Are these Redskins for real?

I don't live in the Washington, D.C. area anymore, so getting to see the Redskins on television is difficult. However, I've remained a loyal fan, as do many Redskins fans who move away. I'm one of those people who tend to root for their team during good times and bad, no fair weather over here. So, I've gotten to see only the Redskins loss to the Giants in the opening week. There wasn't much to see on the offensive side of the ball, although, the defense looked pretty good, especially in the second half. Since then, I've watched on Gametrax and the live over the internet and listened to friends and family describe events over the phone to get my information about how my beloved team is doing. I did get to see the last quarter of the 'skins-'boys game on tv, but only the last quarter. Therefore, I'm having trouble knowing if this team is for real. I really want them to be, and seeing that they won two of their three division road games (a difficult feat in any year), I think maybe they are. So, why were they treated as an afterthought by virtually everyone at the beginning of this year? Is it because people just thought N.Y., Dallas and Philly were better and therefore Washington couldn't possibly compete against that or did they think having a new coach would be enough to make them stumble. It seems to me that people forget that coach Gibbs led this team to the playoffs last year. So, the team is already playoff caliber, otherwise, they wouldn't have been there last year, but it didn't get that kind of treatment at the beginning of the season. Maybe it was that expectations were low because of a new coach and coaching staff in general. I hope that's all it was. Nonetheless, it seems that maybe, just maybe, Danny boy has managed to hire himself a good coach to replace Gibbs. This is no small accomplishment considering the pre-Gibbs debacles under Snyder. At any rate, one could argue that the Redskins have gone 4-1 facing the toughest part of their schedule with three road games against their own division. That suggests a team that is for real and leads one to have hope that they just might make the playoffs again this year. So, Hail to the Redskins, hail, victory! Braves on the warpath, FIGHT for all DC!