Sitting at 3-6 last year, Mike Shanahan put his Washington Redskins notice and they responded by going on a seven-game winning streak to capture their first division crown since 1999. The season ended in the worst possible way, with RG3 getting injured in a 24-14 playoff loss to the Seahawks. This year the Skins enter as 40-1 Odds to win Super Bowl XLVIII.



When the Redskins swapped first round picks and traded away two future first round picks and a future second pick for Robert Griffin III last year, some critics questioned the decision. That decision is beyond reproach now (although the Rams made out very well too). RG3 took a Washington team that finished 5-11 the previous year to a division title and playoff berth, while becoming the face of the Redskin franchise that they have been so desperately craving. However in the opening round of the postseason, head coach Mike Shanahan elected to keep an already injured Griffin in the game, and RG3 went down trying to recover a bad snap, tearing his ACL and LCL in the process.

Griffin’s goal is to be out there for training camp, and be the Redskins starter come week one. We can expect Shanahan to run less read option plays this season in an effort to limit the hits on RG3, and the Skins will rely even more on second year running back Alfred Morris, who is coming off a record setting season. Not bad for a 6th round pick out of Florida Atlantic. With Griffin becoming more of a passer this season, he will be counting on free agent wide outs Donte Stallworth and Devry Hendersonto take some pressure off of primary targets Pierre Garcon and tight end Fred Davis.

Defensively, Washington had one of the worst pass defenses in the league last season, ranking as one of the leagues worst in passing touchdowns (31), and completions allowed (393). Not only will a healthier front seven benefit the defensive backfield, but they've also added four new quality players—E.J. Biggers, David Amerson, Phillip Thomas and Bacarri Rambo—via free agency and the draft. The pass defense was already starting to come around late last season with DeAngelo Hall picking up his play in a big way during the final few weeks of the year.

A new era has begun for the Redskins, and anything less than making the playoffs will be viewed as an unacceptable failure -- even if backup Kirk Cousins is the quarterback when the season begins. From the moment training camp opens, every step Robert Griffin III takes will be scrutinized with eagle eyes. This team is now expected to win after years of futility, but no one knows if the franchise quarterback will ever be the same player again.







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