The Takeaways, Week 12: Washington at Dallas
November 30, 2020
by Steven Thomas
Seeing Washington not only get a rare Thanksgiving Day victory, but to also watch them body slam the hated Dallas Cowboys into oblivion was the perfect capper to one of almost everyone’s favorite holidays. Washington has played the Generals to Dallas’ Harlem Globetrotters too many times on Thanksgiving, so this win was a much-needed salve for the soul of a franchise that has been mostly tortured for more than two and a half decades. This was a total team win, and one of the few games in the past several years in which all phases were clicking for Washington. Fortunately, this once again leaves plenty of material for this week’s edition of The Takeaways, which is my regular attempt to provide you some insight into the big picture storylines from each of Washington’s games. So without further delay, let’s jump in.
Antonio Gibson’s coming out party
Without a doubt, Antonio Gibson played his best game as a professional this week, running for 115 yards on 20 carries, 3 touchdowns, and a long of 37 yards, plus another 21 receiving yards in 5 catches. A big part of his recent success is the play calling – Gibson has been getting the ball on a series of misdirection plays where a receiver on a jet sweep or another running back, usually J.D. McKissic, will move in the opposite direction from Gibson’s path to the outside in order to confuse the defense. He put up impressive numbers, for sure, but what was more important to me in this game was that, for the first time, Gibson looked like an interior power back at times in the second half. He was seeing the holes better and looked like a far more decisive runner than he has been all year. The fact that Dallas might have the worst run defense in the entire NFL was obviously a factor, but a team can only play the opponent in front of them. He won’t be able to keep up a pace like this on a regular basis, because if he did, he’d be in the hall of fame. However, Gibson might just prove that he deserves to be Washington’s lead running back of the future. Expectations should be tempered until after the Steelers game, but you should be encouraged by what you saw against the Cowboys.
The defensive line dominated this game
For the second week in a row, the defensive line lived up to its billing and dominated an opponent. Granted, they faced two really bad teams, and Dallas lost their starting left tackle and All World guard Zack Martin in the first series, and has had serious injury problems all year, but that doesn’t matter. As was the case with the Antonio Gibson’s performance, you can only play the team in front of you, and the combination of Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen, Montez Sweat, and Chase Young slowly wore down their opponent over the course of the game. All four of those players had standout moments in the game. By the fourth quarter, they were flat-out bullying the Dallas offensive line, taking away the Cowboys running game and making Andy Dalton run for his life on a regular basis. The starters, along with backup Tim Settle, produced a combined 2.5 sacks, 5 quarterback hits, and one pick-6 interception. Dallas only rushed for 60 yards on 18 carries, which is 3.3 yards per carry. The true tale will be told next week against the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers, so I’ll reserve further praise until that time, but regardless, the past two weeks, at least, have been outstanding.
Alex Smith solidifies his claim on the 2021 quarterback job
Smith didn’t exactly have a world beater of a game, passing for just 149 yards and completing 19 of 26 passes, but that was by design and a part of the game plan. Despite the low numbers, Smith looked to be in control and in command at all times. Smith is a respected leader and tough competitor who, despite the one interception that he threw under pressure, doesn’t make many mistakes. The team clearly respects and follows him. All he’s done in his time as Washington’s starter is produce a 8 – 5 record, which by Washington’s low standards is almost a miracle. The fact of the matter is that Washington’s offense has looked much smoother and more efficient under Smith’s leadership than it ever did with either Dwayne Haskins or Kyle Allen at the helm. Smith may be the perfect quarterback to guide the franchise into a new era with either a 2021 rookie waiting in the wings.
The secondary had some ups and downs
In my written game preview, I mentioned that the Redskins Washington should let Ronald Darby cover Amari Cooper one on one in man coverage at least some of the time, since Darby has been remarkably consistent so far this season. Well, as it turns out, Washington’s coaches had the same thought, and it produced mixed results. Cooper actually burned Darby more than once. However, Darby also had some quality plays in zone coverage, so all was not lost. Kendall Fuller also had some ups and downs; the game wasn’t his proudest moment. That having been said, Darby and Fuller faced perhaps the best receiver tandem that they’ll play all year, so it was bound to not be all sunshine and roses. On the good side, I saw few mistakes from the young safety tandem of Kamren Curl and Troy Apke. Curl, in particular, might be in the process of proving himself to be a better financial value than the high-priced Landon Collins next season.
The coaching staff proved their worth
We have justifiably criticized head coach Ron Rivera and offensive coordinator Scott Turner at times this season, but they had a good day against Dallas. The offensive game plan was designed to take advantage of the biggest weakness of Dallas’ defense, which is their run defense. As he did last week against the Bengals, Turner did a good job in calling run plays that played to Washington’s strengths, which lie on the edges and in misdirection plays. Although Antonio Gibson did look better in power runs on Thursday, nobody’s going to mistake him for Earl Campbell just yet. Regardless, running to the edges and short passing were the way to go against Dallas, and the coaches did well to design and follow that script. For his part, Rivera has the team looking motivated and playing hard, and that’s a testament to his strength of character. If Washington truly is rounding into form – we’ll know if that’s the case after next week’s game against the undefeated Steelers – then Ron Rivera will be the one primarily responsible for the turnaround.
Bonus: Dustin Hopkins tracker
Hopkins went 7 for 7 against Dallas on Thursday, making 2 field goals and 5 extra points. He has now made 16 of 22 field goals this season, for a 72.7% success rate.
That’s it for this week. Washington next faces the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh in a contest that will most likely not have the same feel-good result as this game, but we’ll see.