Washington Football Team studs and duds from Thanksgiving 2020 win

Stud No. 7 – Thanksgiving stuffing

Over-eating is a problem on Thanksgiving, but interestingly enough, the Washington Football Team seemed hungry for more, even as they went into the locker rooms with a terminal 41-16 lead. And fans across the nation longed for more, too, perhaps for the first time in 2020 viewing Washington as legitimate playoff contenders.

Time will tell us whether or not the Washington Football Team can add to the success they saw on Thursday against their bitter rival, but on a day known for stuffing, Washington stuffed the stat sheet, and while we’ve gone over our top studs, there are still far too many to acknowledge. We’ll express our thanks for each one, below.

Washington Football Team remaining studs

• Dwayne Haskins, for rushing to pick up Alex Smith after the latter got tackled near the sideline. We don’t get an inside look at how Haskins has dealt with his benching, but he looked like a team player there.
• Peyton Barber, for putting up a respectable effort while keeping Antonio Gibson clean later on. After Gibson’s career day, Barber came in and logged a healthy 57 yards on 11 carries, doing enough to ice the game for Washington.
• Logan Thomas, for doing his part to maintain Washington’s lead. Thomas found the end zone again in Week 12, on a diving catch from Alex Smith. There wasn’t enough volume in Washington’s passing game for Thomas to see more looks in Week 12, but he maximized the targets he got, and that’s all you can ask for.
• Daron Payne, for assisting in asserting pressure. Daron Payne and Cole Holcomb split a sack early on in this one, with Payne absolutely mauling the interior line and splicing through two blockers to get to the quarterback. We don’t talk about Payne enough, but rest assured, he’s still a beast.
• Tim Settle, for perpetuating his role as the new interior sack specialist. Tim Settle logged yet another sack on Thursday, an effort play on which he managed to trip up Dalton while on the ground. Settle has five sacks on the year, and already, it’s getting fun to think about what he and Matt Ioannidis might be able to do together on passing downs.
• Cole Holcomb, for being Cole Holcomb. Both of Holcomb’s best games of the year have come against Dallas. Last time around, Holcomb had a sack, an interception, and a pass deflection, and this time, he put up ten total tackles, a half-sack on a blitz, and a tackle for loss. Holcomb remains a weapon on defense, and his slow, steady growth has been fun to watch.
• Jimmy Moreland, for chipping in when needed. Moreland hasn’t been a super consistent player ever since his stellar Week 1 outing, but in Week 12, he showed his range and willingness to exert contact with some key tackles in close situations.
• Troy Apke, for the same thing, basically. Apke gets a lot of flak, and after being benched, it’s clear that some of that is warranted. But even Apke got in on the Thanksgiving action on Thursday, individually mounting a defensive stop late in the game with his speed and aggressiveness. The one time a week Apke picks the right angle, it looks good.
• Jeremy Reaves, for being Kamren Curl-lite. Curl has ultimately set the standard for Washington’s young defensive backs, but Jeremy Reaves had a very good day for Washington as well. He didn’t see the field consistently until the second half, but he was always around the ball, and he also logged a sack. Curl and Reaves may be proving that instincts ultimately trump speed for safeties, in zero-sum situations.
• Dustin Hopkins, for going 100 percent on seven total kicking attempts. He’s been a source of ire in 2020, but Hopkins was solid in Week 12, converting both of his field goal attempts and nailing all five of his extra points.
• The NFC East, for being so enjoyably bad that a Thanksgiving game is meaningful for a 4-7 Washington Football Team.

And thus, thanks have been given. Now, it’s time to move on to the final stretch. Because Washington has a division to win.