Some things will never change.  Republicans and Democrats will always squabble like small children, kids will always complain about school without realizing how fortunate they are to have an education, and the Redskins will always perform worse than Peter Griffin and the London Silly Nannies did against the New England Patriots in the “Patriot Games” episode of Family Guy.  At least, that is what many people thought until last year, when the Washington Redskins, led by head coach Mike Shanahan, rookie quarterback phenom Robert Griffin III, posted a winning record and made the playoffs.  For a brief, shining moment, it seemed as though the days of endless losses, poor quarterbacks, and incompetent coaches who did not even know the team colors (Hopefully someone did eventually tell Jim Zorn that the Redskins are the burgundy and gold, not the red, yellow, and black), had ended.  As a result, fans of the team expected great things from the Redskins this year.

 “I expected to make the playoffs again,” said senior Phil Schroeder.  This sentiment was shared by many fans.

 “I thought they would make the playoffs and contend for the division title,” said sophomore Frank Mazzola.

 However, instead of looking poised to make the playoffs, the Redskins are 3-7, with their only wins coming against the laughable Oakland Raiders, the mediocre Chicago Bears, and the San Diego Chargers.

 “It really hasn’t been good.  The defense can’t get off the field since they can’t stop anyone, and the offense can’t keep drives going, so we can’t score,” said Schroeder.

 “All the hype from the media got everyone carried away, and we thought winning the division was a given.  Now, we’ll have to fight an uphill battle, like last year,” said junior Saad Ismail.  However, fans agree that this failure has been an all around one.

 “Both the offense and the defense have been worse than expected,” said Mazzola.

 Many feel that part of the problem has been how the team has handled RG3 after his devastating knee injury during last year’s playoffs.  After a recovery that took the entirety of the offseason, RG3 has looked shaky in his first few games and has not run the ball much, something that was his forte.  Fans are quick to point out what they think is the key to RG3’s return to his old level of play.

 “He’ll return to form when [offensive coordinator] Kyle Shanahan lets him run more.  They have to learn to trust him.  If he can run, he’ll become more comfortable with it and get back to where he was,” said Schroeder.  Many also feel that RG3 has started to recover.

 “He started moving around in the pocket more against Oakland, which is good,” said Ismail.

 Of course, for a team with only one win, the state of one player is not the only problem.  To improve, the Redskins have a lot on which they can work.

 “They need to improve their defense, commit fewer turnovers, trust RG3, and keep drives going,” said Schroeder.  Other fans place extensive emphasis on the offense.

 “They need to be more aggressive and throw it deep down the field, but not 40 or 50 times a game.  They have to give the ball to [running back] Alfred Morris, and run the read option more.  That would make our offense explosive, like it was last year,” said Ismail.  Still others, while valuing offense, place defense as the top priority.

 “The defense needs to improve its tackling and RG3 needs to improve his decision making,” said Mazzola.

 With one fourth of the season under their belts, the Redskins hope to recover, as do fans, who harbor varied prospects for the results of this season.

 “They will hopefully turn around and only have six or seven losses.  They should make the playoffs,” said Schroeder.  This has proven to be a popular sentiment.

 “I’m going to say we’ll be 10-6.  The early bye gives us a chance to go on a run,” said Ismail.  Others are more realistic.

 “They’ll go 8-8, since they have a hard schedule and are off to a bad start,” said Mazzola.

 Thus, it is clear that despite the poor results so far, Redskins fans still expect to be celebrating touchdowns by singing “Shipoopi” by the end of the year, and that their rendition will surely put Family Guy’s to shame.