The Takeaways, week 11: Cincinnati at Washington
November 22, 2020
by Steve Thomas
Washington finally got another victory! It’s time to celebrate! Seriously, this is only win number three, so take the opportunity while you can. I’m not sure if it’s really a sign of things to come given that Cincinnati is a bad team that got worse as a result of the injury to quarterback Joe Burrow, but a win is always fun. Washington was able to stick it to someone, bad team or not, and that’s a good thing. The fact that Washington is winning against the NFL’s worst tells me that at a minimum, they probably aren’t in that group. Incredibly enough, Washington is somehow in the middle of a division title race at 3 – 7, as crazy as that sounds – wake me up when the team has a record approaching .500 and I’ll be more excited about the division race. If someone can think of a worse division any time in the recent history of the NFL than the 2020 NFC East, please speak up and let me know, because off the top of my head, I don’t have any ideas. Regardless, we have plenty of material for this week’s edition of The Takeaways, which is my weekly effort to provide you with the “around the watercooler” talking points from the weekly Redskins Washington game. So without further ado, let’s get started.
The defensive line dominated in the second half
I’ve repeatedly criticized this unit in this space both his season and last, so it’s only fair to give them some praise when they do well. The defensive line as a whole really took control of this game in the second half after Joe Burrow down with his injury. The Bengals’ backup quarterback, Ryan Finley, couldn’t get anything going thanks to the aggressive pass rush in the third and fourth quarters. Finley was sacked four times in less than two full quarters. Washington also shut down Cincinnati’s running game, surrendering only 70 yards for an average of just 3.9 yards per carry. To be fair, the defensive line was not nearly as successful in the first half – they were essentially unable to get to, or even slow down, Burrow in any noticeable way, so my praise is limited to the second half. It is progress, though. Now it’s time for Washington to actually put together a full four quarters of dominance up front. We’ll see if they can do it.
The running game found its groove
Washington’s running back group, Antonio Gibson, J.D. McKissic, and Peyton Barber, had their second-best game of the season this week, putting up a total of 165 yards in 30 carries for an average of 55 yards per carry. Much of this yardage came on the edges on misdirection plays rather than in the interior gaps. I’m not sure if that plan is going to work against a better defense – remember, the Bengals had the second-worst run defense in the league behind Dallas and most teams have faster, better linebackers than does Cincinnati – but at least for this week, offensive coordinator Scott Turner found his groove, recognizing that the Bengals had a weakness on the edge and exploiting it. Winning in the NFL is much easier with an effective running game, and on Sunday Washington was able to get the job done. Ultimately, they are going to have to be able to get some interior yardage, but that’s probably a discussion best saved for another day. What matters is that the running game produced results this week.
Ronald Darby continues to impress
Washington cornerback Ronald Darby had an impressive day against the Bengals, racking up 4 pass defenses and playing tight coverage throughout the game. Burrow did most of his damage underneath, which was a problem, but most of the time Darby had his man properly covered. Darby was in the middle of several important pass break ups on Sunday. I’d like to see the defensive coaching staff allow Darby some more opportunities at one on one man coverage, as that would provide opportunities for Washington’s defense if Darby can be successful at it. I was skeptical at the beginning of the season whether Darby would be able to prove himself worthy of a long term deal, but he’s probably been Washington’s best surprise and success story this season. The front office should do what they can to bring him back next season, because they certainly don’t need to create a hole on defense where one doesn’t exist.
Morgan Moses looked pretty good at left tackle
Moses played his first professional game at the left tackle position thanks to the M*A*S*H unit that is Washington’s tackle group, and he did well for the most part. I don’t know whether Cornelius Lucas can be ready to go against Dallas since the next game is on Thanksgiving Day this Thursday (thanks for that, NFL, again), so I think it’s more likely than not that Moses will line up on the left side for one more game. The Bengals did have 5 quarterback hits and 2 sacks, which isn’t nothing but Moses wasn’t a disaster, and that’s a victory given what could have been. Also, as I mentioned above, Washington’s running backs did significant damage on the edges this week, and Moses played a role in that effort as well. Moses’ 2020 season has been his strongest campaign in several years, and it was good to see him step up for his team and do well once again.
Alex Smith became Alex Smith again
I don’t necessarily mean this in a negative way. Smith’s 55 pass effort against the Lions last week was a statistical anomaly for him, and 17 for 25 for 166 yards is more along the lines of the “game manager” territory at which historically Smith excels. I can’t put much blame on him for his interception this week since the ball took a crazy arc right into the hands of the Bengals defender, Jessie Bates III, after getting tipped at the line of scrimmage. Smith didn’t have a spectacular effort, as several drives went nowhere and stalled, and 20 points isn’t going to get it done against good teams. However, if Washington’s defense gets better and the team can actually maintain some semblance of a running game as they did against Cincinnati, then they can probably live with this sort of effort from Smith. He isn’t going to get them to the Super Bowl like this, or even to the playoffs, barring a miracle, but that wasn’t Washington’s destiny this season regardless of who is under center. It’s just good see the NFL’s 2020 Comeback Player of the Year have another positive, injury-free winning effort.
Bonus: Dustin Hopkins tracker
Hopkins missed another kick against the Bengals, this time a 38 yard chip shot. He was 2 for 3 on the day and is 14 for 20 on the season, which is a 70% success rate. We’ll keep up the Hopkins tracker in future installments of The Takeaways.
That’s it for this week, everyone. I’ll be back with another edition after Washington’s game against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.