The Takeaways, Week 11 Edition: Jets at Redskins
November 19, 2019
by Steve Thomas
The Washington Redskins suffered their worst loss of the season this past Sunday – probably their worst in many years – to the previously suffering New York Jets by an embarrassing score of 34 – 17, with 14 of the 17 team’s points coming late in garbage time. This certainly wasn’t the way anybody wanted to see this team come back from their bye week, at home against a 1 – 8 team that rivals the even the Redskins in systematic dysfunction. The fans had a right to expect much more than the absolute dreck that Washington rolled onto the field against a team that has only won two games all year. Not much good can be gleaned from this contest, for sure, but there is certainly quite a bit to talk about, and that’s always good for The Takeaways, so without further ado, let’s get into it.
The Redskins humiliated themselves on Sunday
I said on our postgame episode of The Hog Sty that this game might be the lowest point of the worst Redskins season of my lifetime. There’s always next week, so it could definitely get lower, but Washington came out and laid a rotten egg against an opponent that, on paper at least, they probably should’ve beaten. It’s more than just the fact that they lost a game – they were never in this game at all, starting from the first quarter. Not one unit on this team should be proud of what they accomplished this week. Every aspect of this game was bad. The Redskins were absolutely humiliated, and nothing we’ve seen since Sunday suggests that the leaders of this organization, Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen, have any understanding that they are the root of the problem and that the entire franchise needs to be rebuilt from the ground up, starting with the team president. Bruce Allen should’ve been run out of town years ago, but he somehow always survives, like a cockroach that just won’t die.
Dwayne Haskins was bad, but it definitely wasn’t all on him
There’s no getting around the fact that Haskins did not play well. As a general thought, he didn’t look ready for the type of exotic blitzes that the Jets were throwing at him. Haskins didn’t move well in the pocket and his mechanics got out of wack under pressure. It was not a good performance, and most of his yardage came in garbage time. Haskins was 12 for 20 for 75 yards at the end of the third quarter, but finished 19 for 35 for 214 yards and two touchdowns. To be fair, his interception seemed to be more on Trey Quinn that Haskins, as Quinn for some reason started moving again right as Haskins released the ball, allowing the pass to go directly to the defender. If you ask me to give Haskins a Rick Snider-style grade, I’d say that he deserves a D+. That having been said, there’s no excusing the performance that the offensive line put on film this week. That group did Haskins no favors at all; they allowed 6 sacks, most of which being their fault, turned Jets’ safety Jamal Adams into an unblockable hall of famer, couldn’t run block to save their lives, had two stupid penalties in one play that caused the early 67 yard pass to Terry McLaurin to be called back, and center Chase Roullier uncharacteristically had several bad snaps. For their part, the tight ends and receivers seemingly dropped practically every other pass, including several that hit the receiver dead in the hands. So, while Haskins didn’t play well, the players around him were worse. The good news is that, in my view, most of Haskins’ problems stemmed more from inexperience than anything else, and that will get better in time. On the good side, we did see his elite arm strength and his existing connection with Terry McLaurin. For all of you “Haskins stinks, draft Burrow” people, I say: R-E-L-A-X and give this kid a chance to improve. He’s dealing with an unwinnable situation right now. I still believe in his talent and so should you. The man has played a total of just 12 quarters of NFL football. He deserves some time before you have him tarred and feathered.
The players on this defense just aren’t what we thought they were
At some point the team and the fanbase has to admit that the sky-high defensive expectations from the offseason were way off base. This group of players just isn’t getting it done, not the defensive line, not the linebackers, and especially not the defensive backfield. As simply as I can state it, this is a bad defense that was overrated from the start. It’s not that there isn’t some talent here and there – Quinton Dunbar, Matt Ioannidis, and Landon Collins in particular have stood out – but all of these players get beaten one on one way too much, even the defensive line that was supposed to be the biggest strength of the team. The Jets, who were previously one of the most unsuccessful run teams in the league, put up 115 yards on Sunday. No, the defense isn’t the total trainwreck that the offense has become, but it isn’t the strength of the team like most thought it would be and needs to be blown up in the offseason just like the offense.
The coaching staff made a bad team worse
Good lord almighty, these coaches are bad. It’s like defensive coordinator Greg Manusky only knows one defensive scheme and is clueless about how to adjust during the game. Blitzing Sam Darnold and making him uncomfortable early was mandatory, and yet the gameplan seemed to be just to rush four at most and play in a soft zone just like every other game. And what on earth is defensive backfield coach Ray Horton telling his players? That group looks like they don’t know how to play football at an NFL level anymore. They blow basic coverages and act like they have no idea what to do on a regular basis. I’m here to tell you, it isn’t just Josh Norman. For the love of god, do something, Manusky. Take some of these players out and replace them. We saw a bit of hope in the latter part of the game when the starting corners were benched, although it was too little, too late. On the offensive side of the ball, I understand that Bill Callahan’s general idea for his gameplans is to keep this team in a slugfest until the end and with a little luck win some close ones, but it isn’t working. Also, at some point, you’d think the offensive coordinator would realize that protection adjustments needed to be made to account for Jamal Adams, but did we see anything? Of course not. He was allowed to continue to terrorize Haskins for basically the entire game. As bad as the players have played, this coaching staff continues to do them no favors. If the players collectively get an “F” grade today, the coaches get an “F-”. Does that grade exist?
The core of Haskins, Derrius Guice, and Terry McLaurin has potential
Terry McLaurin once again was a stud on Sunday, looking every bit like an elite #1 receiver. All he needs is a good team around him. Derrius Guice did bring an energy to the offense that had been lacking, and as I said above, for all of his problems, Haskins showed his arm talent. The Redskins might just have the very early genesis of a core group of future playmakers in those three, if team leadership and the coaching staff can manage to not screw them up and ruin them. Screwing them up is frankly the most likely outcome, but I’d like to think that maybe upper management and next year’s coaches can get their act together and support and develop these three guys. I’m probably just dreaming.
The Redskins next loss will come at home against the Detroit Lions next Sunday, so I’ll be back with another thrilling edition of The Takeaways then.