The 2018 season was the Washington Redskins' 87th in the National Football League (NFL) and their fifth under head coach Jay Gruden. This was the first season since 2011 that quarterback Kirk Cousins was not on the roster, as he joined the Minnesota Vikings in the offseason as a free agent.

The team tied their record from the previous season, and missed the playoffs for the third straight season. Despite a 6–3 start which was their best since 2008 plus leading the NFC East, the team suffered a late-season collapse, suffering four straight losses after the team lost their starting quarterback Alex Smith to a catastrophic leg injury in their Week 11 loss to the Houston Texans. This would cause Smith to miss both the remainder of the 2018 season and the entire 2019 season as Smith stated that he had taken a total of 17 surgeries to repair his leg and nearly had it amputated. Smith's injury also resulted in a quarterback hangover. First, it forced Colt McCoy into the starting role in Weeks 12 and 13 before also suffering a leg injury in a 28–13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13, thus forcing the Redskins to start journeyman quarterback Mark Sanchez in Week 14 before starting another journeyman quarterback Josh Johnson against the Jacksonville Jaguars after benching Sanchez at halftime against the New York Giants. After the Alex Smith injury, the Redskins finished the last 7 games of the season with a record of 1–6. They were eliminated from playoff contention with a loss to the Titans, including wins by the Seahawks and Vikings. The team's season ended with 25 players on injured reserve, which was a league high.

Draft

2018 Washington Redskins draft Round Selection Player Position College Notes 1 13 Daron Payne NT Alabama 2 59 Derrius Guice RB LSU From San Francisco 3 74 Geron Christian OT Louisville From San Francisco 4 109 Troy Apke S Penn State From Denver 5 163 Tim Settle NT Virginia Tech From Denver6 197 Shaun Dion Hamilton LB Alabama From LA Rams 7 241 Greg Stroman CB Virginia Tech From LA Rams 256 Trey Quinn WR SMU From LA Rams

Draft trades The Redskins traded their third-round selection (78th overall) and cornerback Kendall Fuller to Kansas City in exchange for quarterback Alex Smith. The Redskins traded safety Su'a Cravens and their fourth- (No. 113 overall) and fifth- (No. 149 overall) round selections to Denver in exchange for Denver's fourth- (No. 109 overall), two fifth-round selections (Nos. 142 and 163 overall) and a conditional 2020 selection. The Redskins traded their sixth-round selection (No. 188 overall) to Cleveland in exchange for quarterback Kevin Hogan and Cleveland's sixth-round selection (No. 205 overall). The Redskins traded tight end Derek Carrier to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for the Rams' seventh-round selection (241st overall).

Supplemental Draft

The Redskins selected Virginia Tech cornerback Adonis Alexander in the 2018 Supplemental draft. As a result, the team forfeited their 6th-round selection in the 2019 NFL draft.

Staff

Final roster

Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at New England Patriots L 17–26 0–1 Gillette Stadium Recap 2 New York Jets W 15–13 1–1 FedExField Recap 3 Denver Broncos L 17–29 1–2 FedExField Recap 4 at Baltimore Ravens L 20–30 1–3 M&T Bank Stadium Recap

Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 9 at Arizona Cardinals W 24–6 1–0 State Farm Stadium Recap 2 September 16 Indianapolis Colts L 9–21 1–1 FedExField Recap 3 September 23 Green Bay Packers W 31–17 2–1 FedExField Recap 4Bye 5 at New Orleans Saints L 19–43 2–2 Mercedes-Benz Superdome Recap 6 October 14 Carolina Panthers W 23–17 3–2 FedExField Recap 7 October 21 Dallas Cowboys W 20–17 4–2 FedExField Recap 8 October 28 at New York Giants W 20–13 5–2 MetLife Stadium Recap 9 November 4 Atlanta Falcons L 14–38 5–3 FedExField Recap 10 November 11 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 16–3 6–3 Raymond James Stadium Recap 11 November 18 Houston Texans L 21–23 6–4 FedExField Recap 12 November 22 at Dallas Cowboys L 23–31 6–5 AT&T Stadium Recap 13 at Philadelphia Eagles L 13–28 6–6 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 14 December 9 New York Giants L 16–40 6–7 FedExField Recap 15 December 16 at Jacksonville Jaguars W 16–13 7–7 TIAA Bank Field Recap 16 at Tennessee Titans L 16–25 7–8 Nissan Stadium Recap 17 December 30 Philadelphia Eagles L 0–24 7–9 FedExField Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries Week 1: at Arizona Cardinals The Redskins started off 1–0.

Week 2: vs. Indianapolis Colts Washington lost to Indianapolis, moving to 1–1.

Week 3: vs. Green Bay Packers The Redskins fought back and started a 2–1 record, heading to their bye week.

Week 5: at New Orleans Saints

The Redskins hoped to get revenge for their loss in this game a year ago, where they blew a 31-16 lead with three minutes remaining and lost in overtime. Instead, the Redskins got blown out. This game was the point where Drew Brees passed Brett Favre and Peyton Manning on most passing yards. The Redskins fell to 2–2.

Week 6: vs. Carolina Panthers

This marked the first time since 2006 that the Redskins had defeated the Panthers. Then the Redskins started a 3 game winning streak and improved to 3–2.

Week 7: vs. Dallas Cowboys The Redskins got their first win over the Cowboys at home since 2012. Also, Preston Smith forced a fumble returned for a touchdown off Dak Prescott. As time expired, Cowboys kicker Brett Maher missed the potential game-tying 52-yard field goal to give the Redskins the win. This was their final win against the Cowboys at home and in any contest, as the Redskins changed their name in 2020. With this win, the Redskins improved to 4–2.

Week 8: at New York Giants The Redskins improved to 5–2. This was the team's final win against a divisional opponent as the "Redskins", as they would terminate the branding two years later. Washington would not win against a divisional opponent again until 2020, and would not defeat the Giants again until 2021.

Week 9: vs. Atlanta Falcons The Redskins fell to 5–3. As of the 2024 season, this currently remains Washington's latest loss to Atlanta.

Week 10: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Redskins improved to 6–3.

Week 11: vs. Houston Texans During a play in the third quarter of the game, starter Alex Smith suffered a life-threatening injury to his right leg after being sacked by J. J. Watt and Kareem Jackson. He was replaced by his backup, Colt McCoy. Coincidentally, this was exactly 33 years to the day of Joe Theismann's career-ending leg injury. Joe Theismann was also present during the game and witnessed the injury. The Redskins fell to 6–4 by losing 23–21, which ironically was the same score in the game where Theismann was injured. Alex Smith would not play again until Week 5 in 2020 against the Rams.

Week 12: at Dallas Cowboys NFL on Thanksgiving Day In their first game without Alex Smith, the Redskins would have an early lead, but would struggle immediately afterwards. The loss dropped the Redskins to 6–5. This was Washington's final Thanksgiving appearance as the Redskins.

Week 13: at Philadelphia Eagles Redskins fell to 6–6.

Week 14: vs. New York Giants The Redskins fell down to 6–7.

Week 15: at Jacksonville Jaguars The Redskins improved to 7–7. The Redskins would then eclipse 600 regular season wins in franchise, the fifth team to do so (with Bears, Packers, Giants, & Steelers) with a regular season record of 600-588-28 at that point.

Week 16: at Tennessee Titans This loss dropped the Redskins to 7–8. Also with this loss, plus wins by the Vikings and Seahawks, the Redskins were eliminated from playoff contention.

Week 17: vs. Philadelphia Eagles The Redskins finished 7–9 despite having started 6–3, missing the playoffs for the second year in a row.

Standings Division

Conference

References

External links