Eight thoughts about Washington Football Team’s win over 49ers

Thoughts on the Washington Football Team’s win over 49ers.

OK, there’s a lot to unpack from the Washington Football Team’s win.

I put a piece in the queue a few days ago that made a brief reference to how the Dwayne Haskins situation would be affected should Alex Smith twist an ankle. So the first major takeaway from Washington’s brutally tough 23-15 win over San Francisco is that I need to rewrite that piece before it gets published.

Otherwise, here’s what jumps out about Sunday’s win.

Reactions to Washington Football Team’s win vs. 49ers

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1. Washington’s scoring broke down like this: Defense – 12, Hopkins – 11, Offense – 0. It’s nice to win, but that is not sustainable.

This is why Washington was right to draft Chase Young. (And Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, and Montez Sweat.) Washington’s two TDs were scored by 21-year-old rookies. (and, bonus — on the Curl, score, that was James Smith Williams blocking for him. Pretty good for a couple of 7th round rookies.)

2. If Kevin Pierre Louis is out for any length of time, that is a big problem. KPL is not the best linebacker on the team (that would be Cole Holcomb), but he is the most irreplaceable. Washington does not have another linebacker who can cover like he does. There is a reason why San Francisco was suddenly able to move the ball at will to open backs in the flat after Pierre-Louis went out.

3. Alex Smith did not look good throwing the ball from the opening play. I have to assume that leg was giving him trouble the entire game.

Dwayne Haskins, on the other hand, came in and made several very nice throws. Haskins’ problem has never been his arm. But he showed the poor pocket awareness that plagued him earlier this season. He just does not look very comfortable back there, especially when under pressure.

4. Steven Sims Jr.’s third-down drop really hurt Haskins, I think.

But Sims will stick around a while. I’m not sure I can say the same for Robert Foster, who was not good in his audition. He slowed down on Smith’s best throw of the day and therefore missed a potential game-changing early play. He had a drop on his only other target. Thanks for playing, Mr. Foster. Jeff Badet – you’re up next.

5. I did not like going three straight naked backfield plays from inside the 10 after the first big turnover. Washington may not have been able to run it in from there, but I think you need to at least put that thought in the defense’s head.

6. It was a tough, hard-fought victory. The kind that establishes character. To be clear – San Fran was playing without their best offensive and defensive player (George Kittle and Nick Bosa) and they lost their next best offensive and defensive players (Deebo Samuel and Fred Warner) during the game.

But Washington had plenty of injuries to deal with as well. They played hard, and for the most part, they played very smart. The offense was not good, but Brandon Scherff, Chase Roullier, JD McKissic and Peyton Barber (who never goes far, but also never goes backward) all played very strong games.

7. I already voted for Chase Young as Defensive Player of the Week (though I will accept him sharing the honor with Arizona’s Hassan Reddick). Just imagine if I actually had a vote.

8. And the final takeaway… FIRST PLACE, BABY!