The Takeaways, Week 13 Edition: Redskins at Panthers
December 3, 2019
by Steve Thomas
Don’t look now, but the 2019 Washington Redskins have a legitimate win streak going. Okay, fine, it’s only two games, but for this team in this season, that seems like an outright miracle compared to the dreck that we’ve had to watch in 2019. Yes, against all odds, the Redskins came into Charlotte, North Carolina, and took a game from the Panthers. Not only that, but at one point, Washington was up 29 – 14 and looked to be firmly in control. Now, we certainly can’t have a game that easy – who do you think we are, the Patriots? This contest started off in awful fashion and unnecessarily came down to the final seconds, but all the same, a win is a win. And spare me with the draft position and Bruce Allen whining. Allen’s status with the franchise shouldn’t come down to one game against the Panthers, and if it does, the leadership problem is far bigger than we think. So do yourselves a favor and just be happy that you got to watch a Redskins victory. Don’t be a jerk and act like you’re miserable. Or if you do, at least keep it away from me. On with The Takeaways for this week.
The run game came alive
For once, the Redskins looked like the running team that Bill Callahan always envisioned, with both Derrius Guice and Adrian Peterson both going over the 100 yard mark (yes, I realize that Peterson technically only got 99, but he was victimized by a bad spot late in the game, so I’m giving him 100). Most people thought that the Redskins needed to be a quality run team in order to win with a young quarterback. This is what it was supposed to look like all along. Of course, the Panthers defense has been atrocious against the run all year, as we said in our game preview materials, but still: it was a herculean performance by the two backs, and the offensive line did their job by opening up some massive rushing lanes. Guice looks suspiciously close to being able to live up to the hype, and that should make everyone very happy.
The defensive front 7 had their best day
The defensive line and linebacker corps harassed and hit Kyle Allen and Christian McCaffrey all day long, with the exception of the first two drives, and they deserve to be commended. Much like the running back group, this is the type of performance that most people expected from the beginning of the year. The fact that the Redskins held the #1 running back in the league to just 44 yards and 3.1 yards per carry is downright amazing. Not only that, but they did it on a day in which Ryan Kerrigan was inactive due to a concussion and Montez Sweat went out with a quad injury. The Redskins were playing with the likes of Chris Odom and Nate Orchard in prominent roles (who both came through in spectacular fashion). The Panthers run game is no joke, but the Redskins essentially shut it down. Plus, seven sacks, with Allen on the run all day long? This group really showed something on Sunday. Let’s hope we see more of these types of performances in the future. The defensive coaches all deserve commendation. They blitzed from some unconventional angles, and disguised blitzes and coverages all day long in a way not normally seen from Greg Manusky and company. This was without a doubt their best day of the season.
Dwayne Haskins looked like a pro
Haskins’ numbers certainly weren’t great. He was only 13 for 25 for 147 yards, but I don’t believe those stats accurate represent his performance on Sunday. Haskins’ receivers dropped many passes, including the usually infallible Terry McLaurin, who let a ball go right through his hands on a deep sideline route. Haskins wasn’t perfect – he still held the ball too long a few times, missed a read in the red zone that cost the Redskins a touchdown, and missed on a few passes, including one in the end zone. However, this was the first day that Haskins looked to me like he was fully comfortable and in control throughout the game. I daresay that he did an accurate impersonation of a legitimate NFL starting quarterback, crummy completion percentage notwithstanding. He definitely still has a long way to go, but this was a step in the right direction. As I’ve said before, quarterback development isn’t a linear progression, so we’ll doubtlessly see more bad days in the future, but that wasn’t what happened on this field in this particular game. Congrats to Haskins on a job fairly well done.
The receivers did not have a good day
As I mentioned, the receivers did Haskins no favors in this game, with several drops and miscues that cost the team points. Present and future star Terry McLaurin was for the first time essentially a total zero on the field, or even a net negative when his big drop is taken into account. Jeremy Sprinkle had an awful day. Trey Quinn, before he was subjected to a helmet-to-helmet hit, wasn’t faring much better. Someday I’d like to see the quarterback, running backs, and receivers all on point at the same time, but this is a very young team and they just aren’t at the point in their development where a full team effort is going to happen every week. It will get better, and I’m still very high on the pass catchers as a whole, particularly the young group of receivers in McLaurin, Harmon, Steven Sims Jr., and Cam Sims. They have bright futures, and days like today will get rarer and rarer as time goes on.
Ryan Anderson should not have been ejected
What the heck was wrong with the referees in this game? I mean, other than the fact that they were downright terrible all day. I think we can all agree that Anderson deserved a flag for his hit on Greg Olsen, although frankly, based on the angle he took to Olsen, I think that he was actually trying to avoid helmet to helmet contact and just failed at it. But ejection? Really? That was completely unwarranted, particularly in light of the dirty hit put by Panthers wide receiver DeAndrew White on Trey Quinn on a punt return in the first half. If White’s hit wasn’t ejection-worthy, then Anderson’s hit certainly wasn’t either. It was unfair and inconsistent officiating at its worst, and the NFL’s officials should be ashamed of themselves. The quality of officiating has really gone downhill this season in particular, and today was a prime example.
That’s it for The Takeaways this week. The Redskins travel to Green Bay next Sunday to face the Packers on the most likely literally-frozen tundra in week 14.