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More disappointing: 2000 Redskins or 2015 Nationals?

Rob Woodfork | rwoodfork@wtop.com
Noah Frank | nfrank@wtop.com

October 5, 2015, 1:31 AM

WASHINGTON — With the 2015 Major League Baseball regular season coming to an end and the Nationals headed home for the winter, we got to thinking: what team did this 2015 squad remind us of? While the 2013 Nats came in with a lot of hype and a “World Series or bust” mantra, the 2015 edition fell short of their expectations in a way that no Washington team has since the 2000 Redskins. In that vein, sports anchor Rob Woodfork and digital sports editor Noah Frank match the two teams against one another. Woodfork moved to the D.C. area in 1992 and has been a Skins fan ever since, while Frank worked for the Nationals during the 2012 and 2013 seasons, traveling with and covering the team every day in the second year. Here’s how the two stack up. (AP Photos)
AP Photos
Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper walks off the field after Game 4 of baseball's NL Division Series in San Francisco, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014. The Giants beat the Nationals 3-2 to advance to the next round. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Preceding Season The Redskins won the NFC East with a 10-6 record in 1999 and came within a botched snap of the potential game-winning field goal at the end of their divisional round loss in Tampa from going to the NFC title game. Their offense — driven by career years from Brad Johnson and Stephen Davis — was second only to “The Greatest Show on Turf” Rams and in the playoffs, the defense played better than its regular season ranking (30th). The Nationals were a powerhouse in 2014, riding 96 wins to an easy NL East title for the second time in three years. Heavy favorites against the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS, they managed to lose three times in four games despite giving up three runs or fewer in each contest, as their vaunted offense went into hibernation. The end result was disappointing, but couched by the fact that there was one more year left in before a large contingent of the team’s core was headed to free agency. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
LaVar Arrington, second from right, the second pick of the NFL draft, stands with Chris Samuels, second from left, who was the third pick of the draft, Saturday, April 15, 2000 in New York. Both playes were taken by the Washington Redskins. On the left is NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Redskins co-owner Fred Drasner is on the right. (AP Photo/Ed Betz)
The Acquisitions The Fortune .500 Redskins are the stuff of legend — and not in a good way. The 2000 offseason was the first time we saw Dan Snyder’s love of spending: Bruce Smith, Mark Carrier, Jeff George and Deion Sanders all got big paydays and brought big expectations with them. Not to mention the Redskins had two of the first three picks in the draft, netting the highly touted LaVar Arrington and Chris Samuels. The Nationals didn’t need to add much to a team that was likely already a favorite to win the title in 2015, but they went out and did so anyway. Coming off a 2014 campaign that seemed destined for a greater end than a first-round playoff exit, the Nats added 2013 AL Cy Young winner Max Scherzer on the most expensive free agent contract of the offseason. That prompted Sports Illustrated to slap “Parity reigns? Superteams are dead? The Nationals beg to differ” on their cover. (AP Photo/Ed Betz)
AP Photo/Ed Betz
The Expectations The Redskins were widely considered favorites to win the NFC East, and many had them advancing to the Super Bowl. The high-scoring offense was complemented by a defense that bragged a Hall-of-Fame defensive backfield (Sanders started opposite Champ Bailey with Darrell Green relegated to the third cornerback). What could possibly go wrong? Nothing is more crushing for sports fans than unmet expectations. Bryce Harper seemed ready to enter his prime. The offense was stacked with proven, productive players at every position. With the offense almost entirely intact from the year before and a rotation for the ages, what could possibly go wrong? (Sports Illustrated)
Sports Illustrated
Washington Redskins kicker Michael Husted (4) celebrates after his winning field goal in overtime to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-17, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2000, at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Tampa Bay's Donnie Abraham (21) and Ronde Barber (20) look on. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
The Early Returns The Redskins were less than impressive in the first three weeks, especially in Week 3 when they blew a home game to the awful Cowboys. But a 5-game win streak got them to 6-2 and had fans booking tickets to Tampa for Super Bowl XXXV. The Nats stumbled to a 7-13 start out of the gates, but the NL East looked bad enough that it seemed like that might not matter. Over the 162-game marathon of the baseball season, there is room for slow starts. But with the memory of a 2013 team that did not hit the throttle until it was too late still fresh on fans’ minds, it was disconcerting to see a “superteam” look very pedestrian out of the gates. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
AP Photo/Nick Wass
Washington Nationals' Yunel Escobar (5) points to his hand after he was hit by a pitch, as manager Matt Williams stands at right, during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at Nationals Park, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, in Washington. Escobar did not take the field for the next inning. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The Injuries Pro Bowl guard Tre Johnson and top receiver Michael Westbrook were lost to season-ending injuries early in the year but everyone will remember the unintentional comedy at kicker: Brett Conway, Scott Bentley, Michael Husted, Kris Heppner and 44 year-old Eddie Murray combined to hit just 20-of-30 field goals and two missed extra points. Conway’s injured quad set the revolving door in motion, even though he wasn’t exactly a cornerstone (he hit just 68 percent of his field goals in 1999). These started in Spring Training, continuing the team’s perplexing trend of publicly underselling the severity of medical issues, only to watch seemingly minor injuries turn into extended disabled list stints. Jayson Werth never looked healthy until late August, but the real loss was Anthony Rendon, the team’s WAR leader and a top-five NL MVP candidate the year prior. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
The Nationals' season already dead, Jonathan Papelbon tried to choke the life out of Bryce Harper Sunday for good measure. (Getty Images/Greg Fiume)
The Conflict There’s a point in every movie where everything falls apart. In the tale of the 2000 Redskins, it came in Week 14 when the Giants came into FedEx Field for a 9-7 win highlighted by two missed field goals by Murray, including an amazingly terrible shank on the 49 yard potential game-winner that cost Norv Turner his job. As we learned toward the end of the season, this was brewing behind closed doors and had already erupted out of view by late August, when Jayson Werth confronted manager Matt Williams in the clubhouse. To the public, though, it didn’t appear until the season had already been lost, when Mike Rizzo’s lone trade deadline acquisition assaulted the most valuable player on the team and in the National League right in the home dugout on Fan Appreciation Day. (Getty Images/Greg Fiume)
Getty Images/Greg Fiume
Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, left, announces at Redskin Park in Ashburn, Va. Monday, Dec. 4, 2000, that coach Norv Turner had been fired and that Terry Robiskie, right, would become interim coach. (AP Photo/Hillery Smith Garrison)
The Embattled Coach/Manager Dan Snyder had seen enough after the aforementioned loss to the Giants — the Redskins’ fourth in five games — and fired Norv Turner despite still being very much alive in the playoff chase at 7-6. Snyder, who bought the team before the 1999 season, was never a Norv fan so his tenure was destined to end with any sign of struggling. The cracks in Matt Williams’ armor were glossed over in 2014 thanks to the team’s overall dominance. His bullpen mismanagement was noticed only by those who followed the Nationals closely, and with a happy clubhouse, he was never tested as a leader. All those issues took center stage in 2015, though, and it soon became apparent that a team with championship aspirations could no longer abide a tactician incapable of dynamic decision-making. Then the clubhouse imploded entirely, and the lack of leadership was put on public display for the nation. (AP Photo/Hillery Smith Garrison)
AP Photo/Hillery Smith Garrison
Washington Nationals relief pitcher Drew Storen walks off the field to the dugout after the top of the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Friday, Aug. 7, 2015, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
The Collateral Damage Both teams displaced heroes from the previous season. Even though he went on to win a Super Bowl in Tampa, Brad Johnson was never really the same after having to look over his shoulder at George in Washington. He ended up on the bench after throwing 15 interceptions in 11 starts. For the Nats, Tanner Roark won 15 games as a starter in 2014, only to get sent to the bullpen in 2015 to make room for Scherzer. Doug Fister had a disaster of a free agent walk year, also getting demoted to the ‘pen, and both Ian Desmond and Jordan Zimmermann regressed in their (likely) final seasons wearing the Curly W. Denard Span was hurt much of the year as well, crushing his free agent value. After Drew Storen’s demotion, implosion and self-sustained injury, it’s tough to imagine either he or Paplebon pitching in Washington next season. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
AP Photo/Nick Wass
Washington Redskins backup quarterback Jeff George, who replaced the injured Brad Johnson, makes a pass during the first quarter against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2000, in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals defeated the Redskins 16-15. (AP Photo/Rob Schumacher)
The Results Terry Robiskie took over for the final three games, going 1-2 to wrap up the disappointing season with an 8-8 record. Robiskie never had a chance at landing the coaching gig full time, Brad Johnson was ditched in favor of Jeff George, and big names like Larry Centers, Mark Carrier and Deion Sanders weren’t in new coach Marty Schottenheimer’s plans. So began the coaching carousel in Washington. Playing out the string, the Nationals got a second no-hitter from Max Scherzer, as he became the first player to toss two in the same regular season since Nolan Ryan in 1973. Depending on your viewpoint, that — coupled with Bryce Harper’s MVP season — either softens the blow of missing the postseason looking toward the future, or makes missing the playoffs that much more disappointing. While there will still be several key returning pieces, the Nationals will look largely different as they retool for 2016. (AP Photo/Rob Schumacher)
AP Photo/Rob Schumacher
Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams looks on during a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Washington. The Nationals won 2-1 in 12 innings. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
The Verdict Unlike the Redskins, we don’t have the benefit of knowing the full aftermath of the Nationals’ collapse … but the answer is still the Nats by a whisker. The ‘Skins relied on a bunch of older players living off reputation in 2000; the Nationals had a loaded roster largely in its prime that inexplicably played worse once they got healthy. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
AP Photo/Nick Wass
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Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper walks off the field after Game 4 of baseball's NL Division Series in San Francisco, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014. The Giants beat the Nationals 3-2 to advance to the next round. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
LaVar Arrington, second from right, the second pick of the NFL draft, stands with Chris Samuels, second from left, who was the third pick of the draft, Saturday, April 15, 2000 in New York. Both playes were taken by the Washington Redskins. On the left is NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Redskins co-owner Fred Drasner is on the right. (AP Photo/Ed Betz)
Washington Redskins kicker Michael Husted (4) celebrates after his winning field goal in overtime to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-17, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2000, at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Tampa Bay's Donnie Abraham (21) and Ronde Barber (20) look on. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Washington Nationals' Yunel Escobar (5) points to his hand after he was hit by a pitch, as manager Matt Williams stands at right, during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at Nationals Park, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015, in Washington. Escobar did not take the field for the next inning. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The Nationals' season already dead, Jonathan Papelbon tried to choke the life out of Bryce Harper Sunday for good measure. (Getty Images/Greg Fiume)
Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, left, announces at Redskin Park in Ashburn, Va. Monday, Dec. 4, 2000, that coach Norv Turner had been fired and that Terry Robiskie, right, would become interim coach. (AP Photo/Hillery Smith Garrison)
Washington Nationals relief pitcher Drew Storen walks off the field to the dugout after the top of the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies, Friday, Aug. 7, 2015, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Washington Redskins backup quarterback Jeff George, who replaced the injured Brad Johnson, makes a pass during the first quarter against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2000, in Tempe, Ariz. The Cardinals defeated the Redskins 16-15. (AP Photo/Rob Schumacher)
Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams looks on during a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Washington. The Nationals won 2-1 in 12 innings. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Rob Woodfork

Rob Woodfork is WTOP's Senior Sports Content Producer, which includes duties as producer and host of the DC Sports Huddle, nightside sports anchor and sports columnist on WTOP.com.

rwoodfork@wtop.com

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