By Matthew Johnson / Billswire.usatoday.com
After suffering from their second loss, the Buffalo Bills find themselves without an offensive identity, and a defense that has been exposed. They face a struggling team and franchise, the Washington Redskins that is talented in many respects, and looking to rebound in the second half of 2019 to attempt to win the NFC East. But they’ve got an uphill climb ahead of them.
Washington is a team that hasn’t truly improved in some time, and have put small patches on a team that truly hasn’t tried to rebuild since Robert Griffin III was their quarterback. Washington is a team with seemingly little direction at the moment, despite drafting one of the highest rated quarterback’s in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Here is everything that you need to know about the Washington Redskins, and their shared history with the Buffalo Bills :
The Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins first played against each other on December 17, 1972, in Washington. The Bills would win that game by score of 24-17.
Their most recent encounter was on December 20, 2015, and the Redskins, led by Kirk Cousins, defeated the Bills 35-25, while en route to winning the NFC East Title that season.
After long, legendary careers with the Buffalo Bills, Andre Reed and Bruce Smith would retire from football while playing for Washington.
Reed spent one year there, in 2000 and only caught 10 passes in 13 games played for 103 yards.
Smith would spend four years in Washington, heading there in 2000, and ultimately retire in 2003. Smith started 54 games for the Redskins, and had 134 solo tackles and one fumble recovery to his credit.
Overall, the Bills are 8-6 against the Redskins, including their infamous Super Bowl loss on January 26, 1992.
The Redskins have a drought of “playing in Buffalo” because the last time the team visited the Bills, the game was actually held in Toronto, not Orchard Park.2019 Outlook
Washington acquired quarterback Case Keenum in the offseason via a trade with the Denver Broncos. Keenum, now only two years removed from his miracle season in Minnesota with the Vikings, was on his fourth team in as many years, has played relatively well.
Keenum has been replaced several times over this year, already, making way for McCoy to return, as well as the Redskins’ first-round pick, QB Dwayne Haskins. Nothing has helped, as the team is 1-7 and again, one of the worst ranked offenses in the NFL.
Head coach Jay Gruden, who took over the team in 2014, was fired mid-season, after several instances of poor judgement, on and off of the field. He finished his tenure with a 35-49-1 record, and replaced by Bill Callahan. There has been a slight, noticeable difference in Washington’s on-field play, as many players have stated that practices are much more difficult now, but preparing them to be competitive.
Washington is currently ranked at 28th in the NFL in total offense, 29th in passing offense, and 24th in rushing offense. On the defensive side, they are ranked 28th in total, 20th in passing defense, and 29th against the rush.
So far, their only victory was against the still win-less Miami Dolphins, by a narrow margin of one point, after a failed two-point conversion attempt on the Dolphins’ behalf.
How do they match up with the Bills?
On paper, this is another favorable game for the Bills. Last week was though as well. While there is a big difference between the coaching strategies of the Eagles’ Doug Pederson and Callahan, this is still an uneasy game to go into.
Buffalo nearly lost to the win starved Miami Dolphins, and fell to a desperate Eagles team looking to stay in contention in the NFC East with the Cowboys. Washington may be just as desperate, with only three wins and some tie breakers, separating them from division leaders.
We don’t know how the Bills will respond after last week’s embarrassing performance. The defense, which did not have any additions through the trade deadline, will have to play against an all-time great in Peterson. Peterson is still as elusive as ever, and the run defense should have their hands full.
Terry McLaurin has proven to be a worthy add to the Redskins receivers, and he’ll most likely be catching passes from Haskins this week. The defense has an excellent opportunity to rebound, and rattle the rookie quarterback in a big way and gain some confidence, as the Bills continue to trudge through the toughest length of their schedule.
Offensively, we’re not too sure what to expect anymore. Mentioned on the Billswire podcast several times, the offense is not up to snuff with the best of the NFL. The Bills have relatively played the same, across the board, no matter the defense in front of them, which is not terrible, but not a great stat to have on their side.
The receivers are doing their job, and the running backs are doing just enough, but I don’t believe that we, the media, and the fan base, have statistical proof yet that Josh Allen is the long term answer at quarterback.
Allen has another ripe defense to play against, and make all of the naysayers and non-Billievers quiet down, for a short period of time at least.