So What Now?
December 28, 2021
by Steve Thomas
Washington obviously got blown out on Sunday night by their biggest nemesis, the Dallas Cowboys, in a game that ended up being one of the worst losses in franchise history. Many people, me included, thought this contest wasn’t going to go well for the Redskins Washington, but it was hard to imagine things going quite so wrong. More importantly, it revealed some issues with the team that may not be a surprise, but are nonetheless concerning. Let’s take a quick look.
The coaching staff’s ability to lead is in question
The Jonathan Allen / Daron Payne fight during the game was a bigger issue than what Ron Rivera and the players made it out to be. Yes, players fight; it happens. But never in this way, on the sidelines of a nationally televised game. In my view, the fact that the team collectively tried to pass this off as just a mere dispute between frustrated friends simply isn’t good enough, to me. It reflects poorly on both Rivera and Jack Del Rio. More importantly, though, this was the second week in a row that this team showed up looking like they weren’t ready to play. I realize that the injury and Covid situation made things difficult, but this team simply didn’t respond at all. At what point do we start to blame the coaching staff for this mess? The coaching staff may not be a big concern for most right at this moment, but what happens if the team continues to look bad through their final two games? I hate to say it, but that point, it may not be too early to start thinking about a new coach. At least many other franchises might, but given the chaos in the front office, Washington may not be willing. Regardless, the mere fact that it’s even a thought, however, isn’t a good sign for the future.
The defensive line group is a bust as compared to expectations
I’m sorry, but this defensive line group as a whole is a massive bust as measured by the draft capital and cap space put into the group. Even last year, when their stats were much better than they are now, they were still overrated and not performing nearly as well against good teams. Understanding that Chase Young has been injured, this group hasn’t had nearly the impact one would expect of a group feature multiple first round draft picks and other highly regarded players. Just look at Dallas – Randy Gregory may have character questions, but he and Demarcus Lawrence are both monsters who make a huge impact. That simply isn’t the case in Washington, Chase or no Chase. This is particularly true for Dallas given the presence of linebacker Micah Parsons. Jamin Davis is nowhere close to Parsons’ level. There isn’t an easy solution here, since the contract situation is complicated, but the bottom line is that Washington’s vaunted defensive line group is a shell of what it should be given what they paid. They aren’t on par with top defensive lines and only seem to do well against lesser competition.
The running game hasn’t shown signs of improvement
Yes, Antonio Gibson has been hurt for most of the season, and that’s clearly had an impact on his performance, and the offensive line has been both injured and bad. Regardless, as a whole, the non-Taylor Heinicke runners have been mostly ineffective for the better part of the season. That’s bad news when you’re a team that bases much of its offense on the ability to successfully run the ball. Gibson has averaged less than 4.0 yards per carry all year long, and no other running back has been substantially better. J.D. McKissic is a quality asset, but his contributions come more in the passing game. Washington’s running backs averaged 3.9 per attempt against Dallas. That isn’t nearly good enough in a game in which Washington’s chances at victory hinged on winning the time of possession battle and keeping Dallas’ vaunted offense on the field. Washington needs to seriously think about re-vamping its running backs room for next season, either through the draft or in free agency, because three point something yards per carry isn’t going to cut it.
What work does the offensive line need?
It’s certainly true that Washington’s offensive line group has suffered a wave of injuries this season, but it’s also true that they’ve underperformed. As stated above, the running game has been awful, and the 32 sacks surrendered haven’t been significantly more only thanks to Taylor Heinicke’s athleticism and penchant for amazing escapes. What’s the future here? Brandon Scherff misses too many games to justify an $18M+ salary next season, so it’s more likely than not that he’s going to leave. Charles Leno isn’t a long term answer at left tackle, and Samuel Cosmi hasn’t exactly set the world on fire in his rookie year. As a whole, the offensive line has underwhelmed, and they were flat-out terrible Sunday against the Cowboys. Washington is going to need a long-term answer at left tackle and right guard, at a minimum, but even that might not be enough to vault this group into the upper echelon. The offensive line isn’t close.
The never-ending quarterback dilemma
Taylor Heinicke probably isn’t going to morph into a franchise quarterback, but neither is Kyle Allen. Both have pretty good stories, and Washington actually traded a fifth round draft pick for Allen, so at some point they need to see what he can do. That having been said, it’s not realistic to assume that either one of them will be able to develop into a Super Bowl-caliber player. As a result, Washington is probably going to have to continue with the search they’ve been on since the days of Mark Rypien in the early 1990s. The better question is whether Ron Rivera is going to be willing to draft a high-round rookie in year 3 of his tenure . . . I don’t think that’s necessarily a certainty. Rivera could’ve drafted someone this season but chose not to and instead signed a veteran journeyman for the season. What makes anyone think that he’s going to all of a sudden decide to take the plunge one year later into his contract? If The Hog Sty ever gets a chance to interview Rivera, I’d like to ask him about the long-term plan at this position, because at the end of the day, neither Heinicke nor Allen are probably it. What’s the future here, Ron?
Can this thing turn around next year?
In hindsight, there was no reason to think that Washington would all of a sudden turn into a contender this season. I predicted an 8 – 9 record for this season, and that appears to have been overly optimistic. Yes, they won the NFC East last year, but they were also 7 – 9 with a fourth place record and a part of one of the worst divisions in NFL history. This year, the roster didn’t improve much, their first round pick was too inexperienced to expect an immediate imact, Washington had a very tough first place schedule, and Dallas was getting healthy. It was always unlikely that this season was going to go well. Frankly, I’m not sure that substantial improvement is on the horizon for next season, either. They’d need to find a quarterback, make drastic leaps in talent in several areas, and most importantly, the coaching staff needs to be able to lead this team. I might be totally wrong – I hope I am – but I have my doubts. These past two weeks were pretty telling, and the next two might just mean even more.