Are the Redskins The Worst Team in the NFL?

I suppose the first thing most people will look to is the records of two teams.

Yes, it is true the Washington Redskins (1-9) have one win this season and the Cincinnati Bengals (0-10) do not.

However, what do you see when you look at the other side of the coin? The Redskins were home Sunday while the Bengals traveled to Oakland. The Redskins were playing the New York Jets; you know, the (2-7) New York Jets?

The Bengals on the other hand were faced with the obstacle of going up against a (5-4) Raiders team still playing for a wildcard spot.

Sure, Cincinnati lost but they were in a fight. 17-10 in Oakland and holding the Raiders to three second-half points is not bad at all.

The Redskins had the privilege of a bye week where bruised and sore bodies gained needed rest.

So what actually happened Sunday? For starters, the Jets who ranked dead-last in many offensive categories, started the game driving down the field 75 yards in seven plays, not even needing a third down!

Jets QB Sam Darnold had only thrown seven touchdowns with nine interceptions this season coming into the game. Against the Redskins weak defense, Darnold was (19-30) for 230 yards and four touchdowns.

If the Jets offense was the NFL’s worst, what does that say for the Redskins defense? Excuse me, but I simply have to ask, “Who in the world is Jets tight end Ryan Griffin?”

Griffin playing in all 9 games prior to Sunday, and had caught 20 passes for 160 yards. The Redskins managed to make Griffin look like Tony Gonzalez or Jason Witten in their prime!

On only 5 targets, Griffin had five receptions for 109 yards, and a 45-yard touchdown (21.8 yards per reception).

Don’t let the final score of 34-17 mislead you.

In the final quarter the Redskins were trailing 34-3, when Jets’ defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was kind enough to take his foot off the gas pedal, permitting the Redskins to score twice in the final quarter.

If not for Williams' mercy, we would still be talking about the Redskins not scoring a touchdown streak.

The Jets have three wins now. Each of those wins are against the NFC East. The division is clearly down in 2019, The Redskins play six division games and yet after Sunday’s performance, how confident can we be they will win even one of them? They are (0-3) so far.

The Redskins are still the worst in the NFL on third down defense. They're also the second-worst offense on third-down. The Jets are the only team worse on third down offense and yet they were able to rack up 23 first downs to Washington’s 13.

The Redskins were out-rushed 115-54 and New York nearly doubled the Redskins in total yards 400-225! “Can’t you name some positives?”, you ask.

Sure, Dwayne Haskins' 67-yard pass moving to his left to McLaurin was fantastic (nullified by a holding penalty).

Terry McLaurin keeps getting open. McLaurin’s fourth-quarter climb-the-ladder reception exhibited ability and will on his part. Ryan Kerrigan played hard enough to rack up two first-quarter sacks. Derrius Guice ran hard; did you see him run over a Jet linebacker on a six-yard gain?

Back to the battle of who stinks more. The Redskins have only scored 125 points this season while the Bengals have racked up 147.

The Bengals have given up 23 more points (276-253) than the Redskins.

Yes, the Bengals are winless; but are you aware they have lost five of their ten games by seven points or less? Did you know the Redskins have only one loss by a touchdown or less?

“But the Redskins have won a game!” you might respond. Yes, the Redskins defeated Miami 17-16 with Josh Rosen as the Miami quarterback for the first half. Since making the move to Ryan Fitzpatrick behind center, the Dolphins have won two games and been much more competitive.

Would the Redskins have won if Fitzpatrick had played the entire game?

Are the Redskins worse than the Cincinnati Bengals? I don’t know, and I don’t know that it can be absolutely proven either.

I certainly don’t want the Redskins to be the worst team in the NFL. What I do know is one of those teams showed up last week with a will to compete.

That same team faced a much more difficult challenge on the road and only lost 17-10.

The other team was at home after a bye week and was not “close” to anything good before finding themselves down 34-3. The culture is not ____ good and the Jets dominance revealed what everyone in the free world outside of Bruce Allen knew.

Editors Note: Statistics in this column were provided by ProFootballReference.com

If you missed Ivan Lambert's first contribution to Redskins Maven & SI.com, please check out his tribute to the great Sonny Jurgensen.

Ivan Lambert is a lifelong die-hard Washington Redskins fan, raised in Berryville, Virginia. He is married and the father of two fine young men. He is currently a sports correspondent for The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida and can be found on Twitter @IvanLambert18

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