The Takeaways, week 6: Washington at New York Giants
October 20, 2020
by Steve Thomas
Another week, another loss for Washington. This is becoming pretty ordinary right now, isn’t it? The final score of 20 – 19 was close, at least, but ultimately it still counts as a loss in the standings. I’d love to say that I’m disappointed by these results, but I expected the Giants to win this game, so “resigned” and “slightly numb” are more apt descriptions of my feelings about this contest. This simple truth is that Ron Rivera has not made this team better in any area. It actually seems to be worse in many respects. Once again, we had several key storylines come out of this game to talk about. The Takeaways is my weekly attempt to identify and discuss the key talking points from each game for your discussions around the watercooler with your fellow Redskins Washington fans. Without further ado, here are your Takeaways for week 6:
Kyle Allen looked okay but also cost the team
Allen’s final stat line against the Giants was 31 completions in 42 attempts for 280 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception, and 1 fumble, with a quarterback rating of 97.3. He seemed to be able to progress through his reads at times, not perfectly but probably better than Dwayne Haskins did in his 4 starts (although if Haskins had been given time to actually play and develop, he could’ve gott . . . nevermind), and his quarterback rating was certainly acceptable. However, Allen’s two turnovers were probably the deciding factors in the game, so all was not well. Otherwise, his performance at least looked like a professional effort, so that was encouraging, but at the end of the day the other team got 14 points off of his turnovers. His pure arm talent isn’t anywhere near that of Haskins, and we can have the “please give Haskins time to develop and learn” discussion again if you want, but for the here and now, at least, Allen was decent except for the turnovers. Offensive coordinator Scott Turner clearly trusts him, as Washington had multiple downfield passing attempts on Sunday, compared to only a handful last week against the Rams or week 4 against the Ravens. Allen isn’t ever going to blow anybody away or carry a team by himself, but he can at least run this offense in competent fashion if he can avoid turnovers. That’s a pretty pathetic standard to set, but that’s where we are with this team.
Washington’s running game continues to be a disaster
In this game against the Giants, taking Allen’s 2 scrambles for 8 yards and Isaiah Wright’s 1 carry for 1 yards out, Washington’s running back group collectively had 21 carries for 77 yards, which is 3.7 yards per carry. Sadly, 3.7 yards per carry is actually pretty good by Washington standards. This season, discounting the quarterback scrambles and carries by the wide receivers, the running back group (meaning Antonio Gibson, J.D. McKissic, and Peyton Barber) has rushed for just 406 yards in 119 carries in 6 games, which is just 3.4 yards per attempt, and 5 touchdowns. The only two games in which Washington’s running backs averaged more than 3.7 yards per attempt were in week 2 against the Cardinals (5.0) and week 3 against the Browns (4.1). Raise your hand if you think that’s an acceptable level of production for a winning NFL team. Washington had their Pro Bowl right guard, Brandon Scherff, back this week and while pass protection seemed better, the running lanes didn’t appear to be about the same as they have been, which is to say, nonexistent. Gibson is talented and athletic, but his inexperience shows and he will need time to work on his game and therefore needs a strong offensive line. Thusfar, the coaching staff has been patient with him, which is good (imagine that; pretty ironic). However, nothing is likely going to help the running game this year, so the team will need to make a major move in the offseason to make things better next year.
Dontrelle Inman shows signs of life
Inman had a decent game on Sunday, with 5 receptions in 5 targets for 45 yards, including a couple of important catches that kept some drives alive. This was his most productive game for Washington this season. Considering that the injury bug has bitten Washington’s receiver corps, the fact that Inman stepped up and produced ended up being key to the fact that Washington was in the game right up until the end. Let’s hope that this trend continues and we see more of Inman in the future, because this team needs more than just Terry McLaurin as the only receiving threat.
Daron Payne played his best game
I’ve been fairly critical of the defensive line this season and last, not because they’ve been terrible (they haven’t been), but because I’ve felt that they’ve failed to live up to the expectations of a group loaded with first round draft picks. Against the Giants in a game in which the two defensive ends, Montez Sweat and Chase Young, didn’t do too much, Daron Payne had multiple impact plays and was a force in the running game. He only had 5 tackles in this game, but the contributions of defensive tackles often don’t show up in the stats column. Washington did give up 132 rushing yards, but 74 of those yards were from quarterback Daniel Jones, and that includes his one big run for 49 yards. Granted, the Giants are a poor running team and have a problematic offensive, but a player only plays who’s in front of him. I think Payne had his best game of the season this week. In my view, if the team has to choose between Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne in the 2021 offseason, Payne is the guy to keep.
This was a winnable game
The worst part about this game is that it was winnable. The New York Giants don’t do anything particularly well – they aren’t that good on either side of the ball and were 0 – 5 coming into this week for a reason. Washington truly had a shot at a victory but for the two turnovers by Kyle Allen. If you gain anything from this contest, it should be that Washington’s hierarchy in the NFL’s 2020 season is firmly established – the week one win against Philadelphia was a bit of a fluke, and Washington is a lowest tier bottom feeder. My single biggest disappointment with Ron Rivera isn’t that he benched the quarterback; it’s that his team doesn’t look any better than the 2019 team looked, and in some ways looks worse. A quick unscientific thumbnail survey of the league shows that the worst teams, in no particular order, are probably the Jets, Falcons, Giants, Bengals, Jaguars, and Washington. The Vikings and Texans are also 1 – 5, so if you want to throw them into that group, go ahead, but personally, I think they are a cut above the others, as are the 1 – 4 – 1 Chargers. It’s time to start thinking draft positioning. It seems pretty unlikely that Washington can “Tank for Trevor” well enough to beat the Jets and possibly the Falcons to the bottom, but you never know.
That’s it for The Takeaways for this week. Washington next faces the Dallas Cowboys at Fed Ex Field in what some people will predict will be a blowout, so I’ll be back in a week after that game.