Redskins vs. Eagles 2014: Washington is a dumpster fire

With the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins scheduled to kick off on Saturday, I reached out to our friends/enemies over at Hogs Haven. The great HogHunter kindly took the time to answer my questions.

Let's take a look at the answers.

1) Washington is just a mess. Players are fighting, the team is losing, the coach is throwing people under the bus, and so on. How do Washington fans cope with this? Is an ownership change the only hope?

The team is a mess, only the most delusional fans would disagree with that.  Feel free to insert a picture of your favorite alcoholic beverage here (mine will be Jack Daniels and Yuengling Lager), and you'll have your answer to how Redskins fans deal with the mess.  I know some people will disagree, but the blame for me starts squarely at the top with Dan Snyder and the team culture that comes with his ownership.  Unfortunately, and to the delight of fans of every other team in the NFC East), you can't fire the owner.  We're debuting a new T-shirt today that simply says FedUp. Dan Snyder isn't going anywhere, but fans can do little things to voice their anger at the team.  Ticket prices for Saturday's game are 11X more expensive than the last home game vs the Rams, so expect a pretty big turnout by Philly fans.

2) There are reports that Jay Gruden will be back in 2015. How do Washington fans feel about the team’s head coach?

Definitely a mixed bag, and there is a very vocal crowd calling for his head.  The decline in running production, and not using Alfred Morris and Darrel Young as the feature of the offense when you've been using 3 different QBs all season is a major reason people want him gone.  The brutal honesty he's been known for in his pressers is another reason, especially when people think he's a little more honest about certain players than others.  RGIII has been heavily criticized, and others have seemingly been given a pass and that annoys people, especially the fans who still support Griffin.  His words have been twisted at times by the media, but the honesty is slowly getting beaten out of him, like I predicted it would.  We all want a coach at some point who will point out every thing that went wrong and who messed up, but we don't want them to actually say it out loud...in front of a microphone...and a television camera.  Just send me a text or something, keep it between us.

Gruden should be back, but with Dan Snyder as owner who really knows.  He has 4 years and $16 milllion guaranteed left on his deal and that's a lot of money to pay a coach not to coach.  Snyder just got done paying Mike Shanahan $7 million to tan and golf this year, and I doubt he wants to do it again this year.  Black Monday is only 11 days away, but I think it will be DC Jim Haslett, DB coach Raheem Morris, getting the axe with Gruden staying.  There is speculation that Bruce Allen will step aside and let someone in the organization like A.J. Smith assume the GM role, which will be a disaster.  Fun times.

3) Last time we talked, I asked you if RG3 was done in Washington. How about now? Is there any way they bring him back?

There's definitely a way they bring him back. Dan Snyder still owns the Redskins right?  Jay Gruden has obviously soured on Griffin, he played Colt McCoy with a neck injury that ended up putting him on IR last week instead of starting RG3.  Griffin is struggling in this offense, but he also had problems last year when he returned from ACL surgery.  I still think the most likely thing to happen is that everyone is back next year.  Robert Griffin III won't be guaranteed a starting job, and there will be an open competition with Colt McCoy and Kirk Cousins if he isn't traded.  Jay Gruden returns for another year, and if it doesn't work out, Snyder will likely replace him.  What happens after next season is anyone's guess though.  If Griffin starts the majority of games next season, and plays relatively well, I can see him getting re-signed.  But I wouldn't be shocked at all if he was playing somewhere else in 2016.

4) Could you see RG3 going on to be successful elsewhere in the NFL? Why or why not?

As a Redskins fan, I would expect nothing less than 4 Super Bowl victories for whatever team trades for him, or picks him up after next year.  I mean did you see 6th Round Redskins castoff Bacarri Rambo pick off Aaron Rodgers twice last week.  Dan Snyder was reportedly ready to fire someone on the defensive staff due to the loss in revenue from Rambo jerseys after that.

I think despite his faults, and things he needs to work on, Griffin can succeed if he ends up somewhere else.  But the footwork, pocket awareness, hesitation to throw certain passes, and ability to protect himself have all got to improve, and having a solid team around him would help.  2012 was the high water mark in my opinion., but he can be a starter in the league.

5) Jay Gruden recently gave a lukewarm assessment of DeSean Jackson. To what extent are you satisfied with his performance and attitude this season?

"He’s a very good wide receiver but … the last couple weeks he’s been dealing with an injury and he hasn’t been quite the same," he said. "I’m a ‘what-have-you-done-for-me-lately’ kind of guy and lately we haven’t seen the DeSean we need to see.

"So hopefully the motivation of playing against Philadelphia and hopefully he’s 100 percent healthy will have a big impact."

Brutal takedown by Gruden there, just brutal.  He must hate him for being injured  Jackson has been a good addition to the offense.  He has been injured earlier in the season, and the last few weeks, but when healthy he has been the best weapon in the offense.  I wasn't a fan of the signing, but he has produced, and been the only deep threat on the team.  I hated him on the Eagles for the same kind of things he is doing for the Redskins right now.  Big plays, big TDs, and big cocky celebrations making DBs look silly. 

Bonus: Let’s hear a score prediction. Who wins and why?

I'll give the same prediction I had for last week's game 34-14 Redskins lose.  They played better last week, but they didn't do much in the 2nd half and the team is deflated, and dealing with major injuries(Trent Williams, Keenan Robinson, Jason Hatcher) on both sides of the ball.  This will be the game where BGN can collectively say, "Sanchez doesn't look bad at all" again.  You're welcome.

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