Experience, not 2018 records, is the ultimate measuring tool when assessing the Redskins first five opponents

The Redskins have their work cut out for them in 2019. For a head coach like Jay Gruden who is aware of the hot seat he is sitting on, a bad start to the season can culminate in a departure from the Redskins sooner than he would have preferred. Well, the schedule is released, and although we previously knew who Washington was going to be play, we did not know the order of the games. Many people will go off of what teams did last year to predict how the Redskins will fare against their 2019 opponents, which is wrong. No team has finalized their roster, whether it is through the draft or even the summer where some veteran free agents are waiting for their opportunity to sign. It’s way too early – give the roster time. However, the most significant obstacle when looking at the Redskins schedule, particularly the first five games, is experience.

The Philadelphia Eagles are the Redskins’ first opponent of the 2019 season. Doug Pederson, who won a super bowl in only his second year as a head coach, is 22-10 in his last two regular seasons and has quickly accumulated valuable experience in critical games with his Eagles teams. It has molded Pederson into one of the league’s better coaches since 2017, and knowing the season he dealt with in 2018 (significant injuries), he still managed a way to position his team for a playoff push and win one game in the post-season. The coaching staff has a good amount of experience, and the roster matches the experience as well because the nucleus of the roster has been around for years now. This Eagles team is not a new team in the slightest. The Redskins, who are 1-4 under Jay Gruden in season openers, have no room for ineptitude in week one if they plan to beat an Eagle team they have not won against since 2016.

In week two, the Dallas Cowboys, another division opponent, are also another tested team loaded with experience.  Dallas went 32-16 under head coach Jason Garrett from 2016-2018, since quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott were drafted. Overall, the Cowboys have been in big games and have proven themselves capable and gritty enough to win in any condition. They are battle tested, whereas Washington has struggled to compete in the most critical games of their seasons or come out primarily on the losing end of them. Since Gruden took over in 2014, the Redskins are 3-7 against the Dallas Cowboys, 1-4 at home against them, and 1-5 since 2016.

A Monday Night home matchup against a young and somewhat inexperienced Chicago Bears in week three provides an opportunity for Washington. However, there is no doubt that the Bears are quickly ascending, and hardly lost anyone in their 2019 off-season that were key contributors to their 2018 success. They are continuing to grow collectively under head coach Matt Nagy (12-4), who is another young innovative coach from the Andy Reid coaching tree. Under Nagy last year the Bears were 4-1 in primetime, whereas the Redskins under Jay Gruden were 0-3 in 2018.  It is safe to say we did Jay Gruden a favor by not listing his collective primetime record in this column since taking over as head coach.

In week four the Redskins hit the road against the New York Giants. Under relatively new management, the Giants are in the middle of an identity transformation but have experience at the most important position, quarterback. Eli Manning is entering his age 38 season, and is fresh off a 40-16 beatdown of Washington in the Giants last match-up against the Redskins. So there is not much else anyone would need to know about the difficulty of playing against the Eli Manning-led New York Giants beyond the fact that Manning is 19-10 in his career against Washington. The Giants game is a critical one in that it wraps up three divisional games in the first four weeks of the season. Gruden will have a fair shake against these opponents because he has familiarity with them; however, his record against the NFC East includes many failures in the win/loss column. Gruden is 12-18 in the NFC East since becoming the head coach in 2014.

Last but not least, the Redskins host the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots at home in week five. The Redskins under Gruden have a record of 0-4 versus Super Bowl Champions of the previous season during his career as the Redskins head coach, including an 0-1 record against New England. If you were assessing the amount of experience a team has, the Patriots are the go-to model, as it gets no higher. As you can see, I’ve made no specific record prediction for a reason, as that would be irresponsible to this point. However, there is no question that the Redskins and Jay Gruden have their work cut out for them in their first five games. This month could very well determine Jay Gruden’s status as a coach the beginning of the season is very underwhelming. So, if there was any time to prove to Redskins nation and local fans that he is anything more than a mediocre head coach, there is no better time than now.