Buccaneers vs. Redskins: What Experts Are Saying About Washington

Few teams can make a bye week as interesting—or tumultuous—as the Washington Redskins. They're headed into a bit of a trap game against the 1-8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and yet there is next to nothing being said about the matchup.

It is as if the media—experts and all—are more concerned about the problems with the always interesting Redskins than talking about the actual game.

Who can blame them, really? The Redskins are sometimes their own worst enemy when it comes to the media. Worse still, they allow the distractions of the media to dictate how they approach the game, seep into the locker room and spoil what has already started to turn during this 3-6 season.

With that in mind, here's what experts are saying about Washington this week.

DeSean Jackson Steps Up in Unexpected Leadership Role

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

Following the loss to the Minnesota Vikings, there were a ton of questions about Robert Griffin III and his ability to lead the Washington Redskins. DeSean Jackson decided to get vocal with his teammates, which ESPN.com's John Keim noted was a much-needed change.

"The Redskins also have been criticized for a lack of strong leadership," Keim wrote. "They lost veteran leader London Fletcher to retirement after last season and corner DeAngelo Hall, who had grown into that role, to an early-season injury. So Jackson felt someone needed to step into the void for this situation."

Jackson said a lot of things about the team, where it's at and his role as a leader.

The content is less important than the action at this point, because the Redskins have sorely lacked leadership in the locker room. What makes it more interesting is that it came from Jackson, who saw his name dragged through the mud in his nasty split with the Philadelphia Eagles.

A player who was criticized for being selfish has suddenly become a team-first player who could develop into a long-term leader in just his first season?

Hopefully, Jackson's actions and words have an impact on the team, even if they are not quite as necessary as the media want to make them out to be.

Jason La Canfora Sees Tampa Bay as a (Sort Of) Statement Game for RGIII

Jim Mone/Associated Press

Everyone wants to question Robert Griffin III's ability to be Washington's franchise quarterback, which is as fair as it is unfair. CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora believes this game against the Buccaneers will be a good indicator of what RGIII can be in the NFL: "If RG3 can't win over his teammates or that locker room or whatever, and he can't beat rebuilding teams like the Vikings (before the bye) or the plummeting Bucs, after a bye, that's obviously not a good sign."

Obviously, the entire future of a young quarterback's career cannot be dependent on a single game. Yes, Griffin should beat the lowly Bucs, who rank 28th against the pass, producing just 14 sacks on the season.

But stranger things have happened, and the Redskins are not too far removed from the team that broke Detroit's 18-game losing streak in 2009 when it comes to playing down to the competition.

Why should Griffin be blamed if he throws for 350 yards and three touchdowns and rushes for another 100 yards and a touchdown?

If he is able to overcome the shortcomings of his teammates to give his team a chance, why should he be saddled with the loss, and the inevitable questions of his ability to be a franchise quarterback, just because his defense allowed more points than he could score or help his team score?

One game does not make a career, and if Griffin does light up the scoreboard, perhaps people will begin to see that other problems require more attention from fans, experts and especially the front office.

John Keim Takes a Look Back at Preseason Expectations

Brandon Wade/Associated Press

It is more than likely that the Redskins will finish below .500 this season, even with a few favorable games still on the schedule. For John Keim, the remaining seven games are less about putting together a miraculous run and more about defining what type of team Washington can or will be in the future: "But really, this is about establishing who they are as an organization and how they want to define themselves on the field."

Is it possible for Washington run the table to finish at 10-6 and sneak into the playoffs? Absolutely. Much like the 2012 run, the Redskins are coming off a bye week, having recently lost to a team they should have beaten with seven games left to play.

But the Redskins shouldn't strive to be the team that saves their best until after they've been counted out.

It makes for a nice comeback story, but the teams that make deep playoff runs and vie for Super Bowls don't rely on winning streaks to pull them out of deep holes from the first half of the season.

They should try to win each and every game left on their schedule, but they should not expect to be the team that can do that year in and year out. They need to finish strong to prove that they can, but it means nothing if they can't transition the momentum to next season.

Tom Schad Offers a Spot on Criticism of the Offensive Line

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

With seven games remaining and the bye week over and done with, The Washington Times' Tom Schad sums up one of the primary issues the Redskins have faced in the first nine games of the season: "With the possible exception of Trent Williams, this group has been woefully ineffective in both run and pass-blocking, creating a negative ripple effect throughout the offense."

Though it is impossible to agree with him on the "possible exception" of Williams, who has been the only reliable member of the offensive line, Schad makes an obvious yet still valid point.

The offensive line has been nothing short of horrible, which affects the entire offense—both on the ground and through the air.

Shawn Lauvao and Chris Chester have been inconsistent at best. Tyler Polumbus was benched for Tom Compton, who in turn was nothing special. Kory Lichtensteiger has been OK at center but stands as part of the four-fifths of the offensive line that need to be replaced.

Rookies Spencer Long and Morgan Moses have done nothing to deserve time or chances as part of the starting line.

It is unlikely that the unit will improve down the stretch, which means the Redskins will have to find a way to cope with the deficiency or suffer through it.

Mike Jones Sees Too Many Distractions off the Field

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

Beyond the positive play from the likes of DeSean Jackson, Keenan Robinson, Bashaud Breeland and others, or even the on-field product, The Washington Post's Mike Jones believes the Redskins have succumbed to distractions off the field.

"The first half of the season ended in what has become typical Redskins soap opera fashion, with as much taking place off the field as on it," he wrote.

From the defense taking heat for going from mediocre for most of the season to exemplary in the Dallas game and then back to mediocre, to the "Griffin watch" that created speculation as to when RGIII would return, to the bus accident suffered heading to the Minnesota game, too much has been occurring off the field for Washington.

Yes, the defense has been inconsistent or simply bad. Yes, it is important for RGIII to get healthy and get on the field. It goes without saying, but yes, bus accidents should be avoided.

Overall, however, the chatter taking place off the field is a distraction. It is par for the course in Washington, but it still doesn't help anyone involved.

Joe Theismann Calls Griffin's Start Against Minnesota a Mistake

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

As if the media-generated quarterback controversy wasn't enough, former Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann weighed in on the subject to JP Finlay of CSN Washington (h/t The Washington Post). 

"[Robert Griffin III] should have waited for the two weeks to give him a chance to get more comfortable, [and] they wind up letting that game get away from them.”

Hindsight is 20/20, and there may some sense in what Theismann is saying. However, what was Jay Gruden to do with the situation? Griffin was supposedly fully healthy leading up to the game with Minnesota.

He looked solid from a physical standpoint, rushing for 24 yards, completing 18 of 28 passes, taking a few hits and escaping the grasp of a few defenders.

Griffin did not, however, look comfortable behind the offensive line or with every facet of Gruden's offense.

So what do you do? Sure, giving Griffin the bye week to get back up to speed with the offense and build some chemistry would have been great, but last season proved that game experience is just as important.

If the Redskins had started Colt McCoy instead of Griffin against the Vikings and still lost, everyone would have been up in arms about why they didn't start a healthy RGIII.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't.