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The Washington Football Team is the worst team in the playoffs at 7-9. But that’s not how Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians sees it.
While Arians is ready to coach Washington on Saturday night, he notes that Washington has a winning record if Alex Smith is the frontrunner, as the week will be.
“We are not playing a 7-9 team. We play a 4-1 team. When Alex Smith plays, they’re a 4-1 team, “Arians told ESPN.” We don’t play Dwayne Haskins. We play Alex Smith.
Arians actually underestimated how much better Washington’s record with Smith was during the 2020 season: Washington won 5-1 in games started by Smith, 1-5 in games started by Haskins, and 1-3 in games started started by Kyle Allen.
It is not surprising that Arians does not want his team to think of his opponent as a 7-9 team. No play-off opponent can be taken for granted.