2018 Washington Redskins season
The 2018 season was the Washington Redskins' 87th in the National Football League 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 [2018 2018 Philadelphia Eagles season|Philadelphia Eagles season|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 [2018 2018 Jacksonville Jaguars season|Jacksonville Jaguars season|Jacksonville Jaguars] after benching Sanchez at halftime against the [2018 2018 New York Giants season|New York Giants season|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 [2018 Tennessee 2018 Tennessee Titans season|Titans season|Titans], including wins by the [2018 Seattle 2018 Seattle Seahawks season|Seahawks season|Seahawks] and [2018 Minnesota 2018 Minnesota Vikings season|Vikings season|Vikings]. The team's season ended with 25 players on injured reserve, which was a league high.
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 [2018 2018 Denver Broncos season|Denver Broncos season|Denver] |
| 5 | 163 | Tim Settle | NT | Virginia Tech | From Denver |
| 6 | 197 | Shaun Dion Hamilton | LB | Alabama | From LA Rams |
| 7 | 241 | Greg Stroman | CB | Virginia Tech | From LA Rams |
| 7 | 256 | Trey Quinn | WR | SMU | From LA Rams |
Draft trades
- The Redskins traded their third-round selection and cornerback Kendall Fuller to Kansas City in exchange for quarterback Alex Smith.
- The Redskins traded safety Su'a Cravens and their fourth- and fifth- round selections to Denver in exchange for Denver's fourth-, two fifth-round selections and a conditional 2020 selection.
- The Redskins traded their sixth-round selection to Cleveland in exchange for quarterback Kevin Hogan and Cleveland's sixth-round selection.
- The Redskins traded tight end Derek Carrier to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for the Rams' seventh-round selection.
- 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.
Regular season
Schedule
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 DayIn 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.