It’s difficult to spin a 5-11 season as anything but a failure, and in our winner-takes-all sports culture, where regular season games—even those against hated rivals—are analyzed only in the context of playoff seedings and potential championship runs, abject failure may be the most appropriate descriptor.

Revival was the theme of NFL 2011. The Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers made the playoffs for the first time since God-knows-when-or-cares-to-remember. The city of Houston earned its first playoff game since the beloved Oilers relocated to the Bible Belt. Even the Miami Dolphins showed signs of life after briefly threatening to lay a goose egg in the wins column.

In Denver, a God-fearing quarterback and serious young man teamed up with a resourceful coaching staff to revive the read option offensive scheme, which hasn’t seen this much NFL action since before the NFL-AFL merger.

But in the feel-good culture of reinvigorated franchises and continued TV ratings dominance, not every team received an auspice of better things to come. The Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Browns, two of the most hapless franchises in all of professional sports, remain relegated to history, confined to NFL Films highlight reels that recall a time when meaningful games regularly took place off the banks of the Potomac and Cuyahoga Rivers.

Browns fans take the cake for most pained NFL fanbase since they have never experienced a Super Bowl win, and their current team can only be described as the pseudo-Browns, the original franchise having left almost two decades ago to take up residence in Baltimore. That doesn’t mean the men, women and children who commute an unfathomable distance to FedEx Field every Sunday to sing Hail to the Redskins are any less frustrated.

Washington and Cleveland are actually connected in more ways than one: Since Art Modell took his team and their talents to the city where everyone’s favorite meditation on the decay of urban America was set, the Ravens, not the Redskins, have been the class of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan area.

Twenty years ago, no one could have predicted that the beloved and uber-successful Redskins would one day be usurped as the best professional football team south of the Mason-Dixon Line, but such a transformation has happened, and now, no one can say with certainty if the Burgundy and Gold will ever regain their status as one of league’s elite franchises.

Bruce Allen hired Mike Shanahan to restore the glory, but the latter has since admitted that turning the Redskins around has been harder than he initially anticipated. Shanahan clearly did not understand all the baggage he was taking on when he signed Dan Snyder’s offer letter.

But even in a rain-cloud filled season, there are a few silver linings to be gleaned and more than a few lessons to be learned.

Professional football today is all about the audacity of hope, the illogical impulse to believe that your team will be the one out of the 32 (a three percent chance for the mathematically disinclined) to host a trophy at season’s end.

The Washington Redskins won’t be that team this year, but with a few tweaks, they may one day get back to where they once belonged. In the mean time, fans can take solace that the Redskins are still 100 times more competent than the no-account Washington Wizards.

The latter half of the first round will still change depending on the results of the Playoffs, but the first 20 picks in the upcoming 2012 NFL Draft are just about set. There are still four picks (8/9, 11/12) that will be decided based on the results of a couple coin flips, but 16 of the first 20 picks are set, and the Washington Redskins will be picking sixth. Here is the Draft order for the first round as it stands now, according to SB Nation.

1. Indianapolis Colts, 2-14
2. St. Louis Rams, 2-14
3. Minnesota Vikings, 3-13
4. Cleveland Browns, 4-12
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 4-12
6. Washington Redskins, 5-11
7. Jacksonville Jaguars, 5-11
8. Carolina Panthers, 6-10*
9. Miami Dolphins, 6-10*
10. Buffalo Bills, 6-10
T-11. Seattle Seahawks, 7-9*
T-11. Kansas City Chiefs, 7-9*
13. Arizona Cardinals, 8-8
14. Dallas Cowboys, 8-8
15. Philadelphia Eagles, 8-8
16. New York Jets, 8-8
17. Cincinnati Bengals (from Oakland Raiders, 8-8)
18. San Diego Chargers, 8-8
19. Chicago Bears, 8-8
20. Tennessee Titans, 9-7

*Coin flip will be used at a later date

For more on the Redskins, visit Hogs Haven.

Read More: Washington Redskins

If the NFL season ended today, the Washington Redskins would have the seventh pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Of course, the season does not end today; it instead ends next week. Where will the Redskins ultimately end up in the 2012 NFL Draft order? Here’s our best attempt to answer that question.

First, the current order:

1. Indianapolis Colts: 2-13
2. St. Louis Rams: 2-13
3. Minnesota Vikings: 3-12
4. Jacksonville Jaguars: 4-11
5. Cleveland Browns: 4-11
6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4-11
7. Washington Redskins: 5-10
8. Miami Dolphins: 5-10
9. Carolina Panthers: 6-9
10. Buffalo Bills: 6-9
11. Kansas City Chiefs: 6-9

The Redskins are out of contention for the top three picks. However, if things break right, the Redskins could surge to as high as No. 4. Why? Strength of schedule, which is the first tiebreaker. Here is the current strength of schedule of the teams near the Redskins:

• Tampa Bay: 55.1 percent
• Cleveland: 53 percent
• Buffalo: 51.7 percent
• Kansas City: 51.6 percent
• Miami: 51.4 percent
• Carolina: 50.8 percent
• Jacksonville: 50.4 percent
• Washington: 46.9 percent

The Redskins are far and away the worst of that group, which means that if they lose and the Jaguars, Browns and Buccaneers all win, the Redskins would likely vault up to No. 4. It also means that if the Redskins win, the worse they would likely finish is No. 8 if the Dolphins win.

Here are the Week 17 matchups worth watching.

• Redskins at. Eagles (7-8)
• Buccaneers at Falcons (9-5)
• Jaguars vs. Colts (2-13)
• Browns vs. Steelers (11-4)
• Dolphins vs. Jets (8-7)

For more 2012 NFL Draft order scenarios, visit this StoryStream.

Read More: Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins’ 33-26 loss to the Minnesota Vikings ultimately did nothing to affect their position in the 2012 NFL Draft order. With one week to play in the season, the Redskins are still sitting in the No. 7 slot in the draft order, though they did inch closer to moving up even higher depending on what happens in Week 17.

The Redskins currently are tied for the seventh-worst record at 5-10 with the Miami Dolphins, but own the tiebreaker by virtue of their strength of schedule. Redskins opponents have combined for a winning percentage of just under 47 percent this season.

Here is the order as it stands:

1. Indianapolis Colts: 2-13
2. St. Louis Rams: 2-13
3. Minnesota Vikings: 3-12
4. Jacksonville Jaguars: 4-11
5. Cleveland Browns: 4-11
6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4-11
7. Washington Redskins: 5-10
8. Miami Dolphins: 5-10
9. Carolina Panthers: 6-9
10. Buffalo Bills: 6-9
11. Kansas City Chiefs: 6-9
12. Arizona Cardinals: 7-8
13. Philadelphia Eagles: 7-8
14. Seattle Seahawks: 7-8
15. San Diego Chargers: 7-8
16. Chicago Bears: 7-7
17. Dallas Cowboys: 8-7
18. Tennessee Titans: 8-7
19. New York Jets: 8-7
20. Oakland Raiders: 8-7

For more 2012 NFL Draft order scenarios, visit this StoryStream.

The Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins continue to drop from relevance at increasingly fast rates. Both teams have serious issues at the quarterback position, and those certainly won’t be resolved before the end of the 2011 season. That’s why you shouldn’t expect either squad to turn things around and improve any time soon.

When the Colts lost four-time MVP quarterback Peyton Manning for what was sure to me the bulk of the season, everyone knew the team would struggle. But I don’t think anyone knew just how bad Indianapolis would be.

Entering Week 11, the Colts are now 0-10 and appear to be on a collision course with an 0-16 record. How terrible are the Colts? Well, their offense ranks 31st in the NFL (275.7 yards per game), while the defense checks in at 30th (390.6 yards per game).

Indianapolis is stuck with Curtis Painter at quarterback, and forgive me for not believing he and his 67.4 quarterback rating can pull the team out of this slump.

The Colts’ stock is low and dropping.

Meanwhile, the Washington Redskins are stuck in a tailspin after a shocking 3-1 start to the season. Since then, the ‘Skins have dropped five straight games and don’t look like a group that’s ready to get any better.

With John Beck and his 72.1 quarterback rating under center, there isn’t a whole lot of hope that the 3-6 Redskins can improve. Sad to think that Beck is actually “better” than the team’s original starting quarterback from this season, Rex Grossman.

Washington ranks 27th in the NFL in total offense (310.1 yards per game) and is scoring just 15.1 points per game (28th in the league).

Clearly, the Redskins need to improve their quarterback situation if they want to be a competitive team in the future. That won’t happen before the offseason.

NFL Power Rankings, Week 11
 
1. Green Bay Packers (9-0)
2. San Francisco 49ers (8-1)
3. Houston Texans (7-3)
4. New Orleans Saints (7-3)
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3)
6. New England Patriots (6-3)
7. Cincinnati Bengals (6-3)
8. Baltimore Ravens (6-3)
9. Chicago Bears (6-3)
10. Dallas Cowboys (5-4)
11. New York Jets (5-4)
12. Detroit Lions (6-3)
13. New York Giants (6-3)
14. Buffalo Bills (5-4)
15. Oakland Raiders (5-4)
16. Atlanta Falcons (5-4)
17. Tennessee Titans (5-4)
18. San Diego Chargers (4-5)
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5)
20. Miami Dolphins (2-7)
21. Kansas City Chiefs (4-5)
22. Seattle Seahawks (3-6)
23. Jacksonville Jaguars  (3-6)
24. Denver Broncos (4-5)
25. Philadelphia Eagles (3-6)
26. Minnesota Vikings (2-7)
27. Arizona Cardinals (3-6)
28. Cleveland Browns (3-6)
29. St. Louis Rams (2-7)
30. Carolina Panthers (2-7)
31. Washington Redskins (3-6)
32. Indianapolis Colts (0-10)