From the moment the play ended, you knew the injury was serious. Legs aren’t supposed to bend the way that Alex Smith’s did during yesterday’s contest. While being sacked by both CB Kareem Jackson and DE JJ Watt, Smith’s leg suffered two breaks. The aftermath was the QB laying on the ground, clearly in pain, with his lower leg pointing in the opposite direction. He was then carted off the field.
For fans of the history of football, this scene was very familiar. A Redskins QB suffering a broken leg had happened before. Strangely, it happened 33 years ago TO THE DAY.
In this case, Colt McCoy stepped into the game to replace the injured Smith. McCoy would go on to throw for 54 yards and a touchdown in the game’s remaining quarter-and-a-half. Washington would lose to the Texans 23-21.
Following this loss, the NFC East shows the Redskins holding a one-game lead on the Cowboys. The Eagles and Giants are both within three games of the division as well. With only six weeks left to go can Washington hold on to the NFC East?
THE QB
Colt McCoy will likely remain the starter for the remainder of the season. Everyone will remember McCoy from his days at Texas when he took over the team as a Freshman following Vince Young. He’d go on to have a great career at Texas, finishing top-three in Heisman voting twice. In the 2010 NFL Draft, he was the fourth QB taken, behind Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, and Jimmy Clausen, outlasting at least three of them (four if you include the fact Bradford isn’t on a roster).
While he was a solid QB in college, he was immediately set up to fail in Cleveland. McCoy spent his rookie season under Eric Mangini, who was fired the following season. In his second season, he basically had to start all over with a new HC. The Browns brought in Pat Shurmur (now Giants HC) to run the organization. They showed some improvement, but it wasn’t enough for Shurmur. He wanted to implement his guys, and McCoy wasn’t one of them. Cleveland drafted Brandon Weeden in 2012 and didn’t look back. After another lackluster season, Shurmur was fired, and the Browns hired Rob Chudzinski who’d trade McCoy to the 49ers.
Following a year serving as Colin Kaepernick’s backup, McCoy found a new home in Washington. He’d be the third-string QB behind RG3 and Kirk Cousins in new HC Jay Gruden’s system. We now find ourselves five years later, and McCoy has outlasted both starters. He’s served well as a backup and was fine to take the role again when the Redskins traded for Alex Smith this past offseason. However, now McCoy has to be relied on for a long stretch. If he starts every game from here on out, it’d be the most starts he’s made in a season since 2011. Is he up for it?
During his time in Washington, the dropoff hasn’t been as drastic as you’d expect when a backup comes in. If you took his completion percentage and passer rating during his time in Washington and put them up against the QBs in 2018, McCoy would rank eighth in completion percentage and be tied for 14th in passer rating with Deshaun Watson. That’s not all that bad for a guy who’s been a career backup.
Washington has also gone out and signed veteran QB Mark Sanchez to be McCoy’s backup. It’s unlikely that Sanchez gets any time without injury, but it can’t hurt to a veteran presence and a guy with playoff experience in the locker room.
The Schedule
The Redskins have a tough six games remaining. They’ll face the Cowboys, Giants, Jaguars, and Titans, as well as the Eagles twice. Those will all be close games if McCoy is competent.
All of the division games will be teams scratching and clawing to get their hands on the top spot in the division. Dallas and New York have both won two in a row and could be heading in the right direction. Philadelphia, with the addition of Golden Tate, can continue to rise and redeem themselves from this Super Bowl hangover they appear to be having. Tennessee has played tough all year. Their defense has kept them in every game, so asking McCoy to overcome them will be a tall task. The same can be said about the Jaguars. The offense has been struggling for Jacksonville, but their defense seems to keep them in games.
The Divison
Dallas
The Cowboys have three tough games against the Redskins, Saints, and Eagles coming up. This is good for Washington. While it’ll be hard for the Redskins to win on a short week with a backup QB, it could be a toss-up because of how these Thanksgiving games usually go. New Orleans will likely beat them the following week. The Eagles-Cowboys game will be the best for the Skins because one of those teams gunning for your top spot will take a loss keeping you in the hunt.
Philadelphia
Carson Wentz appeared to be returning to form before this past week’s thrashing by the Saints where he threw three interceptions. The next three games for the Eagles are all division games, so they could make some major moves in the standings. If they play the way they’re capable of, they could win all three, but it’s more likely they’ll lose one or two going into the home-stretch.
New York
Believe it or not, Eli’s made strides in recent weeks. His 1.6 INT% is the lowest of his career. The problem, however, continues to be the offensive line. If they sure up, they can ride Saquon Barkley and OBJ to victories. Their next three games are against the Eagles, Washington, and the Bears. While it will be tough for them to defeat a really good Bears team, they have a real shot at taking the other two. It’ll depend on which offensive line shows up.
What do we think?
While I’m a believer that Colt McCoy is one of the better backup QBs in the league, I don’t think he can ride out a six-game stretch to keep the division lead. If they want to make the playoffs, Washington will have to see production from the WR position and a return from Chris Thompson. All of their offensive production has basically come from AP and Jordan Reed. Thompson will bring a nice change of pace back to the offense, and if Paul Richardson, Josh Doctson, or Maurice Harris can step up to the number one WR role, they can survive. Without those changes, I can’t see the Redskins winning it.
Well, who will then?
Great question, self. This division is honestly a complete toss-up. I think the Cowboys probably come out on top. This isn’t because they have the best talent, although I am a Zeke guy. It’s because of their strength of schedule (or lack thereof). The Cowboys have one game that’s truly a “CAN’T WIN” to me, and that’s New Orleans. Every other game is winnable, and they only need one game to at least tie for the division lead. However, if the Cowboys slip and lose a game or two of the final six, the Skins may have it.