Washington Football Team: Not much goes right in first half of Week 9

If you envisioned a worst-case scenario for the Washington Football Team in Week 9 versus the Giants, you probably weren’t that far off.

The Washington Football Team trails the New York Giants by a score of 20-3. And through two quarters, not much has gone right for Ron Rivera’s squad.

There was some measured optimism coming into this game, after Washington dominated the Cowboys and recharged over the course of the bye week. But early on, Washington hasn’t performed well in any phases consistently, and luck also hasn’t been on their side.

The Washington Football Team set a negative tone early. Antonio Gibson fumbled away a big gain on the team’s first offensive play, and on the next offensive drive, an accurate on-the-run Kyle Allen pass was dropped by Logan Thomas on third down. Around the same time range, Isaiah Wright muffed a punt, helping lead the Giants to their first touchdown.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Kyle Allen suffered a significant leg injury on the Washington Football Team’s first promising drive, when a Jabrill Peppers sack struck him low and in a vulnerable position. The injury was revealed to be an ankle dislocation with a small fracture, so it could’ve been worse. But Allen will still be out for the rest of the game, and potentially the rest of the season.

Allen’s injury seemed to be the death blow for Washington’s morale. On offense, Alex Smith has again struggled to find a lasting groove, and on defense, the run-stopping unit found itself at the mercy of Alfred Morris, while the secondary’s communication issues of old arose again, amidst a new starting safety tandem.

Ron Rivera has maintained that he wants to try and compete with this team, but it may officially be time to throw in the towel on that front. Washington simply doesn’t have the cohesiveness or consistency to be a threat, and with their best quarterback now gone for the foreseeable future, their offense may lose whatever momentum it started to gain.

There are still unfortunately two quarters to go in this one, but the game will end mercifully soon. Washington will have to limp through it, and hope that no more drastic blows are dealt along the way.