Washington Football Team can’t overcome mistakes in loss to Giants

The Washington Football Team nearly completed a comeback against the Giants in Week 9.

The Washington Football Team were favored going into Week 9. The New York Giants were coming off a tough, Monday Night Football loss and Washington was coming off a bye. It was a revenge game. They seemingly had all of the motivational edges.

And despite that, Washington just didn’t show up.

In total, this was an ugly game for Washington. They started the game very slowly and looked flat for most of the first quarter. They weren’t focused and despite having a bye week to prepare for this game and, more importantly, having a chance to be within half a game of the NFC East. It just never looked like Washington was going to have a chance to win this game.

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Then, things went from bad to worse. Kyle Allen was sacked by Jabrill Peppers and on the play, he suffered a serious-looking ankle injury. He was carted off in an air cast and was ruled out for the game almost immediately. The play was a dirty one from Peppers, who leg-whipped Allen, and once that happened, it felt like Washington’s chances of winning evaporated.

But again, things changed. Alex Smith actually did fairly well in relief of Kyle Allen and helped lead Washington back into the game. He played the way that he usually does. He didn’t make a lot of big downfield plays, and he focused mostly on completing short passes but his receivers did a lot after the catch.

When Smith did take some shots to the intermediate portion of the field, he was successful. For the most part, he did what he could to keep Washington in the game, especially in the second half.

Smith also did have a couple of key mistakes that cost Washington the game. The first wasn’t his fault. He threw an interception on a play where his running back J.D. McKissic fell down coming out of his route. However, his second interception certainly was a massive mistake, and it’s one that truly was a killer mistake for Washington.

On third-and-10 at the Giants’ 40 with just about three minutes left in the game, Smith lofted a pass over McKissic’s head while under pressure. The Giants picked it off as a result. Smith should’ve just thrown the ball away and lived to play another down. Washington could’ve gone for it, kicked a field goal, or flipped the field and punted. Simply put, he was trying to do a bit too much. And he threw another pick on Washington’s final drive to seal their fate.

There were some positives for Washington. They nearly completed a 17-point comeback. Terry McLaurin had a great outing.  And Cam Sims‘ 100-yard game could signal an emergence for him. They had some bright spots on offense for sure, but the turnovers cast a pall on their loss.

So did the team’s effort on defense early. They let the Giants run for 166 yards and it took them a while to wake up. They were much better in the second half, as they held the Giants to just three points, but it highlights one of Washington’s biggest problems: They just don’t get going quickly enough.

This loss was disappointing and it should take Washington out of the divisional race. At least the team fought hard for the entirety of the game and at least they are seeing some of their young players emerge. Those building blocks should help the team continue to construct a bright future.