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Washington Football Team: Five players to watch in Week 5 vs. Rams

By Jacob Camenker

Aug 31, 2020; Washington, DC, United States; Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera watches as quarterback Kyle Allen (8) passes the ball during a practice at Fedex Field. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 31, 2020; Washington, DC, United States; Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera watches as quarterback Kyle Allen (8) passes the ball during a practice at Fedex Field. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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Aug 20, 2020; Ashburn, Virginia, USA; Washington Football Team defensive tackle Jonathan Allen (93) walks to the field prior to drills on day twenty-three of training camp at Inova Sports Performance Center in Ashburn, Virginia. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 20, 2020; Ashburn, Virginia, USA; Washington Football Team defensive tackle Jonathan Allen (93) walks to the field prior to drills on day twenty-three of training camp at Inova Sports Performance Center in Ashburn, Virginia. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

5. DL Jonathan Allen

One of the best ways to beat the Rams on the defensive side of the ball is to rattle Jared Goff. While Goff is a solid passer who can do well when he has time in the pocket, he is also prone to rushed decisions under pressure that can be backbreaking for the Rams.

Washington’s top goal in this game will be to get pressure on Goff. They should have a great chance to do that from the edge with Montez Sweat and Chase Young (if healthy) but the interior pressure may be most important.

The Rams don’t have a very good offensive line. They’re playing better than they did last year, but they can still be beaten on the interior especially, where Austin Blythe, Brian Allen, and Austin Corbett are only decent at best. So, Washington will need one of their interior pass rushers to step up.

In this contest, that needs to be Jonathan Allen. Allen is the team’s most well-rounded player on the defensive line and will have a lot more opportunities to pressure Goff with Matt Ioannidis (arm) out for the season. Given that he’s a strong overall player and a defensive leader, Allen needs to lead the charge on the Rams QB and help her him out of rhythm early.

If Allen can help generate pressure, Washington will have a chance to win this game. If they can’t, it’s going to be a lot harder for them to stop a well-balanced Rams offense that has more passing weapons than their secondary can contain.

Daron Payne and Tim Settle will surely be important here too, but Allen will be the key cog up front that makes a real difference in Week 5.

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