Washington Football Team: Immediate thoughts on biggest win in years

The Washington Football Team had their best win in years on Monday night, surpassing the undefeated Steelers by a score of 23-17.

If you’re a golf fan, the best tournament of 2020 was the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields in August. Dustin Johnson made an improbable 43-foot putt to seemingly force a playoff with Jon Rahm. Then Rahm outdid him with an even more amazing 66-footer to win.

Welcome to the BMW Championship – NFC East style.

The Washington Football Team watched on Sunday as the New York Giants went into Seattle and beat one of the better teams in the NFC to seize the lead in the East. Then Washington went into Pittsburgh and beat the very best – or at least the only undefeated – team in the entire league.

This is the benchmark game for the Washington Football Team in 2020. The good and the bad were on full display. The defense is tough, bordering on elite. The offense is sorely in need of more playmakers and linemen. The team is very young and makes a lot of bad mistakes. The team fights like hell.

Let’s start with the good. The defensive line was dominant, especially in stopping the run. That has been a weakness of late and it was nice to see them bounce back. It’s true that the Steelers’ line is not as strong as it has been in the past, but this still a very solid team.

The pass rush against Ben Roethlisberger was good, if not great. The tackles were especially effective collapsing the pocket. The ends didn’t get a lot of direct pressure, but by God, did they show their athleticism chasing down backs and receivers and batting down passes.

The linebackers and defensive backs are not elite, but they play hard. Cole Holcomb could be special. Jon Bostic played his best game of they year. There are still issues at safety.

On offense, losing one of the two explosive playmakers early in the game was a devastating loss. The team simply does not have enough playmakers to overcome that kind of loss on a regular basis. But several of the other skill position players deserve an apology from those – like me – who underestimated their abilities.

I am still not convinced that Logan Thomas and Cam Sims are the final answers at tight end and at the Z-receiver respectively. Neither one can get the separation from defenders required to be first-rate pass catchers. But both do some things very well. Thomas is really good with contested catches – even when the ball is on the ground, as his fourth quarter fumble recovery shows. Sims may not have separation speed, but he is an excellent runner once he makes the catch. Both made enormous game-winning catches in the fourth quarter.

The Washington Football Team’s offensive line, when it can stay healthy, is a respectable unit. When Wes Martin had to replace Brandon Scherff for a couple plays in the third quarter, everyone held their breath. The line is one injury away from being very a major liability.

Special teams, despite allowing a couple decent returns, were outstanding.  Danny Johnson was good on returns. Tress Way was his typically excellent self. And Dustin Hopkins, a couple weeks after struggling to keep his job, was magnificent.

There were a lot of mistakes. Many of them were from young players like Khaleke Hudson or James Smith-Williams. But some came from veterans. Jeremy Sprinkle’s failure to corral Ray-Ray McCloud’s punt muff in the first half is just one example of Washington’s uncanny inability to recover fumbles. They are the worst in the league at it. And Alex Smith took very bad back-to-back sacks at the end of the first half. An administrative problem saved Washington and allowed Dustin Hopkins to put some points on the board before halftime.

But this team never gave up. Maligned players like Hopkns and Bostic came up huge. J.D. McKissic did what I always thought he could. Sims and Thomas did what I never thought they could do. They won this game without needing anything superhuman from Terry McLaurin.

And on defense… well, you can still win games in the NFL with defense. And Young, Sweat, et. al, are going to be fun to watch for years and years.

Hopefully, Antonio Gibson’s injury is not too serious. Hopefully, this game is a sign of things to come.