The Takeaways, Week 3: Washington at Buffalo
September 27, 2021
by Steve Thomas
Washington played like a child trying to ride a bicycle for the first time against Buffalo on Sunday, getting blown out 43 – 21 in a game that sadly wasn’t as close as the score suggested. Because you’re a glutton for punishment, you’re here to read the The Takeaways, which is our weekly attempt to hit the big picture, “around the watercooler” talking points that come out of the Redskins’ Washington’s weekly professional football contest. This game was obviously a negative overall event that probably doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season, but we’ll cover it all. The Takeaways starts below.
Washington was beaten in all phases of the game by a better team
At some level, the explanation for this game is simple: Buffalo is a much better team. Their quarterback is better, their ball-carrying players are better, their offensive line is better, their defensive line is better, and their secondary is better. With the possible exception of Tress Way, I honestly can’t identify a single phase of this game in which Washington outperformed Buffalo. This game looked and felt like a Super Bowl contender playing one of the dregs of the NFL. Nothing positive can be taken out of this game. Hopefully, Washington can “throw away the film”, hypothetically speaking, and move on, because if they can’t, it could be a long season.
The defensive line has moved out of “underwhelming” territory into “disappointing”
Washington’s vaunted and highly-praised defensive line, which is comprised of four first round draft picks, didn’t make much of an impact in weeks one and two, prompting everyone, including The Hog Sty, most of the media, and the fanbase, to wonder what was wrong. This position group has now graduated from “underwhelming” and moved into the “disappointing” category. Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, Montez Sweat, and Chase Young simply aren’t winning their one-on-one battles on a regular enough basis on either passing or rushing downs. The scheme doesn’t matter much when that isn’t happening. This week, knowing that getting pressure on Bills quarterback Josh Allen without much blitzing was imperative, the defensive front four essentially failed on the task, rarely if ever getting to Allen and allowing him free reign to carve up Washington’s secondary. To be fair, the run defense wasn’t a total disaster, with Buffalo averaging 3.7 yards per carry, but with Josh Allen being allowed so much time, better results weren’t necessary for the Bills.
Washington allowed Josh Allen to turn around his season
Allen’s performance in weeks one and two was more akin to his collegiate efforts and his 2018 and 2019 NFL campaigns than last year’s surprisingly quality statistical output. Allen had only completed 56% of his passes this year heading into week 3, and a major key to this game for Washington to ensure that this trend continued. Buffalo’s offense is only as successful as Allen makes it. Washington needed to force Allen into playing like it was 2018 and 2019, not 2020. Unfortunately, the opposite happened, as Washington’s defense made Allen look like an All Pro, with 358 passing yards, a 74% completion percentage, 4 touchdown passes, 1 rushing touchdown, and a quarterback rating of 129.8. That’s what happens when a defense is facing a quality quarterback but doesn’t pressure him at all and allows him to throw unchecked into an inconsistent secondary.
The offensive line is the root of Washington’s offensive problems
I told you in our game preview show that Washington’s run game wasn’t going to be able to get going against Buffalo’s quality offensive line. Also, although Taylor Heinicke was only sacked once, he was regularly pressured and forced to scramble on multiple attempts. The offensive line looked like a moderately talented group that hasn’t played together much and wasn’t in sync in either phase of the game – which is exactly what it is. It’s possible that this group gets better as the season goes on, but for right now – certain this week against Buffalo – they are significantly unperforming compared to where they need to be.
Taylor Heinicke looked like a backup who was over his head
Heinicke is a great story – he’s a guy who was literally plucked out of math class at Old Dominion University to serve as Ron Rivera’s coronavirus emergency quarterback who had a “straight from the movies” successful and gusty playoff start against the future Super Bowl champs led by the most highly-decorated quarterback in NFL history. Seriously, doesn’t that sound like the ending of a Disney movie? The fans were justifiably excited about seeing Taylor after Ryan Fitzpatrick went down to injury early in week one. He played fairly well in the first two games to lead Washington to a 1 – 1 record. However, on Sunday, Heinicke looked like he was over his head, confused, and impacted by the negative circumstances of this game. Both of his interceptions were the result of poor decision making, and he generally wasn’t able to lead the team with any sort of consistency until garbage time in the fourth quarter. I don’t question his effort or his leadership ability; he still gets high marks for both. For this week, though, he looked like a backup who was thrown into a tough game on the road, and the resulted showed. Let’s hope he can get back to the Taylor Heinicke we all know and love next week.
That’s it for The Takeaways for week 4. I’ll be back after Washington’s battle against the Atlanta Falcons next week.