The 2015 season for the Redskins marked a considerable improvement over their previous season when they went 4 – 12. The first move of the 2015 season was the hiring of Scot McCloughan on January 7th, 2015 to become the general manager while the man he replaced Bruce Allen became the sole team president. The Redskins drafted as their number one pick Brandon Scherff, an offensive tackle from Iowa to help shore up the offensive line.
Preseason
Although the team was looking to improve in their second year under head coach Jay Gruden, disaster struck when their quarterback Robert Griffin III suffered a concussion in the second pre-season game. Kirk Cousins was named the starting quarterback for the regular season relegating RG III to the sidelines for the rest of the year. Colt McCoy was brought in as the third string quarterback.
Regular Season
Although the Redskins did win three out of four preseason games, the regular season did not start nearly as well with Washington splitting their first two games, losing to the Miami Dolphins, but coming back to win against the St. Louis Rams. The Redskins proceeded to split their first two division games as well, succumbing to the New York Giants at Met Life Stadium, but squeaking out a victory against the struggling Philadelphia Eagles 23 – 20 at FedEx Field.
The Redskins proceeded to lose the next two out of three games against the Atlanta Falcons in overtime and the New York Jets before barely beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31 – 30 at FedEx Field to go 3 – 4 before the bye week.
While the Redskins struggled, so too were the Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants which made the NFC East highly competitive. Kirk Cousins was turning in a remarkable year, but the Redskins couldn’t seem to gain any traction even when they regrouped during the bye week. They split the first four games, smashing the New Orleans Saints and beating the New York Giants, but losing to the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers.
The lowest moment for the Redskins was losing to their arch rival, the Dallas Cowboys on December 7th, 19 – 16 at FedEx Field. At that point, it seemed that the Redskins were teetering on losing control of the NFC East when something sparked in the team. The Redskins managed to win the final four games of the 2015 season starting with a win over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field which marked the first time they had won on the road.
Next, they handily beat the Buffalo Bills and then had their most dramatic game of the season against division rival Philadelphia. Down 24 – 0 in the second quarter, Washington managed to rally and beat the Eagles 38 – 24 in the largest comeback in franchise history. The Redskins closed out their season with a win against the Cowboys 34 – 23 to finish 9 – 7 overall and NFC East Division Champions.
While the Redskins’ record is the worst of all the teams in the post-season, it is a remarkable improvement over the previous year and was accomplished without their first string quarterback. The Redskins will face the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the NFC playoffs.
