Washington Football Team: Studs and duds from Week 9 loss to Giants

Washington Football Team Stud: Downfield passing game

One of the reasons that Washington’s offense clicked a bit better than it has in recent weeks was that they were able to get their downfield passing game going.

It started when Kyle Allen was in the game. Before Washington’s top quarterback suffered an ankle injury that caused him to leave in an air cast, he was moving the ball downfield effectively. He completed 5-of-7 passes for 62 yards and it was clear that he was looking to make downfield plays.

That continued when Alex Smith came into the game. Though Smith checked the ball down a fair amount, as he’s wont to do during his career, he worked the intermediate game fairly well throughout the afternoon. He looked toward Terry McLaurin and Cam Sims in those areas and got the ball to his playmakers. And while they did a lot with the ball in their hands, Smith was trying to get them the ball downfield.

That’s the big difference in the Washington passing game in recent weeks. They’ve been looking to get the ball downfield and not relying entirely on dinking and dunking.

Did Allen and Smith check down when it was necessary? Sure. That’s how J.D. McKissic ended up with nine catches. But was their primary goal to to get the ball to their receivers downfield? Absolutely. And that certainly helped the Washington offense as they looked to make their comeback.