There is no doubt that Griffin is Washington’s franchise quarterback, but the rust from not playing a down in the preseason, along with his comfort level as a passer and a runner, seems not to be there — yet.
We haven’t really seen signs of the pistol offense that got Washington to the NFC East Championship and a trip to the playoffs. Right now, they are not playing defense, they are not running the ball well and the receivers are dropping the balls that Griffin is throwing to them.
There is still enough talent and enough time for Washington to get things back to normal, but if they can’t be good this week, then they should go for being consistent and improved and snag a win at home. They already lost their opener to the Eagles, so being in front of 80,000 screaming fans should be enough incentive — now they just need to play up to their potential.
Let’s call the games with the Eagles and the Packers, Griffin’s version of pre-season. Now it starts for real, and another bad outing is unacceptable.
Rant Sports columnist James Williams is a seven time Emmy Award winning producer, director and writer. Follow him on Twitter @Wordmandc and join his circle at Google +
