Washington downed by Rams 30 – 10
October 11, 2020
by Steve Thomas
Washington laid an egg on both offense and defense today, going down in defeat at home to the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 30 – 10 in a game that featured the start of the Kyle Allen era and Alex Smith’s return to football for the first time in almost two years.
The game began on a negative footing, as Washington went nowhere on their first drive and was forced to punt in their first three and out of the day. Los Angeles drove straight down the field in their first possession on a 10 play, 76 yard drive capped by a Darrell Henderson 3 yard touchdown run. The extra point failed, making the score 6 – 0. Washington was able to respond by going on a 73 yard drive of their own and achieving a rare first quarter touchdown. The highlight of this drive was an 18 yard reception by rookie running back Antonio Gibson that put Washington on the Rams 9 yard line. Gibson then scored the touchdown on a 2 yard run and the score was 7 – 6, which was Washington’s only lead of the day.
The Rams took the lead back on the very next drive with a 56 yard Jared Goff connection to Robert Woods, making the score 13 – 7 early in the second quarter. Washington followed that effort with an ineffective 5 play drive saved from complete failure by a 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalty call against Los Angeles linebacker Justin Hollins. The Rams then promptly increased their lead to 20 – 7 thanks to a 9 play, 83 yard drive that ended with a 2 yard touchdown run by Goff. New starting quarterback Kyle Allen was knocked out of the game with an arm injury with 2:20 left in the half which brought Smith into the game. Smith’s first drive ended in a punt, but he was able to take his first hit without incident. Washington then got a 48 yard field goal on the final play of the first half thanks to Kendall Fuller’s third interception of the year on Washington’s 41 yard line.
The teams traded three and out possessions to start the second half, with Smith going the remainder of the game in relief of Allen. Much of the second half featured more three and outs from both teams, although the Rams were able to tack on a field goal that made the score 23 – 10 with 7 minutes left in the quarter after a 10 play, 70 yard drive that began on their own 20 yard line.
In the fourth quarter, the Rams scored their final touchdown of the game to make the score 30 – 10 with six and a half minutes left in the game. Washington’s offense was completely incompetent for the entire second half and punted on 7 straight series, gaining -6 yards and failing to even earn a first down. The game mercifully ended by a score of 30 – 10.
Washington’s offense mostly stuck with the same largely ineffective and plodding screen and short pass game that they featured against the Ravens last week, this time brought on by a combination of bad weather and terrible blocking across the entire offensive line. In particular, guard Wes Martin was abused by the Rams’ All Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who had 4 sacks and several more pressures on the day. Alex Smith only went downfield a handful of times and looked rusty in doing so, including a deep ball to star receiver Terry McLaurin that was overthrown by about one yard on a play in which McLaurin had beaten the defensive back and was open.
Jared Goff was 21 for 30 for 309 yards passing, with 1 touchdown, 1 interception, and a quarterback rating of 111.7. Los Angeles running back Cam Akers led all rushers with 66 yards on 9 carries for an average of 6.8 yards per carry. Rams tight end Gerald Everett led all receivers with 90 yards on 4 receptions. Receiver Robert Woods earned 4 receptions for 71 yards and one touchdown, while Coper Kupp had 5 receptions for 66 yards.
Washington’s Pro Bowl punter, Tress Way, punted 10 times for a total of 511 yards. In contrast, the Washington offense gained a total of 108 net yards, with just 70 net passing yards and 38 rushing yards. Kyle Allen was 9 for 13 for 74 yards in approximately 27 minutes of action, with no touchdowns and no interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 83.5. Alex Smith went 9 for 17 for 37 yards in his return to game action, also with no touchdowns or interceptions, and had a 58.7 quarterback rating. Allen and Smith were sacked a total of 8 times, Allen with 2 and Smith with 6. Washington’s leading rusher was Antonio Gibson, who had 11 carries for 27 yards and an average of 2.5 yards per carry. J.D. McKissic was the team’s leading receiver, with 6 receptions for 46 yards. McLaurin had a quiet day, with only 3 receptions for 26 yards on 7 targets.
Head coach Ron Rivera indicated after the game that Kyle Allen would return to his starting role next week provided his health allows. Washington faces the New York Giants at the Meadowlands next week at 1:00 pm ET.