It Must Be Redskins Offseason, Because...What if?

This week across all the NFL team sites on the SB Nation network, folks are playing a game Redskins fans know way, way, way too well.

“What if...?”

We are Hall of Fame players of that game. There are a few fanbases who have joined us for decades of mediocrity, and together, we have advanced this game to never-before-seen heights.

Dear Ted, Please Buy The Football Team

Last night on The Audible (streamed right here on Hogs Haven...well, right on HH’s FB Live feed), we threw out a few suggestions to get the party started. Of course, we need parameters, or else it would just be a never-ending river of comments about “What if Dan Snyder never bought the team?” So we are staying away from that one. I tried to make it somewhat recent (say, within the last 5-10 years), and sought to keep the bulk of the discussion on the field.

Kevin played a very fair “What if” game on the injury side of the coin. “What if the Redskins had been healthy in 2017?” Few teams lost more player-games than the Redskins, depending on which of the seemingly endless interpretations of that metric there seem to be (how can there be so many competing ways of measuring this?). I have argued that the Redskins suffered a greater impact than some of those other teams because of the timing and impact of the injuries to specific players, but that is just me making it more subjective. Do you think that things would have gone drastically different had the Redskins enjoyed far greater health? (Would Kirk Cousins still be in Washington? This was a common theme.)

I looked back to the tie in England, and asked, “What if the Redskins cross back over the ocean with a win against the Bengals instead of a tie?” If you just changed that one outcome, postseason fortunes are immediately impacted, and...and...and...we are probably not talking about a quarterback change.

(To a man, the basement was and is full of people who are stoked to watch Alex Smith play football in the burgundy and gold. So don’t take our thoughts as us trying to figure out ways to have kept Kirk Cousins.)

Tim asked the second-biggest “What If?” in Redskins Nation, in my opinion. He asked, “What if Sean Taylor played a full career for the Redskins?” I would love to hear what you guys think on that one, even though it remains a painful memory still for me and for many of you. Trying not to be overly negative, I have fought off the idea that his talents would have been wasted here. At the end of the day, Sean Taylor was good enough to impact every game he played in...in a way that allowed his team to win. No question that the Redskins would have won many more games with him on the field.

Other possibilities:

What if Kirk spiked the ball instead of taking a knee?

What if the Redskins got a first down on the road against the New Orleans Saints last season?

I really, really, really hate how easily these questions roll off the keyboard. Thanks SB Nation. I guess they finally hit on a game we play at a championship level!

Care to play?