Photo by mosley.brian
The NFL released its schedule for the 2012 season last night, and on first glance, the Redskins’ upcoming year looks like it’ll be pretty challenging for a team that—barring any last-minute surprises—will be rebuilding around rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III. The schedule begins easy, but will have the team on the road for the bulk of the first half of the season with only three games at FedEx Field through the first eight weeks.
Although the New Orleans Saints’ offense seems as formidable as ever, that team’s head coach, Sean Payton, has been suspended for the entirety of the 2012 season as punishment for allowing his defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, to run a “bounty-hunting” system that rewarded injurious tackles on opposing players. (Williams, who has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL, ran a similar system while coaching in Washington, the Redskins admitted last month.) And with the Saints’ interim coach facing a season-opening suspension of his own, New Orleans could make for a somewhat rudderless opponent.
A Week 2 matchup in St. Louis seems even more promising, but the following game against the Cincinnati Bengals might be tougher than expected.
The back stretch will give the Redskins a few opportunities to show off on a national stage. On November 22, the team will play its first Thanksgiving Day game since 2002 with a trip to Dallas, and on a Monday night game December 3, the Redskins will play the Super Bowl champion New York Giants, whom—yeah, yeah, I know—they swept in 2011. Five of the final seven games after a Week 10 bye are against NFC East teams, including both games with the Eagles and with the Cowboys.
And while the combined 2011 records of the Redskins’ 2012 opponents suggest one of the easer schedules, the Examiner’s John Kelm says not to read into that too much:
The combined winning percentage of the Redskins’ opponents is .488, tied for 24th in the NFL. But it’s a little misleading. I’d expect the NFC East to be much better this season. If the New York Giants are healthy they won’t go 9-7 again. The Eagles finished strong and remain dangerous and Dallas could be improved too. Point is, the Redskins’ division will be tougher than it was a year ago. They could go 6-10 and be headed in a much better direction than at the end of last season. As of now, they’re not much better than a six- or seven-win team. We have no idea how good RG3 will be as a rookie; the defense must play more sound, especially at safety. Will the receivers be that much better (especially with RG3 having a lot to learn)? Add it up and this season will be as much about watching Griffin develop as winning games (at least from a non-coach’s perspective). I’d rather see them go 6-10 with Griffin starting than 8-8 with Rex Grossman.
Here’s the full schedule:
Week 1: Sunday, September 9, at New Orleans, 1 p.m.
Week 2: Sunday, September 16, at St. Louis, 4:05 p.m.
Week 3: Sunday, September 23, Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Week 4: Sunday, September 30, at Tampa Bay, 4:15 p.m.
Week 5: Sunday, October 7, Atlanta, 1 p.m.
Week 6: Sunday, October 14, Minnesota, 4:15 p.m.
Week 7: Sunday, October 21, at NY Giants, 1 p.m.
Week 8: Sunday, October 28, at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
Week 9: Sunday, November 4, Carolina, 1 p.m.
Week 10: Bye
Week 11: Sunday, November 18, Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Week 12: Thursday, November 22, at Dallas, 4:15 p.m.
Week 13: Monday, December 3, NY Giants, 8:30 p.m.
Week 14: Sunday, December 9, Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Week 15: Sunday, December 16, at Cleveland, 1 p.m.
Week 16: Sunday, December 23, at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Week 17: Sunday, December 30, Dallas, 1 p.m.
