Washington Football Team studs and duds from Week 5 loss to Rams
By Ian Cummings
Dud No. 4 – Scott Turner
Scott Turner’s high RAC content offense was a fun idea, but five games into existence, it’s still much more of an idea than a reality, and that’s a problem.
A concession does need to be made to Turner: He’s not working with a lot of talent, and switching quarterbacks every two quarters also isn’t ideal for an offensive coordinator. But at the same time, Turner’s tendencies are starting to become predictable for defenses, and as a result, the Washington Football Team’s offense is too often being attacked at the line of scrimmage.
On 18 completions and 30 attempts against the Rams, Washington’s passing offense generated just 111 yards, and just 70 net yards if you count the yards lost from sacks. At this point, defenses seem to be keen on Turner’s preference for screens and short passes, and they’re mauling anyone who gets the ball hoping to generate after the catch.
Additionally, Turner’s offense has not yet threatened downfield this year, and it’s easy to wonder if improvement can be sought in Washington’s route combinations, and how they play off of one another to quickly generate artificial separation.
Sean McVay, at times, toyed with Washington’s defenders by forcing them to focus on two players at once with his route combos. We haven’t seen that kind of organic schematic creation with Turner, and it’s making his offense seriously one-dimensional. Granted, the line’s inconsistent performance prevents those kinds of plays from developing at times, but Turner can do more to combat that without tipping his hand.
Additionally, Turner’s tendency to run on second and long keeps putting Washington in third-and-long situations that they don’t have the ability to recover from. Washington was two for 13 on third-down conversions on Sunday. Just a 15.3% conversion rate.
The continued underperformance of the offense is not all Turner’s fault, but five weeks into the season, it doesn’t appear as if meaningful adjustments are being made. We have enough information now to hold coaches accountable. Turner needs to be better.