Redskins’ stock as NFC contender soars

The Washington Redskins have paid attention to their individual portfolios all week since the Dow Jones industrial average lost a record 778 points Monday.

“It’s been quite a ride watching the money I put away go away,” left guard Pete Kendall said. “But I still have this job. I might have to play this game until I’m 40.”

But the Redskins haven’t paid attention to their NFL stock, which has increased markedly since they won at previously unbeaten Dallas.

The Redskins’ “stock” - so low after a Week 1 loss to the New York Giants - has been on the upswing for the last three weeks. Washington owns a 3-1 record entering Sunday’s contest at Philadelphia, the final game of a five-week stretch that included all three NFC East rivals on the road.

Before the Dallas win: Nobody bought the Redskins’ two wins over Arizona and New Orleans, citing the quality of the competition and their performance against the Giants.

After the Dallas win: Regardless of Sunday’s result, the Redskins will have survived the gantlet and would enter the soft underbelly of their schedule (St. Louis, Cleveland and at Detroit) with a chance to finish the season’s first half with a minimum record of 6-2.

The opinion of the Redskins has changed 180 degrees, from a team predicted to finish last in the division to a team that has downed the vaunted Cowboys. The success seems to confirm ownership’s gamble to hire Jim Zorn as coach and his decision to wear the head coach/play caller/quarterbacks coach hat.

“I’m excited we’re 3-1 - I’m not going to be down on that,” Zorn said. “But I want our players to hang in there each and every week because there are some tough roads ahead and we have to go down them.”

As for his own performance, Zorn added: “I want to make sure I don’t create this ’How do you like me now?’-type attitude. It’s not there. It really isn’t.”

Starting with the coach, this Redskins team would appear better equipped to handle the prosperity. The last three years, Washington hasn’t done so.

c2005: The Redskins started 3-0 but lost six of their next eight games. Only a five-game winning streak to end the regular season allowed them to make the playoffs.

c2006: Santana Moss’ 68-yard touchdown catch to beat Jacksonville in overtime evened the Redskins’ record at 2-2. They would lose five of their next six, triggering the move to Jason Campbell.

c2007: The Redskins were 5-3 but lost four consecutive games. They rebounded to win four straight and make the playoffs.

“I would hate to look back and see what we did in the past and compare it to now because it’s a new atmosphere around here with Coach Zorn’s influence, the new assistants and the few new players in this locker room,” center Casey Rabach said. “We’re putting the last game - win or lose - behind us and getting back to work. We’re dealing with what we can deal with, and that’s the next game.”

In years past, the Redskins would spend the days after a big win accepting local and national praise only to stumble. But Zorn and the team’s veterans have stressed all the right things this week.

“I wouldn’t think it would be tough at all [to move on] because we haven’t accomplished any of our goals yet,” Zorn said. “All of our goals are ahead of us. The only goal we’ve attained so far is that we’ve won more than we’ve lost. We won our last game - so did a lot of our other teams. We have a lot of work to do and each player can see on the video what they have to improve on.”

Said linebacker London Fletcher: “When you win, you can overlook a lot of the mistakes that can cost you later on down the road. As good as we played [last week], we still had our fair share of mistakes.”

The Redskins have overcome several dips this year. Defensive end Jason Taylor’s knee injury and losing the final two preseason games by a combined 71-6 score were mere speed bumps compared with the debacle against the Giants, a 16-7 loss marred by New York’s 241 first-half yards and Zorn’s conservative playcalling and clock mismanagement.

“They didn’t look very prepared, especially for some of those [offensive] situations,” Fox lead NFL analyst Troy Aikman said.

The 10 days afforded the Redskins - who started camp July 20 - a chance to regroup.

“We didn’t do very much right in that game,” Kendall said. “But I never try to make a snap judgment after one game of a 16-game season. It was not a good game but I didn’t think it reflected the talent level in the locker room or the coaching we received.”

In the three games since, the Redskins have averaged 26.3 points and 386.3 yards of offense.

“Things are operating more efficiently, more smoothly on the sidelines with the play calls,” Kendall said. “[Zorn] seems to finding his own style and rhythm.”

The defense has produced five takeaways and allowed only seven fourth-quarter points in the last three games.

But just as the Dow rebounded slightly throughout the rest of the week, the Redskins know their stock can plummet at any time.

“We know the reality is that you can win one week and get praised and lose the next week and get dogged,” right tackle Jon Jansen said. “It’s easy come, easy go in this business.”