Chaos is king with Washington
Coaching change, name change, inexperienced QB, not much optimism
This is the second in a series of 32 NFL team betting previews in 32 days leading up to the league’s Sept. 10 season opener. We’ll count down the teams from the lowest season win total to the highest.
No NFL team is dealing with more turmoil than the one in Washington.
The Washington Post exposed a long history of allowing sexual harassment to fester in the organization, leading to the departure of two front office members and the team’s longtime play-by-play announcer, Larry Michael.
Promising second-year running back Derrius Guice was released Friday following his arrest on domestic violence charges.
And there’s the fact that the team is now called, for at least this season, the Washington Football Team, as the franchise finally agreed to ditch its Redskins moniker after decades of criticism that the name is offensive to Native Americans.
There’s plenty on new coach Ron Rivera’s plate as he tries to stabilize the organization before he even gets on the field. Once he’s there, he has to try to improve a team that went 3-13 last season and has a major question mark at quarterback.
Sunset Station sportsbook director Chuck Esposito isn’t optimistic.
“They haven’t trended upward in a long time,” he said, “and I don’t see that changing.”
Esposito and Westgate sportsbook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said they do like the hiring of Rivera, who was fired late last year by the Carolina Panthers after eight-plus solid seasons, including a Super