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Redskins' season in review
Feb. 12, 2008
Overview: The team turned tragedy and disappointment on its ear. The Redskins became an inspirational story when, following the shooting death of teammate Sean Taylor, they rallied from a 5-7 record to make the postseason. Their stay was short, losing in the wild-card round to Seattle, but the impression they made was indelible. But the father figure who guided the team through its darkest hours, Joe Gibbs, stepped down as head coach at season’s end. It represented yet another change of direction for owner Daniel Snyder and his franchise, but the respect this team earned in the face of casualty is undeniable.
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Date
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Opponent
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Spread
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Result
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09/09/07
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Miami
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-3
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16-13 (OT)
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09/17/07
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at Philadelphia
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+6½
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20-12
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09/23/07
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NY Giants
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-3½
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17-24
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BYE WEEK
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10/07/07
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Detroit
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-4
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34-3
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10/14/07
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at Green Bay
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+3
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14-17
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10/21/07
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Arizona
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-8½
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21-19
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10/28/07
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at New England
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+14½
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7-52
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11/04/07
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at NY Jets
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-3½
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23-20 (OT)
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11/11/07
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Philadelphia
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-3
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25-33
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11/18/07
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at Dallas
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+11
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23-28
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11/25/07
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at Tampa Bay
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+3½
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13-19
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12/02/07
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Buffalo
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-6½
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16-17
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12/06/07
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Chicago
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-3
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24-16
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12/16/07
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at NY Giants
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+6
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22-10
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12/23/07
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at Minnesota
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+6
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32-21
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12/30/07
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Dallas
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-9
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27-6
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01/05/08
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at Seattle
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+3½
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14-35
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Team MVP: Through nine games, S Sean Taylor was having his best season and was the team’s best player. His death sent shock waves through the team, but the players — especially on defense — rallied around his memory. The cornerbacks’ play was a crucial element, but MLB London Fletcher was the unit’s best all-around performer. He led the team in tackles, had three interceptions, a forced fumble and one recovery. In his first season, Fletcher was the team’s best free-agent signing in some time.
Biggest surprise: QB Todd Collins was an amazing story, but there was another out-of-nowhere contributor who must be mentioned. Undrafted rookie ORT Stephon Heyer struggled in the playoff loss to the Seahawks, but he did an admirable job filling in for injured starter Jon Jansen and appears to have a bright NFL future. After subbing at times through the first part of the season, Heyer finally took over full time just as the Redskins went on a 4-0 late-season run to vault them into the playoffs. The Redskins were too unbalanced in the run game at times, running most often to the left, but Heyer provided a nice push in the run game most of the time.
Biggest disappointment: It was expected that RB Ladell Betts would return to a backup role behind Clinton Portis, but the team expected far more from Betts when it signed him to a five-year, $11 million extension in December 2006. At that time, he was in the midst of a streak of five straight 100-yard games, but Betts averaged only 3.6 yards on 93 carries in ’07. His most memorable series of the season was getting stuffed twice on goal-to-go at the end of the game in a home loss to the Giants in Week Three.
Offseason outlook: In a surprising move, the team named former Seahawks QB coach Jim Zorn to succeed Gibbs, just two weeks after it had hired him as the offensive coordinator. The Redskins again find themselves in salary-cap purgatory of their own doing and must redo some deals, such as TE Chris Cooley’s, to get the books clean. They might not be able to spend free-agent money wildly like they typically do.
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