Washington Football Team: Highs and lows from Week 9 loss to Giants
Week 9 Highs
Cam Sims Awakens
The major news coming into this week’s game was the return of Steven Sims Jr. off injured reserve. The thought was Sims’ return would help open up the field a bit more for Terry McLaurin. What everyone miscalculated was which Sims would make that difference.
Cam Sims quickly became a favorite target for Alex Smith after he entered the game for Allen, and finished the day with three receptions for 110 yards. Not only was this Sims’ first game with over 100 yards receiving, but his yardage total on the day exceeded his total career receiving yards.
This was an encouraging sign for Washington since the team didn’t make any trades for a WR2 at the trade deadline. With Alex Smith slated to start next week due to Kyle Allen’s injury, this might be a chance for Cam Sims to continue his growth as a receiver for Washington.
Captain Terry to the Rescue
During the bye week, Terry McLaurin was unanimously named a team captain by his fellow players. He showed why on Sunday, finishing the game with seven receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown.
On the touchdown play, Alex Smith perfectly placed the ball to McLaurin between two Giants defenders. McLaurin broke a few tackles and did the rest with his legs on the 68-yard touchdown reception, which happened to be Smith’s first touchdown toss in 728 days.
https://twitter.com/thecheckdown/status/1325537198603554816?s=20
Dustin Hopkins, is that You?
After fans (including me) were calling for Dustin Hopkins to lose his job earlier this season, he ended up being one of the bright spots for Washington in Week 9. Hopkins was 2-for-2 in the game, hitting a 44-yarder and a 48-yarder. Coming into the game, he was 3-for-7 from beyond 40 yards, so hopefully this game gives him some confidence to build from.
Second-Half Defense
I’m not going to say the defense had a good game by any means, but when it counted late in the game, they gave the offense every opportunity to win the game.
After giving up 244 yards and 20 points to the Giants in the first half, Washington’s defense held the Giants to 106 yards and three points in the second half.
When Washington cut the lead to 23-20 in the 4th quarter, the Giants were able to get to Washington’s 39-yard line as they looked to add to their lead. After an offensive pass interference call drove them back, Washington was able to get a sack and stop a Daniel Jones run to force a punt.
10 plays later, the defense was back on the field after Alex Smith threw an interception. They were able to pull through again forcing a three-and-out, and giving the offense the ball back with just under two minutes to play.
Alex Smith’s Almost-Fairytale Ending
There are no moral victories in the NFL, but seeing Alex Smith back on the field and making plays was a welcome sight for any football fan. After entering the game following Kyle Allen’s injury, Smith looked very apprehensive, bringing back memories of the blowout loss to the Rams.
However, in the second half, the quarterback who has a reputation of settling for checkdowns, picked up his game and made some major plays down the field. He had a 68-yard touchdown to McLaurin and a few long completions to Cam Sims.
He finished the game 24-for-32 with 325 yards and a touchdown. He did however throw three interceptions, which is atypical for the quarterback.
Despite the big game, there was no fairytale ending in this one, as the two chances Smith and the Washington Football Team offense had to tie or win the game late in the fourth quarter ended with two costly interceptions by the quarterback.
The first was a horrible throw across Smith’s body where he was trying to make a play instead of throwing it away. On the second interception, Smith was baited into throwing an interception to Logan Ryan, while looking for a long play to McLaurin down the field.