The Takeaways, Week 7: Carolina at Washington
October 21, 2024
by Steve Thomas
It’s refreshing to have a team that, for once, plays up to its talent level on a regular basis. The Redskins Washington Football Team Commanders Washington certainly did that this week, blowing out the sad-sack Carolina Panthers by a score of 40 – 7. Carolina is one of the two or three worst teams in the NFL this year, so nobody should have expected them to all of a sudden perform like a playoff team. However, all Washington fans have seen this team fall on its face many times in games that they were supposed to win. That obviously didn’t happen this week, as Washington went into this contest a 9.5 point favorite, and actually followed through. I’ll take my best shot at taking a look at this today in this week’s Takeaways, which is my weekly off-the-cuff, instant analysis of Washington’s game. The Takeaways start below.
Marcus Mariota looked like a starter
Jayden Daniels unfortunately went down with either a rib or oblique injury late in the first quarter. We’ll have a better sense of the extent of his injury on Monday, but he was at least walking around on the sidelines and smiling afterward, which is a good sign. After that happened, nobody really knew what to expect from Mariota, who hadn’t played at all this season prior to this week. The good news is that Mariota mostly looked great, going 18 for 23 for 205 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions, for a 132.8 quarterback rating. He also added 34 rushing yards in 11 carries. Mariota consistently made good decisions, made good decisions, and sharp, accurate passes. Washington’s offense looked more or less the same as it had under Daniels’ leadership over the past few weeks. Mariota showed that he’s the ideal backup to Daniels – he’s not quite as athletic as Daniels, perhaps, but he’s a similar player, which allowed Cliff Kingsbury to stick to his gameplan, or so it appeared. Kudos to our own Dave Earl, who called this arrangement way back in the offseason.
This was the gameplan Washington should stick with regardless of the quarterback
When the running game is working, use it. In my view, Washington is a better team when they are able to lean on their run game. This week, between Daniels and Mariota, they had 25 pass attempts, as compared to 37 rushes. Of course, Daniels and Mariota combined for 14 of those rushes, and many of those appeared to be scrambles from pass plays. Therefore, the team was somewhere in the neighborhood of a balanced gameplan. I realize that the Panthers aren’t a model of defensive effectiveness, but generally speaking, that’s the sweet spot of effectiveness for a team like Washington.
Brian Robinson Jr. got back his mojo
I’ve been pretty lukewarm on Robinson almost since the beginning of his time in Washington. He’s had some moments, but he’s mostly been mediocre at best in terms of statistical performance. I have to give him credit where its due, though: He’s been outstanding in at least 4 or 5 games this season, including in this one. He only had 12 carries this week, but gained 71 yards, which equates to an average of 5.9 yards per carry. Even discounting his longest carry, which was for 11 yards, his average was still almost 5.5 yards per carry. This is the kind of production Washington has needed from a running back for many years. Granted, this is the Panthers, not the Ravens, but the fact is that Robinson has been great. It just goes to show how important run blocking is to a running back’s production. I’m not 100% sold on Robinson yet, but I’m starting to come around.
Washington’s run defense finally took care of business
I said both on The Hog Sty Podcast and in our written game preview that Chuba Hubbard was the most worrisome part of Carolina’s offense, and that Washington needed to focus on limiting his effectiveness. They came through, with Hubbard gaining 52 yards on 17 carries for 3.1 yards per carry. With the Panthers down big starting in the second quarter, this wasn’t going to be a game in which Hubbard gets 20+ carries. Regardless, though, 3.1 yards per carry is an outstanding number that neutered his ability to propel Carolina’s offense, and that’s what Washington needed. This is particularly relevant given that heading into this weekend Washington featured one of the NFL’s worst run defenses, with opponents averaging 5.0 yards per carry, ranked 29th. Prior to this contest, Hubbard had averaged 5.6 yards per carry this year, so this was definitely progress for Washington’s defensive front 7.
Austin Seibert continues to outperform expectations
I’d like to take brief moment to acknowledge here just how good Austin Seibert has been this year. Washington signed every unqualified, unknown kicker imaginable prior to the regular season, only to basically stumble on Seibert in week 2, after he was just sitting there, available upon being cut by the Jets on August 27. All Seibert has done is make 15 of 16 field goals and all 15 of his attempted extra points. Against the Panthers, he converted 4 of 4 field goals and 4 extra points, for 16 points. I didn’t research this, because as I always say, The Takeaways are meant as my instantaneous thoughts on the game, not as a research project, but Washington’s public relations staff posted a pretty amazing statement about Seibert on X during the game. They stated that Seibert’s 13 points at that point in the game put him at 73 for the season, tied with Redskins legend Mark Moseley for most points in franchise history through week 7. Since he finished the game with 16 points, then that puts Seibert in first place ahead of Moseley. I recognize that Washington has not yet asked him to attempt a kick over 50 yards, but still: he’s been everything the team needed, and more.
That’s it for this week, folks. I’ll be back next week after Washington’s big matchup at home against the Bears.