Washington’s revamped offense awaits the Packers
Third in a 13-part series on the opponents the Green Bay Packers will face during the 2018 regular season.
GREEN BAY - The notion that quarterbacks can play quality football well into their 30s — and perhaps beyond — was reinforced in January when Washington executed one of the most stunning trades of the offseason. Washington shipped cornerback Kendall Fuller and a third-round pick to the Kansas City Chiefs, and in return the Chiefs parted ways with starting quarterback Alex Smith, who turned 34 in May.
The move signaled not only a belief that Smith could still play at a high level, but it also informed the rest of the league that Kirk Cousins, who was Washington’s starter the last three years, would be hitting the open market as a free agent.
Even though Cousins had thrown for 4,000 or more yards all three seasons — including 4,917 yards in 2016 — Washington decided to alter the course of its franchise by acquiring Smith, who is five years older than the man he will replace.
It should be noted, however, that Smith had arguably the best season of his career in 2017. He threw for 4,042 yards to surpass his previous career high by more than 500 yards and put together a tremendous touchdown-to-interception ratio of 26:5 — his seventh
consecutive season with single-digit interceptions.
Smith guided the Chiefs to a 10-6 record in the regular season and a firstplace finish in the AFC West. However, an embarrassing first-round loss to the Tennessee Titans did nothing to squash the notion that Smith is little more than a regular-season performer.
Now Smith, the No. 1 overall pick in 2005, will try to rewrite that portion of his biography in a division that houses the reigning Super Bowl champions.
Here are three things to know about Washington:
Weapons wanted