The Takeaways, Week 7: Washington at Green Bay

October 25, 2021

by Steve Thomas

Welcome to The Takeaways, week 7 edition, which is The Hog Sty’s effort to provide you with the big picture, “around the watercooler” story lines from each’s week’s Washington football game.  This week, the Redskins Washington went down to the Packers in somewhat unusual fashion, in what ended up being a pretty entertaining game for the objective viewer.  As usual, I’ll discuss the issues that arose during the game here, so read on for The Takeaways.

Taylor Heinicke’s mistakes played a key role in the loss

Heinicke had another mediocre game by many measures, completing 25 of 37 passes for a 67.6% completion percentage – that part is good – for 268 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, plus 95 yards rushing on 10 scrambles.  His major gaffe came in the third quarter when Heinicke inexplicably tried to dive at the goal line on an open scramble to the end zone rather than simply go in standing up.  Instead of scoring, his knee touched the field inside the 1 yard line.  He then fumbled the ball on the next play, which was fourth down, taking what should have been seven points down to zero.  Heinicke also had an interception in the endzone and sailed several balls high, which is a problem he’s had all season, and also had a fumble.  This was not Heinicke’s best game, despite his completion percentage, and his play hurt the team.

Terry McLaurin’s day was both good and bad

It seems strange to suggest that a receiver who had seven receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown could have played better, but this was the situation with McLaurin’s performance against Green Bay.  He dropped a touchdown pass in the end zone when he let the ball go into his chest instead of making the catch with his hands, and then also had another key drop.  McLaurin was targeted a total of 12 times, so he clearly was central to Washington’s game plan, but the two drops were both important in a game in which Washington was on the verge of making this a game on multiple occasions.  Those looking at his stats on paper but did not watch the game will see this as one of his better performances, but that wasn’t the case.  McLaurin has uncharacteristically dropped passes this year that in prior years he caught.  Let’s hope that the second half of the season goes better for him than the first half has so far.  McLaurin had catch percentages of 62.4% and 64.9% in 2019 and 2020, respectively, but is down to 57.9% so far this season.  He needs to do better.

Ricky Seals-Jones is filling in nicely for Logan Thomas

Seals-Jones had 6 receptions in 7 targets for 51 yards against the Packers, and has 18 receptions in 27 targets for 188 yards so far this season, including 17 receptions for 169 yards in the four games since Thomas was hurt in week 3.   He made some significant contributions to the Packers game and seems to have earned Taylor Heinicke’s trust.  In contrast, Logan Thomas had 12 receptions in 14 targets for 117 yards in the first three games of the season before he got hurt.  I’d argue that Seals-Jones is more or less duplicating Thomas’ production.  Interestingly, Fox Sports’ color analyst in the Packers game, former Panthers tight end Greg Olsen, who played for Ron Rivera for most of 9 seasons, mentioned how much Washington tight ends coach Pete Hoener helped his career.  Olsen’s comment made me wonder whether Hoener’s talent as a coach is having a greater impact on his position group than the casual observer might think, in light of Seals-Jones’ success.

This was the defensive line’s best performance

The lack of consistent impact plays by Washington’s vaunted defensive front four has probably been the biggest on-field story of the season for Washington so far.  However, this week’s game against the Packers was their best overall performance of the season.  If they had been facing a lesser quarterback than the reigning league MVP Aaron Rodgers, it is highly likely that the constant pressure, most prominently up the middle from Jonathan Allen, would’ve had a major impact on the success of the opposing offense.  Because he’s an experienced future hall of famer, Rodgers was able to deal with it and quicken up his release as the game went on; regardless, for perhaps the first time this season, Washington’s defensive line was dominant in the first half of the game.  Allen was tied for third place in sacks among defensive tackles heading into this week’s game, so his two sacks this week will likely move him up the list.  Hopefully this performance is a sign of things to come.

The secondary didn’t have many major mistakes

We’ve seen a string of serious coverage busts, mixups, and miscommunications in Washington’s secondary this season, mistakes which have cost the team dearly on several occasions.  This group played much better against Green Bay this week, despite the loss.  While certainly various players were beaten, we didn’t see the sort of major failings that resulted in long touchdowns in prior games this year.  Ron Rivera made a point this week to say that Landon Collins should be playing downhill, more like a linebacker than a safety – something I said two years ago in my film review when he originally signed in Washington – and there’s no doubt that’s his highest and best use.  We saw more of that from Collins, and less of him on the field, this week.  Washington was missing its top corner, William Jackson III.  Frankly, I’m not sure how much the team was hurt by his absence, at least without looking at the All-22 film.  Certainly, Aaron Rodgers found holes in zones, but he’s Aaron Rodgers, and at times the Packers receivers corps beat man coverage, but overall, I found this game to be an improvement.

Bonus Takeaway: Dustin Hopkins Chris Blewitt watch

Blewitt made his inaugural appearance this week, not only for Washington, but also in the NFL.  Before Sunday, he hadn’t made a competitive kick since 2016.  Blewitt went 1 for 2 in field goals, making a 45 yarder and having a 42 yard attempt blocked thanks to what appeared to be a low kick.  He made his lone extra point.

That’s it for this week.  I’ll back back with another edition of The Takeaways after Washington’s matchup with the Denver Broncos next week.