Three takeaways from Washington Football Team’s Week 7 win vs. Cowboys

1. Kyle Allen’s downfield playmaking ability changes the Washington offense

When Ron Rivera elected to bench Dwayne Haskins and start Kyle Allen, it was met with a lot of questions. Why this early? What does Allen bring that Haskins doesn’t? After the game against the Rams, these questions persisted. But these past two games, it has become clear what differentiates Allen from Haskins.

So far this season, Allen has been willing to take some downfield chances. They haven’t always worked out well, but Allen has a bit of a gunslinger’s mentality. He is willing to take chances and push the ball downfield. That will occasionally come back to bite the team, but against Dallas, it worked out.

Allen was able to hit Terry McLaurin flawlessly on a long TD pass where McLaurin beat the corner by about five yards. He showed no hesitation making that throw and pushed the ball downfield on other occasions. He had only one notably reckless throw into the end-zone, and that came when Washington had already pretty much put the game out of reach.

Again, this all came against a bad Dallas defense, so it needs to be taken with a grain of salt. But against a decent Giants group, the same rang true for Allen. He should continue to keep looking downfield and not be afraid of being aggressive. This Washington team will have to force the issue at times, but if the squad can pick and choose those spots, they will have a chance to make big plays.

Early in the season, Washington’s offense looked uber-conservative. They were just trying not to make a mistake. Now, they’re taking more chances and finding more space. And if they make a mistake, they’ll live with it, so long as they don’t make too many mistakes.

We’ll see if this can continue, but it does appear that Allen’s insertion into the lineup has changed the way that the unit operates, at least for now.