Redskins' Run in '05 Is Both Boost, Burden

Assistant head coach Joe Bugel confers with, from front, Casey Rabach, Randy Thomas and Jon Jansen. "Do I think we can do it? Yes," Phillip Daniels said of repeating last season's run to the playoffs. (By John Mcdonnell -- The Washington Post)

As one of the Washington Redskins players who takes losses the hardest, defensive end Phillip Daniels is also one of the most optimistic, even though the odds that he and his teammates will be able to reverse the course of the season grow longer.

Daniels does not dispute the facts of the first seven games of the year: the defensive breakdowns, the lack of the big plays, the recurrent use of the word "inconsistent" when players and coaches discuss the team's performance, and most damning of all, the number of times he has looked across the line of scrimmage and seen teams celebrating at the Redskins' expense.

But then, there was last season. On Nov. 27, 2005, the Redskins were 5-6 and yet would win five games in a row and make the playoffs.

"Do I think we can do it? Yes, with the talent we have here. No one is discouraged," Daniels said before the Redskins lost, 36-22, in Indianapolis Sunday. "We've got 10 more games. Anytime, you can run off 10 straight and get it started. That's our goal, and it starts this week."

After the loss, Daniels did not waver from his belief that what the Redskins accomplished last year could be reproduced.

"In a way, we're in kind of a better position than last year because we have more time and we don't have to win all of them, where last year it was late and we had to win every single game," he said. "Here, we have to do it fast, but we just need to get back on track."

Since the end of last season, the optimism surrounding the Redskins has been largely built on those final five games of 2005. In effect, the entire 2005 season -- and the championship expectations it would produce heading into this year -- has been viewed through the lens of those last five games. The 11 games before the streak, which were similarly inconsistent offensively and uneven defensively as this season, have been forgotten.

The Redskins haven't lived up to the streak. Instead of it serving as a catapult for this year, it is haunting them as if it were an aberration. As the Redskins enter into their bye week with a 2-5 record, the team is flailing for answers.

The real difference between this season and last after seven games is that last year's 4-3 team appeared positioned for an upswing whereas this year's 2-5 club has been consistently beaten. Last year's team was flawed, but lost close games. This year, the Redskins have been beaten by big plays, by failing to win the trench fights at the line of scrimmage that prevent long, withering drives by their opponents, and in the mental game by defeating themselves with crushing penalties.

"We need to correct the things that we haven't done on the field," defensive tackle Joe Salave'a said. "We're pretty much reevaluating everyone on an individual basis. No matter how much we preach about winning ballgames, if guys aren't critical of themselves, nothing is going to change."

Buttressed by high-priced free agents, the offense was supposed to be better this year. No one anticipated the defense being worse. On Oct. 30, 2005, the Redskins were 4-3. They were ranked 10th in the NFL in total offense, at 349.7 yards per game, 10th in rushing at 125.3 yards per game and 12th in passing at 224.4 yards per game. Quarterback Mark Brunell was 12th in the league with an 89.8 quarterback rating, had thrown 12 touchdowns against three interceptions, had a 56.2 completion percentage and 1,557 yards passing.

This season, the Redskins are 13th in total offense at 325.9 yards per game, seventh in rushing at 128.4 yards per game and 20th in passing at 197.4 yards per game. Brunell is 11th in passer rating at 90.4, fifth among currently starting quarterbacks with a 64.1 completion percentage, but with nearly 100 fewer passing yards than a year ago.

Defensively, the Redskins have fallen. After seven games last year, the Redskins were sixth overall in total defense, giving up 283.1 yards per game. This year, they are 26th, at 350.1 yards per contest. In two of the last three games, the Redskins have given up more than 400 yards, to the New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts. After seven games in 2005, the Redskins were first in pass defense at 152.7 yards per game. This year, the defense gives up an average of 239.4 passing yards per game, good for 29th of 32 teams. The defense was 25th against the rush at 130.4 yards per game a year ago, and this year is 16th at 110.7 yards per game.

The Redskins are a statistically better rushing team this year than last year, but few players would agree that they are nearly as successful. Most members of the offensive line believe the team has sacrificed its power running-game personality for potential explosiveness to mixed results.

"We just don't know who we are right now," right guard Randy Thomas said. "If I knew how to get there, I'd tell everybody."