NFL: US politics puts pressure on the Washington football team – Mammoth task against Packers at an inopportune time

The investigations surrounding the Washington football team are taking on ever greater proportions. From a sporting point of view, the fact that the US Congress is now also getting involved in the issue comes at an absolutely inopportune time ahead of Sunday’s clash with the Green Bay Packers.

Munich/Washington – The headlines surrounding the abuse scandal at the Washington Football Team do not stop, day after day new details come to light.

A hypocritical tribute to the late Sean Taylor last week caused quite a stir among fans. The accusation: the franchise used the Taylor celebrations to distract from the recent repercussions of the sexism scandal.

If those responsible had hoped for a positive effect from the tribute, it would have fizzled out again at this point. Now even US politics is getting involved in the scandal with Congress. The league in particular is getting the brunt of it.

Impartiality of the league questioned

The US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform reached out personally to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell later this week, as reported by the “NFL Network”. As such, both Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney and Raja Krishnamoorthi are demanding full transparency from the NFL.

Accordingly, the NFL has until November 4 to turn over all documents and communication records related to the investigation to the House of Representatives. “We have serious concerns about what is happening with the Washington football team and the way the league is trying to handle it,” the letter to the NFL reads.

“The communications between league leadership and football team officials cast doubt on the league’s impartiality,” the politicians went on to criticise. At the same time, the whole issue could develop into a precedent.

“The lack of transparency on the part of the NFL cast doubt on how the league has responded to harassment, racism, sexism and homophobia in the workplace and could set a precedent for other companies,” they said.

NFL and WFT come under pressure

Earlier this month, the first contents of the investigations became public. At that time, racist and homophobic emails of former head coach Jon Gruden of the Las Vegas Raiders were leaked and he had to leave his job as a result. More and more critics subsequently demanded that the full results of the investigation be disclosed

Because this has not yet been done, politicians now feel compelled to intervene. So the NFL could hand over all the requested information to the committee as soon as possible.

“The NFL shares the committee’s view that all workplaces should be free from mistreatment and discrimination,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement. “We look forward to working with them soon,” he declared.

So the new developments will continue to cause distractions off the pitch this week. The biggest possible hurdle from a sporting point of view is the duel with the Green Bay Packers.

False start looms – Defence puts up horror numbers

With a record of two wins and four losses, the football team has made a thoroughly disappointing start to the season. After making the playoffs last season, the performance should be repeated this year. However, the fact that these are currently completely out of reach has mainly to do with the spotty defence.

Still feared as one of the best defensive lines in 2020, there is little of it left this season. With 186 points allowed in six games, Washington currently has the worst defence in the entire NFL. They’ve also allowed the second most scrimmage yards in the league with 2538 yards.

Through the air in particular, the football team gets carved up on a regular basis. Head coach Ron Rivera believes the problem is attitude: “We lack discipline right now,” he said after the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs: “That falls on me, too. We have to take a different approach from now on,” said the 59-year-old.

One possibility here could be personnel changes, as the head coach hinted. Safety Landon Collins – one of the highest-paid players on the team with a salary of $16.9 million – has emerged as one of the weak points in the pass defence in recent weeks. Now he is expected to be used at linebacker.

“I don’t like playing linebacker. But if I have to, I will,” he said at the press conference before the Packers game. Against Aaron Rodgers and Co. the football team will finally have to combine all forces to stop the reigning MVP.

WFT at Packers: mammoth task at inopportune time

While the off-field squabbles have not passed the football team by unimpressively, the situation with the upcoming opponent looks much more relaxed again. After the upset over a possible Rodgers departure in the offseason, Green Bay shook off the rust after their opening loss and have marched through the season undefeated ever since.

Thanks to the emotional win over the Chicago Bears, superstar Rodgers also seems to have arrived for the season. The offense showed marked improvement over the start of the season and should also pose some problems for the football team.

If Coach Rivera can’t get his defence on track by Sunday, a win for the football team doesn’t seem realistic in the current athletic situation.

With the problems off the field in mind, an already difficult task against the Packers becomes a mammoth task.