The Takeaways, week 11: Washington at Dallas Cowboys
November 27, 2023
by Steve Thomas
This game went about as the fans expected, overall, as Washington was blown out by their archrival nemesis, the Dallas Cowboys. I changed my mind about using the term “archrival”, because let’s be honest: a team which has a .624 winning percentage against you in 125 games, including 14 of the last 20, isn’t a “rival” in the traditional sense. That word implies competition on both sides, and frankly, that’s not what Washington has been to the Cowboys for a long time. Being a resident of Texas, I can tell you that Cowboys fans look at Washington games as a probable victories, not as a competitive rivalry. That can change, and it hopefully will soon, but such was not the case Thursday in this year’s Thanksgiving game. I will say, though, that the final score of 45 – 10 does not accurately reflect the truth about this game, which was only a 20 – 10 contest at the start of the fourth quarter. It was only at that point that the training wheels really fell off of the bicycle. My job with this column is to give my instant, off the cuff – in this case, one day later qualifies as “instant” – thoughts about what happened. Here we go:
Bye-bye, Jack
We all awoke on Friday morning to the news that now-former defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio was fired Friday morning, along with defensive backs coach Brent Viselmeyer. I mean . . . okay, I guess. Supposedly, Ron Rivera will be making the defensive calls himself for the rest of the season, so get ready for great things. You believe that, right? I’m not opposed to these moves, but let’s just say that I have my doubts about the ultimate impact they’ll have. Look, certainly Washington’s defense has underperformed, and as the leader, Del Rio is responsible, but the failures of this defense in 2023 are at least equally, if not more, the fault of the way this roster was constructed and the underperformance of key players as it is the coaching. The general manager, Rivera, set up the head coach, Rivera, to fail with a series of misguided drafts and questionable free agent signings that left large, obvious, gaping holes in the roster and a series of players who were poor fits for what the teams wants to accomplish. None of those things are on Del Rio, at least directly, and his dismissal, while somewhat cathartic for the fanbase, is going to solve exactly nothing for the remainder of the season. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t think he’s done a good job as the head of the defense, and neither has Viselmeyer, certainly, but this isn’t a panacea. Major changes need to happen and are most likely around the corner, so get ready.
Secondary problems
Let me just say: this secondary stinks, which is a shame considering that the team made a significant financial free agency investment in a corner, Kendall Fuller, and then spent their top two 2023 draft picks on more corners. Somewhat surprisingly, CeeDee Lamb had a quiet game, but he definitely had his moments, as did many other Cowboys receivers. I repeatedly saw Washington secondary members either out of position, or simply get beat one on one, both of which having been common occurrences during this entire season. In my view, these players aren’t impact players by NFL standards. Coaching can fix some of this, such as the brilliant idea to line up the likes of Martavius Martin on Lamb in press-man coverage with no safety help, but for the most part, Washington’s secondary either made mistakes or got beat on Thursday, and it ended up playing a significant role in the loss.
Pass rush problems
Washington had zero sacks on Dak Prescott this week. Not only that, but Prescott was mostly unthreatened for most of the game, which allowed him a comfortable amount of time to pick apart Washington’s secondary. I don’t necessarily think Chase Young and Montez Sweat were the most important factors here, as Washington managed 9 sacks against the Giants last week; no, the problem here is that Dallas’ offense line is quite a bit better than Washington’s defensive front and their linebackers. Dallas put significant resources into its offensive line, and it shows. Washington has done the same thing with its defensive line, courtesy of Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne. Those two, though, need to be called out: neither one made a big impact on this game. For that matter, both have underwhelmed most of the year. Payne has had his moments, but Allen has mostly been a ghost. It’s high time those two highly-paid players start earning their contracts. They certainly did not do so against Dallas on Thursday afternoon. The non Sweat and Young defensive ends similarly made little impact; the difference is that they aren’t on huge contracts.
Eric Bieniemy sucks
Eric Bieniemy is not the answer to Washington’s problems. His offense is drastically unbalanced and has been ineffective for large stretches of the season. As I’ve repeatedly emphasized in this column and throughout The Hog Sty Podcast’s existence, the players themselves need to take their share of the blame. It isn’t Bieniemy’s fault when linemen can’t block, receivers can’t catch, and quarterbacks throw interceptions. They having been said, Bieniemy didn’t make his team better on Thursday, and, call me crazy, but I don’t think he’s been a particularly noteworthy asset for this entire season. The team needs to move on to the future at the end of the year.
Don’t forget about the punt return game
We’ve spent very little time discussing the punt return game on The Hog Sty Podcast recently, and I don’t think I’ve mentioned special teams even once this season in The Takeaways. This week, Washington had two punt returns, both by Jamison Crowder, for a grand total of 9 yards. On the season, Washington has 28 returns for 207 total yards, for an average of 7.4 yards per return, which is ranked 27th in the NFL. This is terrible, and in the case of this contest against Dallas, it put Washington in a hole on both of those drives. Finding a punt returner who consistently do well is a challenge at which Washington has been unable to succeed for any length of time for many years, with the exception of Brandon Banks more than a decade ago. It matters, Washington leadership, and it mattered against Dallas. Do better in 2024.
That’s it for this week. Washington gets blown out by faces the first place Miami Dolphins in Raljon next Sunday.