2011 NFL Draft: Panthers, Bengals, Bills and Lions Sing Hail to the Redskins

Are the Washington Redskins to succeed where others are beginning to fail? Are Daniel Snyder and Mike Shanahan actually somewhat intelligent? Let’s not jump the gun, folks, but let us look at which teams are being just plain stupid right now and see if it is possible that the Redskins are smart.

The Carolina Panthers had one win heading into today’s game. The Cincinnati Bengals had two wins before today, and the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills came into Sunday’s matchups absolutely on fire with an astounding three total victories each under their belts. The lowly Washington Redskins entered today’s contest against the Dallas Cowboys with five total Ws in the win column.

What does all of this mean? It means that none of these teams are heading to the playoffs. And since they are not headed to this year's postseason, well, then it only makes sense to play the rest of your games trying to posture yourself correctly in order to obtain the best possible pick in next year’s draft, right?

So what is going on? Why are the Lions and Panthers and Bengals (oh my) and Bills winning? What could possibly be going through their minds? Do they need moral victories at this point? They’re not headed to any bowl games. They’re not children who need to hold their heads high at least one week out of the season. These are highly paid professionals. It is their job and the job of the team and organization for which they play to field playoff contenders.

So one extra win at this point will only do their team harm. Do the Panthers realize how lucky they are that Cincinnati was dumb enough to win today (19-17 over Cleveland)? Otherwise they would now be tied for the bottom of the barrel and the No. 1 draft pick.

The same goes for the Bengals being lucky that Detroit and Buffalo pulled off upsets against Tampa Bay (23-20) and Miami (17-14). You think your fans are upset with you guys now? Just keep winning this late in the season when people actually want you to lose and see how upset they are next year when you end up drafting some kicker from San Jose State instead of Cam Newton.

To be honest it is more exciting for fans of these horrible teams to watch every Sunday than it is for fans of middle of the road teams. If I were a diehard Panther fan, I’d be glued to my seat to make sure my team lost every remaining game this season. I’d have a vested interest, because while you won’t win anything this year you will win the No. 1 draft pick next year and that’s huge. Look who is coming out to play with the big boys next year.

Cam Newton, Andrew Luck, Mark Ingram, Jake Locker etc…Not all of the eligible players have announced that they will be going pro yet, but the possibilities are certainly enough over which to drool.

So why would you win your remaining games? Obviously your coaching staff is not doing their best job. But maybe, just maybe one organization is doing what they should. Maybe, just maybe, one team is posturing themselves for better draft positioning. Maybe, just maybe, this team is the Washington Redskins and they are smarter than certainly I give them credit for being.

The Skins benched six-time pro-bowler Donovan McNabb for the rest of the season. Not because he is hurt and not because the alternatives are any better. I mean who really believes Mike Shanahan when he says he is benching McNabb, because he wants to see what Rex Grossman can do. We all know what Rex Grossman can do. He can suck. He has sucked his entire NFL career. He is and always will be a backup. And there is nothing wrong with that. More power to the guy for being good enough to be a backup QB at the professional level. I wish I were that talented. But Grossman is by no stretch of the imagination a starter.

So I do not believe that the Skins brass just wanted to see how Grossman does so they can evaluate him for next year. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, people, the Redskins were playing the Cowboys today. Of all the teams that we as Skins fans want to beat, this is the one. Plus they are starting their second string QB so why when our first stringer is healthy would we bench him in this scenario and for the entirety of the season?

Why? Well, I propose the following conspiracy theory. The Washington Redskins are throwing the rest of their games in order to, hopefully, move up in the draft next year. And if teams like Carolina, Cinci, Buffalo and Detroit keep stupidly winning games then the team that Danny (Snyder) destroyed might actually achieve some level of success this season…by losing.

Hail to the Redskins???