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The Washington Football Team shocked the entire NFL last season by winning the NFC East with a 7-9 record in Ron Rivera’s first year as head coach. There wasn’t much expected from WFT as Dwayne Haskins came into the season as the starting quarterback. However, by the time the calendar moved to December and January, the Football Team had Alex Smith and Taylor Heinicke playing in meaningful games.
The Football Team, however, did not want to go through the carousel again this upcoming season. Washington decided to sign Ryan Fitzpatrick to a one-year deal in free agency and they re-signed Heinicke. Washington also added to their wide receiver unit with the signing of Curtis Samuel in free agency. On defense, they added CB William Jackson III to replace Ronald Darby, who signed a deal with the Denver Broncos.
Washington Football Team Super Bowl 56 odds: +5000
The Washington Football Team has 50/1 odds to win Super Bowl 56, which isn’t necessarily horrible but it’s not great either. The Football Team has a stout defensive line led by the likes of Chase Young, Montez Sweat, and Matt Ioannadis. WFT only allowed 4.9 yards per play in 2020, which was second in the entire NFL. They also finished 6th in the NFL in sacks with 47 last season. Sweat and Young combined for 16.5 sacks, which shows that the Football Team can apply pressure.
However, there will be question marks surrounding the back seven of the defense. WFT spent their first-round pick on Jamin Davis, who is an athletic linebacker and should be an immediate upgrade. But it would too much to expect Davis to come in and be like Devin White for the Football Team’s defense. Then, when you look at the secondary, the Football Team did sign William Jackson III in free agency and signed Bobby McCain to fill out the depth at safety. Can they duplicate their performance from last season, where they only allowed 191.8 passing yards per game?
Offensively, they have playmakers at the skill positions, but what happens at quarterback? Which Fitzpatrick will the Football Team get and will it be good enough to keep up with Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys? Last season with the Dolphins, he completed 68.5% of his passes for 2,091 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. The last time Fitzpatrick was a full-time starter was in 2019, where he started in 15 games with Miami. The veteran signal caller completed 62% of his passes for 3,529 yards with 20 TDs and 13 INTs. If WFT gets 2019 Fitzpatrick, then they might have a chance this season. But it’s also a strong possibility that the Football Team turns over the starting job to Heinicke before the season ends.
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