The Takeaways, Week 13: Washington at Las Vegas

December 6, 2021

by Steve Thomas

Welcome to The Takeaways, week 13, which is our ongoing effort to provide you with the big picture, “around the watercooler” story lines from each week’s Washington football game.  This week, the Redskins Washington earned its fourth victory in a row, this time the Las Vegas Raiders, matching their effort of weeks 11 through 14 last season.  This wasn’t necessarily their most celebrated performance, especially on offense, but at the end of the day, they earned the win, and that’s what counts.  I’ll cover it all here in this week’s Takeaways.

The offense wasn’t at their best, but it was good enough

Taylor Heinicke did have a 76.7% completion percentage, which is certainly a great number, but he sailed multiple passes high, and as Fox’s color analyst Greg Olsen pointed out, he threw off of his back foot several times.  Washington’s 17 point output won’t beat many teams, and they were unable to put together many solid drives.  Not only that, but the game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter probably doesn’t happen without the Raiders gifting Washington with multiple critical penalties.  All of that aside, the bottom line is that Washington was able to do just enough to win, particularly with the offense limited by injuries to J.D. McKissic, Logan Thomas, and along the offensive line.  This game was a case of the sum being greater than the parts – nobody really stood out, but the offense somehow ended up being successful anyway.  Let’s hope that things get both healthier and better next week against Dallas.

Logan Thomas’ big day . . . then big injury

Thomas, in his second game back from a fairly serious hamstring injury, was a dominate receiving target against the Raiders, at least for awhile.  He demonstrated why he is such a valuable asset to the offense, making a fabulous touchdown catch of a too-high pass from Taylor Heinicke as well as multiple other contributions, ending up with 3 receptions for 48 yards on 5 targets.  All was well, right up to the time at which he suffered a knee injury in the fourth quarter that took him out for the remainder of the game.  Both ESPN’s Adam Schefter and The Athletic’s Ben Standig reported that Washington fears the injury is serious, but we’ll find out about the true extent of his injury later in the week.  Regardless, if this game proved anything, it was just how valuable Thomas is to Washington’s offense.

Antonio Gibson is a walking contradiction

Gibson pattern seems to be to have one or two big runs per game, and is the player Washington’s coaching staff turns to when then want to try to run the clock out in the fourth quarter.  He’s quietly been one of the most heavily-used running backs in the league – after this game, he now has 206 carries on the season and was ranked 5th by that metric before this game.  Particularly with McKissic’s injury, he truly became the focal point of the offense against the Raiders.  However, the contradiction is that, for all of the benefits he provides, he isn’t consistent: not only did he average 3.8 yards per carry in this game, but his effectiveness waned as the game went on.  Gibson averaged 6.6 yards per carry in the first quarter, but by halftime that was down to 5.4 yards per carry, then 4.0 yards per carry at the end of the third quarter.  He is averaging 3.88 yards per carry this season, including his numbers from this game.  As valuable as he’s been, and as much as he’s improved since the start of last year, 3.88 yards per carry simply isn’t going to be enough.

Jamin Davis finally makes an impact

We haven’t had much of a chance to praise Davis this season because, frankly, he hasn’t made much of an impact so far as compared to his lofty draft status.  Sunday wasn’t a perfect performance, particularly in pass coverage in the first half, but Davis was able to put his elite athleticism and playmaking ability in a way that we haven’t seen much of yet, particularly in run defense.  I don’t necessarily think Davis has proven himself worthy of being a first round pick, but his performance against the Raiders should have given you some hope of what is hopefully to come in his Washington career.

Washington’s corners do their job

Yes, Hunter Renfrow had 102 receiving yards 9 receptions, but a big chunk of those yards came against linebackers or were the result of quality play design by the Raiders coaching staff.  Kendall Fuller and William Jackson III both had fairly good performances and didn’t yield any touchdowns on massive coverage busts.  Fuller, in particular, had a couple of quality pass defenses.  Kudos to Washington’s two starters for a job well done.  The struggles of the early part of the season faded into multiple quality games in a row.  Jackson and Fuller haven’t gotten enough credit for their performance in recent weeks.

Bonus Takeaway: Dustin Hopkins Chris Blewitt Joey Slye Brian Johnson watch

I included this bonus Takeaway mainly because I find some humor in Washington’s continuing ride on the kicker carousel.  Brian Johnson, in his debut with the team, he kicked the game-winning 48 yard field goal and also converted both of his extra points.  Including four games with the Saints, Johnson is 9 for 9 in field goals and 7 for 10 on extra points.

That’s it for this week.  I’ll be back with another edition of The Takeaways after Washington faces the Raiders next Sunday.