The Takeaways, Week 8: Philadelphia Eagles at Washington
October 31, 2023
by Steve Thomas
Washington continued its unbroken “on-off” streak of performance this week, with a solid performance against the Super Bowl-contending Eagles in a game in which the conclusion came down to near the end of the fourth quarter. It was good to see that the team did not surrender on the season after last week’s debacle. They had a legit chance to win this game, albeit due in part to some uncharacteristic ill-timed fumbles in the red zone by the Eagles, including one inside the 1 yard line, so they have reason to be pleased with their performance despite the loss. It’s impossible to know whether Washington can keep up this level of offensive output, because, again, they’ve had a history of on, then off, then on again performance all season. We’ll see. For now, though, this was a fairly productive game despite the ultimate outcome. My Takeaways for this week are below.
Sam Howell’s best game, with an asterisk
Howell went 39 for 52 for 397 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception, for a quarterback rating of 114.0. His total pass attempts, total passing yardage, and number of touchdown passes were all career highs. More importantly, he looked much sharper this week than he was against the Giants last week. Howell didn’t make too many misreads, was anticipating routes like he hasn’t always done, and was able to get rid of the ball in a timely manner for once, all things that he hasn’t been able to do with any sort of consistency this season. I used the word “asterisk” in the title because his interception was devastating to Washington’s attempt to score a touchdown and re-take the lead. It was a bad, off-target pass, and while it doesn’t change the nature of Howell’s efforts throughout the game, I hesitate to give him too much praise as a result.
Jahan Dotson’s best game, without an asterisk
There was no debate about Dotson’s performance, with 8 receptions in 10 targets for 108 yards and a touchdown. This was the kind of performance that the team expected when they spent a first round draft pick on him in the 2022 draft. Plus, this wasn’t just a case of the Eagles diverting all of their secondary resources to cover Terry McLaurin, either; Dotson was able to repeatedly get open and made some great catches. Congrats on a job well done, Jahan. Irrespective of all of the other issues with this roster, it is undeniable that Washington’s receiving corps is above average, at a minimum.
The offensive line learns how to pass block
Hell froze over on Sunday, which changed the innerworkings of the universe and caused Washington’s offensive line to not stink, for the first time all season. They were aided tremendously by both Howell’s improvement in his release times and Washington’s use of screen plays and short routes this week, but the line also simply blocked better this week. The pocket wasn’t a trainwreck for most of the day like it’s been in previous weeks, particularly against the Giants. It may not have been an accident that this increase in performance came in the week that the coaches benched center Nick Gates in favor of Tyler Larsen, as well as injured guard being Saahdiq Charles replaced by Chris Paul. I looked forward to hearing from the experts later this week opine on whether Larsen, in particular, made protection calls that Gates missed, because the protection felt very different this week, in a good way.
Former running back Eric Bieniemy hates running backs
Bieniemy called 53 pass attempts and a combined 12 carries for Brian Robinson Jr and Antonio Gibson, with Chris Rodriguez getting shut out entirely. For those who are math-deficient, the team ran the ball approximately 18% of the time this week, in spite of the fact that Robinson averaged 5.9 yards per carry on a 10 for 59 yard day, with Gibson at an encouraging 2 for 14. Washington needs to run the ball far more than Bieniemy lets them. Full stop. He doesn’t seem to understand that Washington needs to (a) run the clock more and keep opposing offenses off the clock, (b) help out its young quarterback, who before this week has been absolutely terrorized in the pocket all year, and (c) play more to the strength in their ground game. I’m sorry, because this probably isn’t going to be a popular opinion, but I’m less than impressed with Eric Bieniemy, and I don’t think he’s a particularly good playcaller. That having been said, I do give him credit for at least calling more short routes and screens this week, but still: he isn’t all that he’s cracked up to be.
A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith burn Washington
These two burned Washington’s secondary for a combined 15 catches in 15 targets for 229 yards and 3 touchdowns. In other words, Washington’s secondary didn’t slow either one of them down in any way. Yikes. Granted, it didn’t help that Washington’s vaunted defensive front four and award-winning linebacker group got virtually no pressure on Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, but that doesn’t let the secondary off the hook. They knew that those two players were the key to Philadelphia’s aerial attack, and they simply couldn’t stop them, which in turn was in no small part responsible for Washington’s loss.
That’s it for this week. Washington has a chance to right the ship next Sunday when they face the New England Patriots up in Foxboro next Sunday.