The Takeaways, Week 15: Washington at Los Angeles Rams
December 19, 2023
by Steve Thomas
Washington’s tenth loss of the season was a bit bi-polar, honestly. The team played about three and a half quarters of fairly putrid football, but made the game exciting in the fourth quarter. It still resulted in a loss, of course, with the Rams taking the victory by a score of 28 – 20, but at least Washington fans were treated to a bit of excitement for the first time in several weeks. That’s a win, sort of, depending on your perspective, although the Rams could have easily run the score up had they not killed themselves, which would’ve eliminated the end of game excitement. Look, I’m struggling here, okay? The truth is that, despite the comeback, this team is totally done for the year and are just playing out the string until week 18 finally arrives. It’s a sad end to the Ron Rivera era of Washington football, but it appears that’s where we’re headed. However, despite all of that, a few interesting Takeaways came out of this contest, so keep reading.
Sam Howell hits rock bottom, maybe
Howell was replaced by backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett halfway through the fourth quarter. All Brissett did was immediately lead the team on two impressive touchdowns drives. Howell hasn’t been good for several weeks, so it was more than time to give the offense a fresh start. On the day, Howell was 11 for 26 for 102 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, for a quarterback rating of 50.5. That’s terrible, and was his worst game of the season as measured by quarterback rating. Personally, I’ve seen enough of Howell to form a tentative opinion that he isn’t going to be the franchise quarterback that neither the Redskins nor this expansion franchise has needed for 30 years. In my view, Brissett will give Washington a better chance to win some games to finish out the season. Fans may not want that, of course, instead opting to root for as high of a 2024 draft choice as possible. That’s not how players and coaches roll, though. That having been said, head coach Ron Rivera seemed to suggest in his post-game comments that Howell would keep his job, for reasons known only to him.
Massive secondary failures
Washington’s secondary needs to be totally blown up in the offseason. Once again, this group cost the team points, thanks to multiple coverage busts, including one that resulted in a 62 yard touchdown to a wide-open Cooper Kupp. Without seeing the All-22 view of the play, it’s hard to know whether the safety or the corner was at fault, but it was doubtless the fault of some combination of Benjamin St-Juste, Cameron Kurl, or both. Certainly, Curl appeared to completely ignore the fact that Kupp simply ran right past him, uncovered. The point is the same: once again, this group blew it, as they’ve repeatedly done all year. Washington needs to dump every single one of these players in the offseason: the vets, the rookies, everyone, and start over from scratch. The level of incompetence and embarrassment of which this group is capable knows no bounds.
Welcome home, Terry
Terry McLaurin has had a down season, by his standards, until this week. McLaurin had 6 receptions for 141 yards, and 1 touchdown. He also had multiple amazing catches. It was good to see Washington’s best player finally make an impact again, for possibly the first time all season. I can’t decide whether McLaurin’s somewhat mediocre play has been caused by the poor quarterback play, or whether opposing defenses have figured him out; I suspect that it’s some combination of both. Regardless, it was good to see the return of the Terry McLaurin we all know and love. His 141 yards was the most yards in a single game in his entire career.
Khaleke Hudson’s career day
Hudson was another player who had a career day. He had 14 combined tackles, including 8 solo tackles, both career highs. Hudson has been a player who has had a bit of a tough time finding his role in Washington, but on this day, at least, he was a monster. Just by sheer numbers, he made a significant impact on the game, despite the loss. I don’t know whether we’ll see this sort of performance from him again, but it was good to see this kind of results from Hudson, at least for one day.
I’m available for resume consultations, Camaron
I was in favor the team drafting Camaron Cheeseman in the sixth round in 2021, because they needed a new long snapper, and Cheeseman was one of three who were NFL-worthy in that draft. However, I think at this point, everyone has seen enough. Cheeseman has had several bad snaps this season, including two this week. That’s totally unacceptable, particularly for a guy who has one job. The team may not make a move immediately, at least not if they don’t have a better replacement on their radar scope, but it seems to be a virtual guarantee that whoever is in charge this offseason will be on the lookout. If you’re reading this, Camaron, I can help you polish up your resume.
That’s it for this week. Washington travels to New York next week to face the equally-struggling Jets next Sunday.