Politics and football

Politics and sports have more than their fair share of superstitions and urban legends. One of my favorites involves the Washington Redskins. The Redskins are a national football team based in Washington, D.C. that has been a reliable indicator of the outcome of the presidential election for almost every election since 1936. If the Redskins win their last home game before election night, history shows that the incumbent party will retain control of the White House. The pattern was broken in 2004 when the incumbent party defeated the challenger in spite of Washington’s loss to Green Bay.

FoxSports and ESPN do a head-to-head analysis at teams scheduled to compete as well as in depth analysis and commentary on the individual teams. To summarize, the Redskins are a far stronger offensive team but the Steelers are a better defensive team. There’s no doubt it’s going to be a great game Monday night. Kickoff is at 8:30 ET.

In case you’re curious, the bookmakers are predicting the Steelers to win by as many as 2.5 points, or less than a field goal.