Just as the Redskins season was beginning to get going, we have reached a standstill: The bye week.
Conventional thinking argues a bye in the early goings of a season is a waste and a bye during the business end of the season is beneficial to a team making a playoff push.
“It’s about to be a long three quarters (of the season),” safety D.J. Swearinger told The Washington Post. “We didn't even get to finish with one quarter....It’s a big disadvantage...You want to play at least four games before you even think about a bye. But it is what it is. We control what we can control.”
After this week the Redskins, along with the Carolina Panthers, face a 13-week run of uninterrupted football, the longest stretch in the NFL this season.
“It’s good for us now,” head coach Jay Gruden said. “(Right guard) Brandon (Scherff) needs a bye week. Obviously (left tackle) Trent (Williams) needs a bye week. Morgan (Moses) needs a bye week. We’re a little beat up on the offensive line. Shawn Lauvao needs a bye week. Obviously AP needs a bye week."
If history is any indication, the Week 4 bye week may actually be a good sign for the Redskins. Not only did Washington make the playoffs the last time they had a Week 4 bye (2007), but teams with a Week 4 bye have done well in recent years.
Since 2007, when Week 4 regularly became the earliest byes were scheduled, teams with a Week 4 bye have finished with a 286-224-2 record, a .561 winning percentage. And 18 of the 32 teams have made the playoffs in those respective years.
Granted, this is rather anecdotal evidence, and while one stastical-based study did conclude an early bye week coincided with a better record, there isn't much data.
However, with the Redskins at 2-1 and looking to end their two-year playoff drought, this is as good a reason for optimism as any.
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