2021 Theraputic Retrospective, Part 2
January 26, 2022
by Paul Francis
Well, if you didn’t think that was one of the greatest weekends of football in the history of the NFL, I’d like to know what other weekends qualify. From the perspective of a neutral game watcher, the drama of football could not have been better. Every game…EVERY GAME…was a final play walk-off victory. And more than a few of those final drives were CRAZY.
And yet if you are a fan of whatever-the-NFL-team-associated-with-Washington-is-called-at-this-point-in-time, you are wondering in your heart – will that ever be us again? Will we ever be slaying the favorite on the road to get to the Championship game again? Will we ever experience the agony and thrill of losing a lead in the last minute at home, only to regain it with seconds to go and keep the Super Bowl dream alive?
We’re at that part of the season where the ride of the NFL playoffs go on, with Washington fans as casual watchers from the observation deck. While some other fanbases gets to look forward to next week, we are taking time to look back at the 2021 season and engage in some good ole fashion therapy.
Welcome to Part 2 of the 2021 Therapuetic Retrospective. I’ve learned that, as a fan of this team for the long-haul, I need to process the disappointments of each season in order to move forward, otherwise the fan-inside dies a death of a thousand cuts as trauma from each successive mediocre season compiles.
*Exhale*
In Part 1 I described the first 3 games as the beginning of a roller-coaster. For perspective on what would happen from Week 4 to the end of the season:
W-L-L-L-L-W-W-W-W-L-L-L-L-W
Week 4 – Falcons Away
What I remember
I remember going into the game thinking that the defense needed to show up here. I can excuse our guys getting poleaxed against Josh Allen in Buffalo – that’s a legit QB and a tough place to play. But going into cozy Atlanta to play against this would be the bounce-back game. Having 3 games to work out the kinks, this would be the game the defense comes together and establishes the identity we’d been imagining. Despite having some “names” on their roster, Atlanta had mustered 6 and 17 points respectively against fellow NFC Easterners Philly and NYG. The Falcons were certifiably putrid and starting a rebuild.
What Happened
This ended up being the game where our defense was certified as putrid. Washington appeared to employ a bend-then-break philosophy. I recall one play where the Falcons were in shotgun formation on 3rd and 2. Washington’s “defenders” (loosely-used term here) were not only lined up about 7-10 yards off the line of scrimmage, but when the ball got snapped they actually backpedaled. Because on 3rd and 2…you need to make sure those go-routes are covered?
Heinicke hystrionics saved the game. When does a win not feel like a win? After games like this. Our formula for winning a football game was to surrender bunches of points, and then count on Taylor Heinicke heroics to pull out a last-gasp victory. This is the retirement planning equivalent of “let’s win the lottery”. It’s a shame that my growing despair about the defense overshadowed a win, as well as another brilliant performance from Heinicke.
Week 5 – Saints at Home
What I Remember
Streaky team meet streaky team. Going into this one I remember thinking we were matched up against equals. Not so much in the sense of talent/ability, but in the sense of team identity…like, the Saints don’t have one and neither do we. At this point, offseason optimism had fully given way to the hardened cynical Skins fan of old that resides in my heart. This was a game where there was reason to believe we could/should/would win, and yet I’m anticipating disaster.
What Happened
This was the point of the season where reality came crashing in and the inner-cynic got to have his “I told you so” moment with the inner-optimist. An early Holcomb INT gave a flash of false hope, but Jameis Winston would end up producing a very “Jameis Winston” statline, competing only 50% of his passes, but with 4 touchdowns. Those completions were devastating. Washington’s defense produced some of its most memorable low-lights of the year in this one. For example, remember Landon Collins standing flat-footed on a quick snap as Callaway runs past him and catches a deep bomb? The secondary kind-of-sort-of being ready to defend a Hail Mary, except all of our guys forgot to jump and try to defend the ball at the bit of the play where the WR catches it. Heinicke stalled out against another quality defense, and the 33-22 scoreline was closer than it felt.
The aftermath of this one was almost as bad as the what happened on the field. Conflicting accounts from defenders and coaches about what happened on various defensive plays signaled the alarming reality that the defense was not just underperforming, but was utterly clueless. But that should have been apparent to anyone watching the game, right? Because any time you have a defensive alignment that’s asking Landon Collins to play deep single safety at any time, “clueless” is the only thing to say.
Week 6 – Chiefs at Home
What I Remember
To be sure there were some bright spots emerging from the season at this point. Six games in, Terry McLaurin was continuing his career arc as an emerging talent. As well, Taylor Heinicke was providing pockets of evidence that he belongs in the league. Where, exactly, was still being determined, but I was seeing the kind of toughness and rise-to-the-moment gamesmanship in Taylor Heinicke that was making it fun and easy to root for him. However, we were firmly in the driver’s seat of a 2-3 season and facing a stretch of games that I was not feeling great about, beginning with the Week 6 matchup against the Kansas City Patrick Mahomeses.
What Happened
What happened is we lost. The scoreline was something like “lots-of-points” to “not-very-many points”. The game details are foggy to me for 2 reasons. First, this was where I begin to check out of what’s going on with the team. I’m pretty sure the game was on my TV , and I’m pretty sure I was watching bits of it. I’m also pretty sure I was doing emails and calls, vacuuming around the TV room, and wondering what I was going to eat for dinner later on. Second, what happened in the game got overshadowed by what happened around the game. The dysfunction of the team was now showing pretty clearly in the broader organization. This was the week where a hastily-announced memorial for Sean Taylor was rolled out with all the planning and preparation of a last-minute Chuck-E-Cheese birthday party for your 6 year old that snuck up on you. The key moment of the event came when the Taylor family watched sheepishly from the sideline, while Jackson Mahomes was given access by team officials to Tik-Tok on ST21’s painted emblem. Jason Wright’s subsequent apologetic statement for the debacle pretty much encapsulated everything about Week 6 – “To our fans: I’m sorry. We’re sorry. We will do better”. Okay, sure, if you say so.
Week 7 – Packers Away
What I Remember
As if getting embarrassed by both Mahomes brothers at home during a botched ST21 memorial wasn’t already humiliating enough for WFT nation, we get to follow that up with a game away against the Packers. This should be good.
With the team and organization entering its annual midseason crisis, Ron Rivera stepped up and took action. Blood sacrifice would was required as an appeasement, and two heads were offered up as atonement. First to go was Dustin Hopkins. Because when a team is reeling, the kicker is low hanging fruit. Second to go was “Landon Collins the safety”, but he would be reincarnated as “Landon Collins the linebacker”. Because our highest paid defender is a tweener with no real position.
Snark aside, I actually applauded those moves. Dustin Hopkins had been shaky on-and-off for a while, and Landon Collins simply could not play safety. I appreciated that Ron was shaking things up and starting to hold players accountable, and by my estimation those were the first in line.
What Happened.
We lose 24-20. With my attention and interest in games waning heavily at this point, I’ll simply recall 3 quick observations. First is that Landon Collins looked excellent at the linebacker/hybrid position. He led the team in tackles and looked disruptive behind the line of scrimmage. Second is that when you replace your shaky kicker with a guy named “Blewitt”, you should expect what’s coming. Third is that Terry McLaurin continued to be lone bright spot that I look forward to seeing on Sundays.
Week 8 – Away at Broncos
Did this game happen? I literally have no recollection that it did, but ESPN.com is telling me that we lost 17-10. Did I mention also that my interest in the Washington Team was severely waning?
So there it is. We’re about halfway through season riding a 4-game losing streak and sitting at 2-6. I’m at the point of indifference. It’s that place in the season I’m all-too familiar with, where my fantasy football team is more important than my actual real-life team. I’m not really mad at the season, and I’m just finding other things to do on Sunday afternoons…