Burgundy & Gold Reaction: Washington Remains Abysmal

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December 29, 2021

by David Earl

Sunday Night Slaughter!!!

Sunday marked one of the worst losses in franchise history, considering it was a prime time game against our hated rival the Cowboys. Washington just didn’t have any answers defensively especially with a depleted secondary and a linebacking core that saw Washington down to practice squad players as starters. What may be the worst part of this unit is what transpired on the sidelines between Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne exchanging blows on national TV. Unable to apply pressure on Dak Prescott, and with Dallas’ running game having their way, frustrations clearly boiled over, as we all visibly saw Payne infuriated the rest of the game. Regardless of their reasons, it was not just unprofessional but highly embarrassing when considering the “culture” Ron Rivera was supposed to infuse into an already toxic locker room. If this wasn’t enough, the offense had one of its worst performances of the season. Many want to point the finger at Taylor Heinicke but it was hardly all his fault. The offensive line simply put up no fight at all against a strong Dallas front seven, which was somewhat expected given that they were missing some key starters. Regardless of the missing pieces along the line, the lack of time given to Taylor from the first snap of the game was just unacceptable. I won’t give Taylor a pass either because his play, even when he had time, was just as abysmal as the offensive line. The very first play that resulted in an interception (more on that later) was poorly thrown as Terry McLaurin had Trevon Diggs beat by at least a step. Throughout the season, the roller coaster ride with Taylor Heinicke has been exciting at times, but mostly it’s just been inconsistent. He’s continued to show poor footwork, not resetting his feet before his throws and still throwing off-balanced at times.

Overall, the team was outcoached and seemed unprepared, which is a disgrace considering Ron’s comments about being disappointed if they missed the playoffs. Sure, the team was ravaged by injuries and COVID protocols and played on a short week, but when the most heart that is shown in the entire game was an altercation between the defensive captain and his college friend, then we have a problem. They are playing the hated rival Dallas Cowboys during a possible playoff push, but that doesn’t drive this team enough to at least show up with a little heart on the field? This kind of begs the question about whether Ron Rivera is the right man for this job, especially when there was no apparent discipline for the atrocious actions of our team captain swinging at Payne on the sidelines. Alex and Steve go into more detail on the postgame pod, Time to Hit The Panic Button, and I share many of the same sentiments (I’m sure many of you do too). Like Alex, I am not ready to throw in the towel on Ron but if he has lost the locker room can he come back?

We Deserve Better…Broken Record!

It’s real simple: this team has done nothing but drive a stake into our collective hearts each and every year.  This is unacceptable. When Ron Rivera came here he talked about this being a 3-5 year plan, which is understandable, but the dysfunction just seems to continue on and off the field. Now I won’t call Ron’s work a complete disaster but with the product yesterday, the altercation on the sideline, and the continued PR nightmare that is Dan Snyder how exactly is this fanbase supposed to be optimistic for the future? Well, the unfortunate truth here is that Dan isn’t going anywhere, and that makes the uphill climb for Ron Rivera and Jason Wright probably just too steep of a climb. The decades of horrible management have put this team under a microscope. Every incident gets amplified within the media and causes setbacks to a culture shift that just may never happen. As Laz Alonso alludes to in his tweet below, we all have our reasons for which we forever remain loyal, but even that loyalty is now beginning to fracture within this fan base but that is mainly the younger generations. Unlike fans like Laz and myself, these younger fans don’t have anything holding them bound to this organization as all they have ever known is dysfunction and losing. This fanbase deserves better, but many of us just have lost all hope since Dan Snyder is the owner. I truly believe the franchise has the right people in place with Ron and Jason but every step they take forward a Dan Snyder scandal takes them 2 steps back and that’s so unfortunate for such a loyal fanbase.

Terry McLaurin has to be Frustrated!!!

There is a sentiment, shared by the guys on the pod too, that Diggs has owned Terry McLaurin over the last 3 games, but I believe that’s a bit of a misconception. As pointed out above, in Taylor’s first interception, Terry has Diggs beat by a couple of steps and if the ball was placed over his outside shoulder in stride this is a big play to open the game. Instead, the ball was a bit underthrown and to his inside shoulder which led to a Diggs interception. Now I am not spending time here to diminish Diggs but to point out an issue Terry has had to deal with throughout his short career. Terry McLaurin has had a revolving door at the quarterback position and none of them have been nearly good or consistent enough to accurately place the ball. From Mark Bullock to national analysts types like Brian Baldinger, each week they break down these games and show that more often than not, Terry has a step or two on any corner covering him. He is among the league leaders in 50/50 balls not because he cannot create separation but because he’s having to come back for nearly every pass thrown his way. If that’s not enough most of the timing routes are late or high, leaving him open to unnecessary hits that will take a toll. This is a problem that even a professional team player like Terry will eventually get frustrated and tired of.

The moral of this story is to GET HIM A QUARTERBACK! This offseason Ron must make the quarterback position a high, at any cost, priority or the fears by fans that Terry will walk may come to pass. Taylor Heinicke is a nice story and a true baller, but the deficiencies in his mechanics are not improving as he is what he is a backup quarterback. He could also serve as a bridge to THE GUY but that’s it as we have seen his ceiling. If Ron does not address the quarterback position in the next offseason that will not only be a monumental failure but we, as fans, could look back to this offseason as the year Terry was on his way out. Ron and the organization not only owe it to Terry McLaurin but to us fans and address this position with a legitimate option, particularly considering everything the fans have gone through in losing the name plus enduring the embarrassment of Dan Snyder’s scandals.

History Sad Distant Memory

The Golden Age of Redskins football has become such a distant memory that bragging about championships and playoff seasons has become a footnote. I won’t go into Dan’s timeline of dysfunction that ravaged a once-proud organization (you can read that here) again, but it’s a topic nearly every week. No matter who comes in to repair the damage and whatever hope we may get from time to time, the only constant has always been, “How will Dan screw this up again?” I know it’s a tiring discussion every year but the sad reality is we as fans don’t even believe this phases Dan one bit just as long as he makes his money. Some people like Kevin Sheehan will tell you Dan hates losing and truly wants to win but just can’t get out of his own way, which I can’t even fathom to be remotely true. This two+ decade-long ride of chaos and scandal without an even blink of his eye says otherwise (at least to most of us fans). The proof is in the numbera: 23 years of Dan’s tenure has produced 5 winning seasons, compared to 14 winning seasons and 3 championships the prior 20 years. His time here is why documentaries were created marking the complete teardown and destruction of a revered organization rich in winning history. Honestly, how can a single man continue to proudly show his face to these fans and the other league owners knowing what he did to the Washington Redskins? It turns my stomach every time I think about what I grew up with to the dysfunction I now witness every year and it’s embarrassing. This is truly the worse organization in the NFL and I hope Ron and Jason have the strength to forge through this mess to set it right again.  The fans deserve so much better. The embarrassment that is the Washington organization is all on Dan’s shoulders. He deserves whatever harsh judgment he receives but unfortunately will never get as the NFL seems to want to protect him at all costs. As fans, all we can do is endure the pain and just hope one day we get our due as a loyal fan base that ride or die Burgundy and Gold.

 

Brian Mitchell Preaching Truth