The Takeaways, Week 16: Washington at New York Jets
December 26, 2023
by Steve Thomas
That was close – for those of you rooting for a Washington victory, you can thank the defense for allowing the Jets to get a last-second, game winning field goal. If you were choosing to root for Washington’s draft position, you probably suffered a Jacoby Brissett-induced heart attack. Either way, this game was utterly uninteresting until Ron Rivera chose to replace former starter Sam Howell with future starter Jacoby Brissett. It was at that point that Washington began to resemble an NFL team for the first time all day, whether because of Brissett or not. The last quarter and a half become an exciting affair, but the end result was a Jets victory. Given Washington’s upcoming schedule, brings a high likelihood of a top 5 pick. We’ll get into all of this below in this week’s edition of The Takeaways.
Thanks for your service, Mr. Howell
Sam Howell is done in Washington – d – u – n, done. He has arm talent and athletic ability, and can create off script, but it just isn’t working for him. Howell did have a few quality games in the first half of the season, but he’s dropped off the metaphorical cliff in the second half of the season, with the capper being his performance this week against New York. In this game, Howell was 6 for 22 for 56 yards, with no touchdowns, and 2 interceptions, for a quarterback rating of 1.7. Sorry, that was a typo . . . wait, that isn’t a typo. His quarterback rating really was 1.7. He looked rattled and out of sorts, and was inaccurate. More importantly, I’m not sure that the players still believe in his anymore. I don’t have any objective evidence for this contention; just a feeling based on how the team looked when Jacoby Brissett came into the game. Even given the fact that, at 27 – 7, the game seemed out of reach when he entered the game, which probably had an effect on the Jets’ defense, nevertheless, it was a stark difference for the second week in a row. For the record, Washington has scored touchdowns on 5 of the 7 drives for which Brissett was under center. If you subtract the final play of this game, then Brissett’s success rate rises to 5 of 6 legitimate drives. Last week, Rivera clearly stated in his postgame comments that Howell was the starter going forward; this week, according to ESPN’s John Keim, Rivera said that “they’ll make a decision on the QB early in the week.” It’s over, kids.
Coaching failures
Washington looked completely unprepared and out of sorts in nearly every way to start this game. That’s a coaching failure, which isn’t exactly a revelation. However, it seemed like Washington was less prepared in this game than in any other game this season. I can’t imagine that there’s any scenario in which Rivera keeps his job, either as head coach or as general manager. His entire staff is going to go with him. The only thing that’s a bit interesting is that offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s offense has looked much, much better with Brissett at the helm; it’s almost as though Bieniemy might not have been such a huge disappoint if he had a better quarterback and talent. That, of course, makes sense given that he came from Kansas City. It’s a moot point, though, because when Rivera gets fired, his staff is going to go with him. Don’t get me wrong – if Harris makes the decision before the end of the season, the staff will finish out the remaining two games, because someone has to be in charge, but they are all goners by the end of the year.
Chris Rodriguez may have a future in Washington
Rodriguez hasn’t had many opportunities before this game, but he’s made the most of the chances he’s received. With Brian Robinson inactive due to injury, Rodriguez got the start and produced in a big way, with 10 carries for 58 yards, which equates to 5.8 yards per carry, and 2 touchdowns, against a quality Jets defense that had given up only 4.0 yards per carry this year. Call me crazy, but in my opinion, Rodriguez is the best running back on the team and deserves to be permanently elevated to first string, regardless of Robinson’s health status. Rodriguez seems to have the best vision in the interior of any of Washington’s running backs. He runs hard and has a knack for at gaining yards even on plays without much running room. To me, Rodriguez has showed this year that he has a bright NFL future. He’s one player who the next staff not only needs to keep, but to elevate, next season.
Khaleke Hudson has a career day, again
Honestly, when I wrote last week that Khaleke Hudson had a career day last week, I thought that it would probably be the last time I mentioned him this season. Hudson, however, proved me wrong, and had yet another career day against the Jets, with 15 total tackles, including 10 solo. He hasn’t gotten much of a chance since he’s been drafted, for a variety of reasons, but he’s taken advantage of his opportunities over the last two weeks. Injuries to Washington’s substandard linebacker group have allowed him to get significant playing time, and Hudson has produced. Don’t get me wrong: Washington still needs to have a massive overhaul of this position group in the offseason, but, at least based on the last two weeks, Hudson is making a case that he might survive the coming roster massacre. It will be interesting to see whether Hudson can keep up this production level against the 49ers and the Cowboys.
Washington’s draft position is secure
Draftniks can rest easy – based on this week’s squeaker loss, it is highly probable that Washington will be able to secure a top 5 draft pick this offseason. Not only is Washington at 4 – 11, but they are facing two of the best teams in the NFL in their final two games of the season. Therefore, unless Jacoby Brissett performs miracles, it seems very likely that the team will finish with a 4 – 13 record. The odds of Washington being able to catch the Carolina Panthers and/or the Arizona Cardinals seem remote, particularly since Washington beat Arizona in week 1. After week 16, the Patriots are now 4 – 11, as is Washington. The initial tiebreaker for draft order is strength of schedule, so we’ll have to see how that comes out between the two teams. In summary, the odds are good that (1) the Panthers, now at 2 – 14, will end up with the worst record and be forced to give the top overall pick to the Chicago Bears thanks to their somewhat ill-fated trade for the number 1 overall pick this past offseason, (2) the rest of the top 4 will be some combination of the Cardinals, Patriots, and Washington, with several teams fighting it out for numbers 5 through 10. So, rest assured, Washington fans, unless something crazy happens in weeks 17 or 18, Washington is essentially assured of a top 5 pick.
That’s it for this week. I’ll be back for another edition of The Takeaways after Washington’s week 17 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers.