How Good are the Redskins?

One measure of the strength of a football team is its winning percentage, but that percentage cannot be viewed in a vacuum. To truly understand the strength of each team, an NFL team's winning percentage should be examined relative to the strength of its opponents. So let's look at the Redskins' opponents' combined record in games when they weren't playing the Redskins.

The Redskins have played the Bears (W), the Cowboys (W), the Seahawks (W), the Broncos (L), and the Chiefs (L). When not playing the Redskins, the Redskins' opponents have a combined record of 16 wins and 7 losses for a 0.696 winning percentage. Those teams have a combined 0.400 winning percentage in games against the Redskins.

The Redskins' opponents have scored 557 points in 23 games for an average of 24.2 points per game. The Redskins' defense is only giving up 17.2 points per game against these teams, which is a full touchdown and extra point less than these teams score against others. The Redskins' opponents have given up 426 points for an average of 18.5 per game and the Redskins have scored 16.6 points per game.

In other words, the Redskins have played one of the toughest schedules in the NFL this year and have been successful. They are "for real."