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'They're going to be damn good' Slew of moves make Redskins odds-on favorites
Posted: Monday April 24, 2000 05:53 PM
By Don Banks, Sports Illustrated There is a consensus forming in the NFC East, and it involves the Washington Redskins. The evidence suggests that by virtue of their high-profile offseason, the Redskins have gone from defending champion and division favorite, to something akin to mortal lock. That while other NFC East teams have taken steps toward improvement, Washington has advanced by leaps and bounds. That the Redskins have so distanced themselves from the division pack that nothing loftier than a wild-card berth will be up for grabs in the NFC East this season. Prevailing wisdom assumes that Washington is the hunted, and everybody else is just giving futile chase. And even opposing coaches are getting in on the act of hyping the Redskins' Super Bowl aspirations. "I'll tell you what, it's scary if they stay healthy and they get on a roll early," said New York Giants coach Jim Fassel recently. "They're going to be awfully good. Awfully good….What you do as a coach is you don't root against Washington, you just root for them to beat everybody, and then, if they can eliminate everybody, then you just focus in on them." While no NFC East team other than the Dallas dynasty has successfully defended its division title since Bill Parcells' Giants of 1989-90, the road to this year's championship presumedly runs through the nation's capital. "I think before they ever signed all those guys they were the team to beat, because of the fact that they won it [last year]," said Philadaelphia second-year coach Andy Reid. "With the new additions they've had, I think they're tremendous. They've had a chance to really load that thing up." Loading up is perhaps the phraseology that best sums up Washington's whirlwind past three months. Since the firing of the team's defensive coaching staff in January, the Redskins have been in almost constant motion in an attempt to become the first Washington team since 1983-84 to repeat as division champion. Needs at defensive end, safety and outside linebacker have been filled nicely by Bruce Smith, Mark Carrier and No. 2 overall pick, LaVar Arrington. On offense, where the high-powered Redskins seemingly required only fine tuning, the additions of backup quarterback Jeff George, running back Adrian Murrell and left tackle Chris Samuels, the No. 3 overall pick, have added solid pieces of insurance. In the distance is the very real possibility that any football played this year by Dallas cornerback Deion Sanders will come on the behalf of Washington, which is prepared to wait until his baseball obligations to Cincinnati conclude in late October or early November. Behind it all, of course, has been the team's demanding first-year owner, Daniel M. Snyder, who has refused to wallow in the contentment of the team's first post-season berth since 1992, a 10-6 regular season and two-week playoff run. With something of the same win-now, pay-later mentality that eventually caught up with San Francisco's dynasty, Washington is positioned nicely to challenge Tampa Bay and defending NFC champion St. Louis for conference supremacy in 2000.
"Check out the man's track record," said Redskins quarterback Brad Johnson of Snyder. "He wants it right now. He wants things fast." While the Redskins have added millions to their long-term salary structure this offseason, they say they have done so with full awareness of the future cap ramifications. And if the spending spree produces a Super Bowl trip, the payoff will have been well worth the investment. "We know we still have to do it on the field," said Redskins director of player personnel Vinny Cerrato. "But if our guys can stay healthy, I think we'll be in good shape. It's always a matter of how fast a team comes together chemistry-wise, but we have but one goal and that's to win the Super Bowl. That's everything we do, and we won't stop at anything in trying to improve this team until we reach that goal." But as the Redskins prepare to open their first minicamp Friday as one of the NFC's reigning heavyweights, they do so with the recognition that what is written and said in late April doesn't necessarily correspond to what plays out next fall. "The thing about this league -- and I think the Rams probably illustrated as well as it can be illustrated -- every year in this system is an absolute new year," Washington coach Norv Turner said. "You try to sell that your football team. And so you add players, you draft, you do things so that you feel you're getting better, but starting when you come together in minicamp, you've got to do the work that's involved." That work is more than just so much off-season platitudes. Though they are few, there are areas of concern for Washington. The Redskins defense looks very improved, but it had only one direction to go. Washington ranked 30th among 31 teams last year, and gave up just five fewer points than Arizona (382), the NFC's most sieve-like defense. Super Bowl teams have never featured that kind of defensive deficiency. Specifically the Redskins need a quick impact from Arrington at strongside linebacker, another year of production from the 36-year Smith, a heightened performance from highly paid tackles Dana Stubblefield and Dan Wilkinson, and solid play from Carrier at free safety. On offense, the meshing of Johnson and George could be a tricky manuever -- Johnson's best friend on the team was third-team quarterback Casey Weldon, who was cut along with backup Rodney Peete -- the offensive line depth has been thinned by free agency, and Murrell is on hand should lead back Stephen Davis' contract situation become problematic. Washington's mental toughness also bears watching this season. Staking out the position of little or low expectations in 1999, the Redskins started well, staggered at midseason, then rallied to their division title in December. This time, the entire NFL will be prepared for Washington's agenda. And remember this: The Redskins beat just one team that finished with a winning record last season, and that was visiting Miami on Jan. 2, which slumped to a 9-7 wild-card berth after an 8-2 start. Even the Redskins playoff victory came at home against 8-8 Detroit. Washington was 1-3, including playoffs, against winning teams, with no other team in the NFC East finishing above .500. How will Washington handle the burden of expectation? We can't possibly know if this spring's optimism is well-founded until September. "With all the changes they've made, the key will be getting them to jell early," Fassel said. "And then if they jell, they get on a roll and get that feeling that winning teams get. If they don't, and they have those high expectations, and they drop a couple ballgames, then all of a sudden what's going to happen? "But they're going to be good. They're going to be damn good."
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