Washington Football Team: Studs and duds in Week 4 loss to Ravens

Washington Football Team Dud: RB J.D. McKissic

If you were to just look at his yardage stats, you might not think J.D. McKissic was a dud. He touched the ball nine times against the Ravens and total 46 yards. That’s pretty good for a change-of-pace back.

However, McKissic was involved in one of the worst plays of the day for Washington. The team had stopped the Ravens on their first drive and were looking to build some momentum going into their second drive after a solid defensive stand.

Instead, the team used the third play of the drive to put the ball into the hands of McKissic. McKissic caught the ball in the backfield and was two yards behind the line of scrimmage when Marlon Humphrey punched the ball out of his hands. Marcus Peters jumped on it to give the ball to the Ravens. Two plays later, Baltimore was in the end-zone and had a seven-point lead.

The play by McKissic completely swung the momentum of the game early on. Again, nobody expected that Washington would be able to hold off the Ravens offense throughout the whole game, but that play basically took away any chance that the team had of competing.

To win and stay competitive this year, Washington has to win the turnover battle. In a game in which Dwayne Haskins avoided interceptions, McKissic couldn’t avoid committing Washington’s lone turnover.

The seven points that the Ravens got off that play were costly, so that’s why McKissic is a dud in this game despite his decent production. It’s also why Antonio Gibson was given more work in the contest than some may have anticipated.