Bucs’ first-round foe resilient, inspirational — and sometimes seedy

The team bereft of a nickname is brimming with adjectives.Peel away at Washington’s fascinating layers, and you’ll encounter resilient and rugged, mediocre and melodramatic, sobering and even a little seedy.Not to mention inspirational. Bigly inspirational, as one outgoing Washington, D.C., resident might put it.These days, the only thing bland about the Bucs’ opening-round playoff opponent is its numerical helmets. Washington (7-9) may possess the fewest wins of any postseason team, but it just might lead the NFL in astounding headlines.Here are some that have shaped one of the Beltway’s most surreal seasons.Washington is going generic — with no mascot — these days after the franchise dropped the Redskins nickname, which it had used since 1933.While various Native American groups had questioned the use of the nickname (and image of the feather-brandishing Native American on the helmet) for decades, the outcry seemed to generate support and hit a crescendo last summer during the social justice movements nationwide.Pressure really mounted on the franchise in July when FedEx, which owns the naming rights to the team’s stadium, urged the franchise to change its nickname, and Nike removed Redskins apparel from its website.Today, Washington’s formal logo is a gold “W” against a burgundy backdrop. The helmets also are pure burgundy, save for the player’s number (also in gold) on the side.There’s no getting around the record. Washington captured the NFC’s fourth seed by winning the East Division, which this year possesses all the cachet of winning the greater Largo curling title. The clincher came in Sunday night’s 20-14 win against the Eagles, whose thinly veiled tank job included inserting their No. 3 quarterback in the fourth quarter of a three-point game.Washington is the third team to win a division title with a losing record and first since the 2014 Carolina Panthers (7-8-1). The common denominator: Ron Rivera coached both teams.But say this about Washington: Though it still struggled mightily against an Eagles team that clearly mailed it in, it enters the playoffs having won five of its last seven games. The defense, led by rookie end Chase Young and second-year counterpart Montez Sweat, allowed the second-fewest yards per game (304.6) and fourth-fewest points per game (20.6) in the NFL.“They’re legit,” Bucs coach Bruce Arians said. “The two kids from Alabama inside (tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne) and then those two guys, plus (end) Ryan Kerrigan, that’s as good of a five as you’re going to see anywhere. They’re all young, very active and very athletic. It’s a heck of a building block for Ron right there.”Though Rivera was known widely as “Riverboat Ron” for his risk-taking affinity during his nine seasons with the Panthers, “resilient” may be a more fitting modifier these days.The former Bears linebacker, who turns 59 on Thursday, was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma — a form of cancer — in a lymph node in his neck on Aug. 20. He kept coaching while undergoing weeks of radiation and chemotherapy. On Oct. 26, he tweeted a photo of himself ringing the bell — signaling the end of his treatments — at his medical facility.“There are some things that drive you,” Rivera, who lost a brother to pancreatic cancer, told NBCSports.com .“The things that I love doing more than anything else is coaching. I asked, ‘Can I coach?’ (They responded) ‘Oh yeah, I think it’s important that you work.’ Going to work is important. It creates that mental drive. So that was what was driving me.”Fewer certainties exist in the NFL than Washington quarterback Alex Smith winning the league’s comeback player of the year award.The 36-year-old’s medical odyssey began in November 2018, when he essentially shattered his right leg upon being tackled in the backfield in a game against the Texans. A career-endangering ordeal became a life-endangering one when he developed an infection of flesh-eating bacteria in the lower part of the leg, prompting doctors to briefly consider amputation.Due to the infection and severity of the initial injury, Smith required 17 surgeries. Naturally, he missed the 2019 season but was cleared to return to action last July and activated by Washington in mid-August.He made his first game appearance — replacing Kyle Allen against the Chargers — on Oct. 11, 693 days after his injury. He made his first start in a Nov. 15 loss to the Lions (going 38-for-55 for 390 yards), and has won each of his five starts since. He’ll enter Saturday’s playoff game with six touchdowns and eight interceptions, but a solid completion rate (66.7).“Oh man, he’s a leader,” Bucs veteran inside linebacker Lavonte David said. “It’s just remarkable from what he’s been through. I’m very excited for him and I’m happy to play against him.”When it comes to this franchise, every uplifting storyline seems offset by a sensationalized one. Take the quarterback room: While Smith was defying logic, former first-round draftee Dwayne Haskins was defying common sense and coronavirus protocols.Haskins began the season as the starter and ultimately was benched for poor play. He got another shot when Smith suffered a calf injury late in the season but sabotaged himself when photos surfaced on social media of the 23-year-old former Ohio State star not wearing a mask while attending an event featuring strippers.Haskins was fined $40,000 and stripped of his captaincy. A dreadful performance against Carolina (two interceptions, lost fumble) followed, and he was waived Dec. 28.Virtually coinciding with the Haskins saga was a Washington Post report indicating the team paid a former female employee $1.6 million as part of a confidential settlement in 2009, after the woman accused controversial owner Dan Snyder of sexual misconduct.

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Bucs’ first-round foe resilient, inspirational — and sometimes seedy

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