Washington Redskins: How They Can Still Win the NFC East

Many readers may find this opinion piece to be on the border of insanity, but give it a chance and you might like what you read.

Football is a sport of determination, grit, and bravado. It is a theater of willpower and personality, intense fortitude and resolve. These traits are something that have been missing for the past few games, maybe even the past few years. The coaches would do well to instill a war-like ethos in their players. One that would influence them to strive for a unity and greatness that would be unmatched by their rivals.

Professional football players have already reached a high level of proficiency and talent. Their ability to play their positions has already been vetted by coaches, scouts and management. The only missing link is attitude and atmosphere.

Sure, we all see the pregame pep-talks by team leaders and while this is certainly on the right path, something more is needed. Someone needs to go into that locker room, someone removed from the game, and give them something to push for, something that will provoke them to work as a flawless machine of gridiron devastation.

The history of the NFL is full of great motivators and coaches who could get their players to do the unimaginable. Even in the Redskins storied past, coaches like Joe Gibbs have been able to coordinate the strengths of each player and ask them to do more than they could ever imagine.

Their needs to be a cultural change in the mindset of the coaches and team leaders. I think LB London Fletcher is by far the best at exhibiting this trait. My thesis is purposefully over the top (winning the East), and is meant to help illustrate this point.

Who do you think could provoke this team into greatness? What will cause these players to reach down deep and summon a primordial beast that resides in all of us?

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Coaches who can outline plays on a black board are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their players and motivate. -  Vince Lombardi

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Matt James is a freelance sports reporter covering the Washington Redskins. Follow his insights on Twitter.