Washington Preseason Game 2: The More Things Change . . .

August 23, 2022

by Steve Thomas

. . . the more they stay the same.  Washington’s 14 – 24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs this past Saturday was the result of a lackidasical, sloppy, and uninspired effort.  The starters were down when they left the game for a second week in a row, this time by a score of 14 – 0.  Granted, this was only preseason and therefore doesn’t count towards the 2022 season results, but it raises some issues – the starters have now underperformed for two straight games.  Those of you who are  Redskins Washington Football Team Commanders fans of the team have been understandably upbeat in the weeks leading up to the season, but the truth is that the team hasn’t done much good so far.  It’s concerning, as in my experience good teams usually have their acts together in the preseason, at least on the starter level, whereas teams like Washington usually don’t.  Let’s dive into the issues.

Carson Wentz was mediocre, again

Wentz’s stats against the Chiefs weren’t terrible – he went 6 for 9 for 64 yards, 7.1 yards per attempt, no touchdowns, no interceptions, and an 87.3 quarterback rating.  That’s not a disaster.  Those stats are perfectly decent for two series.  The problem is that the starting offense did essentially nothing under his leadership.  Washington’s starting offense didn’t get into a rhythm in this game, and Wentz didn’t make any plus plays.  He clearly has a decent arm, and I think the questions about his leadership ability are overrated, but on the other hand, nothing we’ve seen from Wentz thusfar suggests that he’s going to be among group of elite, game changing quarterbacks that lead their teams in the playoffs on a regular basis.  Wentz’s story in Washington isn’t written yet, but it’s not off to anything more than average at best.  If Wentz plays in the final preseason game next week, he needs to have at least one solid touchdown drive against the Ravens’ starting defense.

The secondary was awful

The only starter who made an impact and looked like he belonged on the field this past Saturday was Kendall Fuller.  Benjamin St-Juste, in particular, lost battles on more than one occasion.  To me, he looks like his highest and best use may be at the outside position, not in the slot.  Even taking into account that the opposing quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, is one of the best in the league, in general, the starters routinely allowed a significant amount of space in the secondary, particularly in underneath zone.  It did not look like a unit ready to step up to become one of the league’s best.  Will William Jackson ever live up to his contract and become a #1-level corner?  Where’s Kamren Curl been over these past two weeks?  He’s been taken advantage of, too.  Nothing about this group of starters outside of Fuller impressed me this week.  This is a unit whose mission is to provide tight coverage, but which has problems providing tight coverage.  What’s that, you say?  The lack of a pass rush hurt?  You’re right, it did.

What happened to the pass rush?

Where has the fearsome pass rush generated by a group of highly drafted, highly rated linemen who are supposed to form the core of the team been?  Granted, Chase Young is still recovering from his knee injury, but regardless, I expected more than what we saw, and the same goes for last week’s game against Carolina.  Washington’s defensive front was routinely a step too late to interfere with Patrick Mahomes’ process, to borrow a phrase from Kirk Cousins, and made little-to-no impact on the game.  The backups showed some promise, specifically Phidarian Mathis, who continues to impress.  I do give the starters credit for being stingy against the run, keeping the Chiefs ground game from making any noticeable contributions to the game.  That’s a positive development, but, at least for the first two weeks of the preseason, the lack of an impactful and sustained pass rush is perhaps the most disappointing development of so far in this training camp.

The linebackers continue to be mostly MIA

One of the great mysteries of the offseason was Ron Rivera’s puzzling decision to ignore the gaping, Grand Canyon-like hole in the team’s linebacker corps.  I didn’t see either Jamin Davis or Cole Holcomb do much of note against the Chiefs with the exception of one or two plays by Davis, and that impacts the effectiveness of Washington’s porous zone coverage.  Washington is possibly in big trouble at this position, but things are really going to drop off the edge if Davis doesn’t pan out and live up to his draft status.  Rivera’s plan is clearly to proceed with a hybrid safety / linebacker as a full-time starter.  Unfortunately, Landon Collins – who was a good player who was too expensive as compared to the value of his contributions – is gone, so Washington is going to have to hope and pray that one of these young players, Khaleke Hudson or someone else, steps up and can consistently perform at an NFL starter level.  If not, this defense is most likely going to be in trouble.

The return game has produced almost nothing

Paging DeAndre Carter, paging Mr. Carter.  What’s that you say?  He’s not in Washington anymore?  And he signed a one year contract with the Chargers for just $1.135M and only $100K guaranteed?  Oh.

Why Washington let Carter walk for relatively little continues to confuse me.  Washington’s return game has done absolutely nothing in two preseason games.  The team is no doubt praying that one of the 4 or 5 contenders they have on the roster can step up at least a little bit; if not, the team will regret letting Carter go.

The starters need to play in game 3

Let’s start a petition.  Maybe call Washington’s front desk.  Tweet away at Ron Rivera.  Do something, because Rivera needs to be convinced to go against his nature and play the starters for most of game 3 against Baltimore.  They need the work.