In today's Rewarding Moments In Washington History presented by Maryland Lottery My Lottery Rewards, we look back to 2012 when the Washington Football Teamwent on a hot streak after their bye weekend.
The Washington Football Team was off to a hot start in 2012 with a 40-12 win against the New Orleans Saints, but it was plagued with inconsistency for the next two months. Following a 38-26 win over the Minnesota Vikings, Washington headed into the bye week on a three-game losing streak with a 3-6 overall record.
With just seven games left to attempt a playoff run, Washington resumed play in Week 11 with an NFC East matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. The 31-6 shellacking it handed to Eagles was exactly what Washington needed to get back on track.
Head Coach Mike Shanahan and quarterback Robert Griffin III led Washington on a seven-game winning streak -- a feat that had not been accomplished since 2005. The team had five division matchups and the outscored its NFC East foes, 141-91.
Washington ended the regular season with a 10-6 record as well as the division crown, which earned it a home playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks. The team raced out to a 14-0 lead but ultimately struggled to put up points outside of the first quarter and lost, 24-14.
The 2020 season has had several parallels Washington's magical 2012 run. The team started with a Week 1 win, but has since struggled to play consistently. But Washington, including defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, intends to fix the team's issues heading into the bye week.
"We get to the bye week to look at ourselves and reflect and think about mapping out where we want to go and what we want to improve and how we can stress and those things," he said. "It's just a time to take a little bit of a deeper dive and take a little bit of a break, honestly. Players and coaches, you get a chance to kind of freshen up on this bye week."
Just like the 2012 season, Washington will resume play with an NFC East opponent, as it hosts the New York Giants on Nov. 8. This marks the beginning of a four-game stretch in which Washington's opponents have a 7-19-1 combined record.
