What was Jay Gruden thinking when he declared this game a 'Code Red'?

We asked the Paste BN NFL staff the following: "Jay Gruden has declared this a “Code Red” game for Redskins. Do you agree?" Their responses:

JARRETT BELL

Jay Gruden is certainly not lacking for drama. I mean, they're playing the rebuilding Bucs! At home. Against a rookie quarterback. It's what you'd call a winnable game. You would think Gruden would save the "Code Red" description for the Cowboys, Eagles or Giants. Then again, maybe Gruden is just tapping his inner Morgan Freeman. Remember the movie, Lean On Me? Freeman played the principal at a high school with an abundance of kids considered by the establishment as "high risk," and he was in hot water for chaining the doors during the school day in an effort to keep the hoodlums out ... which violated the fire code. His staff communicated "Code Red" as the tip-off that fire inspectors were at the school and they needed to unlock the doors. Well, Gruden might be in a "Code Red" situation himself if Washington doesn't win, and even worse if his quarterback, Kirk Cousins, implodes. Despite Gruden's contract security, team owner Dan Snyder might think twice about sticking with Gruden for the long haul - especially when considering Washington "opportunity" in the lowly NFC East.

LINDSAY JONES

Given the state of the NFC East, it might be a little premature for Jay Gruden to declare today’s game against Tampa a must win, because it doesn’t look like any of the other teams in that division are about to pull away just yet. But Washington risks having the season unravel with another poor effort against a very beatable team like the Buccanneers – and effort is the key word there. Gruden must have seen plenty of troubling things out of his team’s performance when they got beat soundly last week by the New York Jets, and knows his team won’t survive a similar meltdown this week.

TOM PELISSERO

I honestly don’t even know what that is supposed to mean. Both teams wear shades of red, I suppose. Listen, the Redskins aren’t a very good team right now. Yet they’re a game back of the NFC East lead. They get to face a rookie QB this week. And they’ll have a bunch of starters back from injuries, so that’ll help. These are the games you have to win if you want to be viewed as a competent football team. But I have no reason to believe the jobs of Kirk Cousins or Jay Gruden are on the line or anything like that, even with the bye coming up. That bye will just feel a lot better if they enter it with a win.

LORENZO REYES

Washington is only one game back in the (clears throat) competitive NFC East, so Code Red is a bit premature. A loss would certainly hurt and minimize the margin of error moving forward, but it's not the death blow that would end its season. With that said, Sunday's contest against the 2-3 Buccaneers at home is just one of those games that a legitimate contender should win. The Eagles are looking better and the Cowboys should drastically improve once Tony Romo and Dez Bryant return. The Redskins won't have very many opportunities against weaker opponents like they'll have on Sunday, so Gruden is half-right in establishing a sense of urgency.