2021 Retrospective Journey – Part 3
February 9, 2022
by Paul Francis
Last week served as a momentous turning point for Washington-linked football fans. The organization finished writing a significant chapter in its history, as the transformation from Redskins to Washington Football Team to Commanders took place. It wasn’t exactly an eager drum-roll moment for me, as this process suffered from a lengthy drawn-out leaked build up.
But regardless of how we got here, we are here. It’s turned into a moment of reflection, nostalgia and reckoning for fans as we process how we are going to feel about the past history of our organization, even as we move forward. We recognize as fans that the change in the organization is a lot more than the technical aspects of names, logos and uniform designs. There is something emotional that shifts along with it.
Past reckoning. Turning points. Emotional shifts. This is why I’m taking a retrospective journey through the 2021 season. While the mock drafts, fantasy trade scenarios, and free-agent wish lists gear up, I need to take some important moments to reflect on what happened this past season before fully engaging what is ahead. And from this fan’s view, that reflection is more than just a technical breakdown of plays, positions, and personnel. It’s purging the usual disappointments and delusions that come with being a Red…errr…Wash…errr…Commanders fan, and rediscovering the spark for believing that the season to come is worthwhile.
So we resume!
In Part 2, we left off at a low point in Week 8. We are 2-6. Like a weak toilet swirl that’s barely powerful enough to flush the mess, the Team was riding a slowly developing 4-game losing streak with the season crumbling before our eyes. I’m indifferent, mostly checked out, and finding other more important things to do on Sundays like grocery shopping, nail clipping and bill paying. Enter Week 9…
Week 9 – Bye Week
I was so checked out of the season that I didn’t realize Week 9 was a bye. I vaguely recall asking my son sometime on Saturday who we were playing, and he reminded me we didn’t have a game. I think I sighed with relief. “Bye” was the perfect description in the moment, because that’s basically what I felt like saying to the 2021 season.
Week 10 – Tampa Bay at home
What I Remember
Continuing with the “I’m checked out for the season” theme, I remember going into this Tampa Bay game with zero inclination to watch it. Previous lack of interest in games was largely due to indifference, but this was deliberate avoidance. The GOAT and the defending Superbowl champs coming to play our guys riding a 4-game losing streak – yeah, like I’m going to carve out 3 hours of my day to sit down and watch that.
In fact, I planned for the family to have lunch with some friends and colleagues that afternoon out at a restaurant. My son put up a mild protest, mentioning that the game would be on. I reassured him that there would likely be some TVs in the place if he really really wanted to torture himself.
What Happened
It started out with me focused on the friends and colleagues making conversation at the restaurant table while taking casual glances up at the TV at the bar. It ended with me and my son glued to our own little bar-table laughing and high-fiving at the game, while taking casual glances over at the friends and colleagues conversing back at the restaurant table.
I kid you not when I say that I cannot recall the last time I saw a Washington team put together such a complete performance against any opponent – and this was not just any opponent. This was the GOAT and the defending Super Bowl champs. From start to finish, without skipping a beat, the Team delivered a poised and postured win. We set the tone with some early INTs, took a lead, and held it the entire game. We made timely stops on 3rd downs, forced critical turnovers, made plays on special teams, and delivered a glorious soul-crushing 10-minute TD-scoring drive in the 4th quarter to strangle the game and win 29-19. The cherry on top for the hater-inside was seeing Tawmmy have a little tiff at the media afterwards. Perfect.
Week 11 – Carolina Panthers Away
What I Remember
I remember thinking 2 things going into this game. First, which Team was going to show up? That team that played against Tampa Bay was a different team than I’d seen all season. It was the perfect snapshot of everything we were supposed to be. The defense was lockdown and set the tone from the first drive. The offense was efficient and effective at controlling the clock and moving the sticks. Special teams was doing its part to keep things glued together without any gaffes that hand momentum back to the opponent. Are those guys going to take the field?
Second, I remember all the hubbub surrounding Cam Newton’s return to Carolina. I remember plaudits from pundits and talk of Newton leading Carolina back to the playoffs. I remember chats of Panther redemption. And I remember thinking “Am I taking crazy pills?” Cam Newton had royally sucked since 2018 and even for a couple years before that, you’d have been hard-pressed to say he was “good”. So I felt like this game was there for the taking. I liked the matchup with guarded optimism. But even more than that, I was interested.
What Happened
Cam Newton actually did a lot better in the game than I thought he would. He put up a good fight, but the reborn Washington Football Team delivered. It was a close affair, but great to see the Team step up when it mattered. Joey Slye hit a couple of clutch FGs in the 4th quarter, and with the Panthers having a shot to win, the defense stood tall and sacked Newton on a game-clinching 4th down play. It wasn’t the all-around performance we saw against Tampa Bay, but it was definitely that “version” of the team that showed. A win on the road to deliver our first set of back-to-back victories was nothing to complain about. Golf-clap for Ron Rivera, who got a “homecoming” win. Onward.
Week 12 – Seattle Seahawks at Home
What I Remember
We were catching a whiff of positive momentum at the perfect time for me, because this was a game that I was planning to attend in-person with my son. I was going to relish this experience no matter what, but having it come with the good vibes of a 2-game win streak was even better. The end of the Green Lot on a November 29th evening, with the wind whipping across a mostly-barren concrete plain was memorably cold. But it didn’t stop me and the boy from enjoying some tailgating and pre-gaming as we should. I also remember feeling an odd sensation that I had not experienced for some time – a feeling like we should win this one. The Seahawks were reeling, and we were playing well. They had to travel across the country and meet us on our own turf. So the advantages were all ours notwithstanding that it was a Monday Night Football Prime Time game, but didn’t we shake that prime time curse off on TNF against the Giants? We did. I was there. And we’re going to do it again.
What Happened
I don’t know which one was more bonkers – this game or that TNF Giants game I attended with my daughter. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two for me was the feeling throughout. During the Giants game, I kept feeling like “I can’t believe we might win this.” During the Seahawks game I kept feeling like “I can’t believe we might lose this”. Despite dominating the Seahawks in almost every measurable way, it came down to an overturned-onside-kick in the last minute of the 4th quarter. To be sure, it should have never been that close. The key event was losing Joey Slye for most of the game on one of the weirder special teams plays you will ever see. That changed the balance of the game big-time and prevented us from padding the lead with field goal possibilities, which kept the score down. But it ended with the all-important “W” and a three – count’em THREE – game win streak. Another Fed Ex visit, another happy victory march out to the Green Lot, and another awesome family memory. Good times.
Week 13 – Las Vegas, Away
What I Remember
The good vibes I was feeling about a 3-game win streak were not enough to carry over into this one. Truth be told, I guess the cynic in me was looming and reminding me that “it’s going to end at some point”. I thought it would end here. We had to travel West on a short week, we were carrying some key injuries into this game (especially at kicker), and I felt like the Las Vegas Raiders were sneaky-good despite all the turmoil they’d been experiencing as an organization.
What Happened
This was one of those instances when I was very happy to be wrong. Unlike the previous performances, Washington had to come back to get a late lead and then make a stand with less than a minute to prevent one of the league’s best kickers (Dan Carlson) from sniffing FG range. It was a gutsy, hard-earned, well-fought 17-15 road win that featured guys all over the roster stepping up, including our 3rd featured kicker of the season Brian Johnson. The team’s identity seemed locked in, and it was bearing fruit. An ugly win is still a win, and sometimes they are the prettiest in football, especially when you aren’t expecting them.
In Conclusion
What a difference a month makes. Starting Week 10, I was effectively done with the 2021 season. Now a 4-game win streak later, we are somehow 6-6 with the Team going into a critical stretch of divisional games and a pathway to the playoffs. How absurd is that? Moreover, it was encouraging to see the character of the team emerge. The defense had finally become what I was hoping they would be – AND doing it without Chase Young and Montez Sweat. The offense found a workman-like identity behind the loveable and courageous Taylor Heinicke. Though it was becoming increasingly clear that he’s no long term solution as a starting quarterback, he at least made me feel like “we have a chance”.
Credit had to go to Ron Rivera and the coaching staff as well. They were on the receiving end of some pretty hefty and deserved criticism to start the year, but it was clear to me that they’d instilled a level of guts and passion into the group that had hints of Joe Gibbs. Two seasons in a row, just when it seemed like the Team was at a folding point, the group mustered 4-game win streaks to make late season football meaningful. How meaningful? Well that’s for us to recall in Part 4 of our Retrospective Journey. To be concluded….