Washington Redskins 2009 Schedule

I know it's always tough to play our road division games, but @Carolina right after their bye and then @SD for the last game of the year are going to be really difficult games. What if we need a win to get in going into week 17? That's a realistic scenario. I think SD will be every bit a Super Bowl contender this year.

Carolina doesn't scare me as much as N.O at home or ATL, I think Carolina will be an average team this season. The ONLY games that we should be guaranteed to win is DET, and maybe STL... But we did lose to the Rams AT home last year.

The schedule has a boom or bust feel to me. If we don't do something moronic in the draft (Sanchez) then I think our fate will be clear by October. We should be able to be no worse than 5-2 at the bye but how we get there is more key than our record.

If we're scuffling to get by, barely winning games like last year then we're maybe looking at going 1-8 down the stretch and ending up at 6-10. However, if we are clicking and playing at a high level in the 1st half, I can see this team rounding into shape and getting on a roll behind Campbell, Thomas, Hall and (projection) Maualuga and challenging for the division.

There are so many key people with so much on the line (Zorn, Cerrato, Campbell, Rogers, Fletcher) that the team could really have a us against the world mentality and it all comes together or at the first crack of adversity the whole thing could implode.

I agree with MR pain on this. First glance I was thinking no playoffs this season and Zorn and JC both deserve to get the boot, then upon a second and third look it might not be such a nice ride. Detroit, St. Louis, Oakland and KC to me should be the "gimmes" of the schedule. Denver is a toss up. OKie might be right about Carolina, but they still are going to be a tough team to beat. Thing with me is the NFC South. I am not all sold on how everyone says how tough it is going to be this season. Every team in the division is beatable, even Atlanta IMHO, but then again what do I know. That night game against the Eagles is going to be HUGE!!!!!! I hope we can actually post a winning divisional record this year!!!! Why couldn't we have started out with SD? Now, if we are on the bubble for the last wildcard spot a late loss to the Chargers will cost us heavily.

I think this is a very tough schedule. If any young talent excels against our preseason opponents, they must be solid. If anything is to come out of this year, I hope it is some sort of consistency from the offense. Hopefully the second year in the same offense will allow for confidence to be a strength for Jason, not a weakness.
It's interesting that 6 of the teams we face this year have new head coaches (if you don't include last years temporary assignments). Even though many of those teams had down years, I just don't like facing opponents with new blood at the top. It's just so difficult to know what to expect from them, nevermind us!

If the season started today, we're a 9, maybe a 10 win team. Keep in mind though that, outside of Philly, we have the best chance to land an impact player out of any teams in the division, via the draft. The way I see it, we're already ahead of the Giants and the Cowboys right now on paper, but still trail the Eagles pending the offseason. If we get an impact player in the draft (and if they don't), that could change overnight.

If we trade up for Mark Sanchez instead, then we probably fall to third or fourth. That simply doesn't seem like a realistic option at this point though.

If the season started today, we're a 9, maybe a 10 win team. Keep in mind though that, outside of Philly, we have the best chance to land an impact player out of any teams in the division, via the draft. The way I see it, we're already ahead of the Giants and the Cowboys right now on paper, but still trail the Eagles pending the offseason. If we get an impact player in the draft (and if they don't), that could change overnight.

If we trade up for Mark Sanchez instead, then we probably fall to third or fourth. That simply doesn't seem like a realistic option at this point though.


If we go for Sanchez, we are cooked. I don't think he is a pro QB, but a product of one helluva offensive system at SC. We need an O linemen, our next Samuels. Hopefully our round #3 pick is a linemen also.

Here we go:

Wk Date Matchup TVTime
1 Sun, Sept. 13 at New York Giants (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=NYG)FOX4:15 p.m.
2 Sun, Sept. 20 vs. St. Louis Rams (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=STL) FOX1 p.m.
3 Sun, Sept. 27 at Detroit Lions (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=DET) FOX1 p.m.
4 Sun, Oct. 4 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=TB)FOX1 p.m.
5 Sun, Oct. 11 at Carolina Panthers (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=CAR) FOX1 p.m.
6 Sun, Oct. 18 vs. Kansas City Chiefs (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=KC)CBS1 p.m.
7 Mon, Oct. 26 vs. Philadelphia Eagles (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=PHI) ESPN8:30 p.m.
8 Bye
9 Sun, Nov. 8 at Atlanta Falcons (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=ATL) FOX1 p.m.
10 Sun, Nov. 15 vs. Denver Broncos (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=DEN)CBS1 p.m.
11 Sun, Nov. 22 at Dallas Cowboys (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=DAL)FOX1 p.m.
12 Sun, Nov. 29 at Philadelphia Eagles (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=PHI)FOX1 p.m.
13 Sun, Dec. 6 vs. New Orleans Saints (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=NO)FOX1 p.m.
14 Sun, Dec. 13 at Oakland Raiders (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=OAK) FOX4:05 p.m.
15 Mon, Dec. 21 vs. New York Giants (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=NYG)ESPN8:30 p.m.
16 Sun, Dec. 27 vs. Dallas Cowboys (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=DAL) NBC8:20 p.m.
17 Sun, Jan. 3 at San Diego Chargers (http://www.nfl.com/teams/profile?team=SD) FOX4:15 p.m.


I can see a 6-1 start but I can also see a 3-3 start

I agree with MR pain on this. First glance I was thinking no playoffs this season and Zorn and JC both deserve to get the boot, then upon a second and third look it might not be such a nice ride. Detroit, St. Louis, Oakland and KC to me should be the "gimmes" of the schedule. Denver is a toss up. OKie might be right about Carolina, but they still are going to be a tough team to beat. Thing with me is the NFC South. I am not all sold on how everyone says how tough it is going to be this season. Every team in the division is beatable, even Atlanta IMHO, but then again what do I know. That night game against the Eagles is going to be HUGE!!!!!! I hope we can actually post a winning divisional record this year!!!! Why couldn't we have started out with SD? Now, if we are on the bubble for the last wildcard spot a late loss to the Chargers will cost us heavily.

I agree. I think that there are good teams in the NFC South but not as good as they seem. Last year they all had relatively easy schedules playing the NFC North and AFC West. I think there were records in that division which were deceiving - the records were better than the teams themselves.

A few thoughts about the schedule:
The best possible record we can get on this schedule is 13-3

The worst record we can have not including major injuries is 5-11
So the probable record will probably be 9-7
I really don't see anyway we beat San diego in San diego unless they've already secured a playoff spot and rest their guys, and wherever merriman is rushing, portis better be on that side

Too many prime time games

There really isn't a team that we can say right now is gonna be a diffienite win (last year we beat the lions by 8 and they of course went winless, plus they can be good next year with them reloading they're whole team
We play the three teams that have the first three picks overall in the draft
Are last three games are the hardest
Why do we open the season up again at the giants?? And we'll find out how food our first rounder will be when they go up against the OL or DL of the giants, or the RBs (if we get an LB)

I say anywhere from another 8-8 to 10-6. Lots of creampuffs from the AFC West mixed in with big question marks IMHO from the NFC South will make for a rather interesting season. I can see 10-6 as a final record. I say we can take out TB and Carolina.

Matt Mosley's thoughts from ESPN:

Breakdown: All three of the Redskins' home games (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/teams/schedule?team=was&year=2009) against division opponents will be in prime time. Washington will once again open the season on the road against the Giants. Last season, the Giants were the reigning world champs, so they were guaranteed the first game of the NFL season. I'm sure Jim Zorn's not thrilled to end up in the same spot for the '09 season opener, but there's nothing he can do about it now. The Redskins' home opener will be Sept. 20 against the Rams. Keep in mind that the Rams walked into FedEx Field last season and knocked off a hot Redskins team. Now the Rams are coached by former Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, so I wouldn't chalk this one up as a win. The Redskins have to be happy about a bye in early November. They will have just played back-to-back home games, so there's a chance they could reach the bye in good shape again.
If the Redskins can stay in the playoff race, they have back-to-back home games against the Giants and Cowboys in late December. Overall, not too much to complain about. But we'll do it anyway.
Complaint department: As we've already mentioned, the league didn't do the Redskins any favors by sending them right back to the Meadowlands for a season opener. I also think the Redskins have to hold it together during a late November road trip that sees them playing the Cowboys and Eagles back to back. No three-game road trips here and there's a nice balance to the schedule. Maybe on second glance, I'll find more to complain about.
Knee-jerk prediction: Right now, I'm seeing 9-7. That would put the Redskins a game behind the Cowboys and Eagles. That road trip in late November really worries me. If the Redskins can split one of those games, then I think they have a legitimate shot at the playoffs. Of course, we're sitting here talking about this on April 14th! I think best-case scenario is 10-6. Worst-case scenario is 8-8. Anyone care to disagree?


Link to the whole article:


NFL Nation - ESPN (http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nflnation?tag=schedule%2009%20nfc%20east)