Washington Football Team falls to Lions in last-second heartbreak, 27-30

There won’t often be a more bittersweet ending than this one for the Washington Football Team.

The Washington Football Team came into today’s game at 2-6 and needing a win to stay competitive in the NFC East. While they didn’t get the win, they did get affirmation on a few crucial organizational facts. Yes, Alex Smith can play football again. Yes, this team has a lot of legitimate young talent to build on. And yes, this team still has a long way to go. Losing 27-30 in the final seconds is heartbreaking, but at least Washington has something to grow from.

It wasn’t always a competitive contest. Early on, the Washington Football Team made a quick point out of getting in its own way. On offense, Washington struggled to gain consistency, and convert on infrequent spurts of yardage, and on defense, repeated lapses in coverage led to two first-half passing touchdowns for Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.

At the half, it was 17-3 Lions, and the outlook was bleak for Washington. Things didn’t improve right away, either. Stafford quickly got a third touchdown pass in the third quarter, and although Washington found the end zone as well, it was a net gain of zero, as Detroit went into the final stanza with a 14-point lead.

In the fourth quarter, however, things started to fall into place for the Washington Football Team. On offense, Alex Smith started to take more shots, and offensive skill players started to produce with more proactivity. On defense, pressure was dialed up, and players started converting on plus positioning.

Ron Rivera was able to help Washington shift gears and mount a 21-point comeback, a feat which deserves credit on its own. Various young players such as Cam Sims and Isaiah Wright had career games, and other playmakers like Logan Thomas and Terry McLaurin also came up clutch when needed. The end result was a loss, but Washington fought back when they might as well have been defeated, and that’s an admirable thing.

The Washington Football Team is now 2-7, and even though no NFC East team seems to want to take the division crown, Washington should be out of the conversation by all practical reasoning. They’ll face the Bengals next week, where they should hope to build on the resilience they showed today.