Washington Football Team studs and duds from Week 16 loss vs. Panthers

Dud No. 1 – QB Dwayne Haskins

The Dwayne Haskins era is almost certainly over in Washington. The beginning of the end was Haskin’s benching earlier in the season, but since then, things have taken a turn for the worst for the second-year quarterback.

After last week’s loss against the Seahawks, Haskins partied without a mask on, putting his teammates at risk. The team fined Haskins and revoked his captainship for the ordeal, but opted to give him another chance on the field after Alex Smith couldn’t play in Week 16.

Haskins played against the Panthers, and he performed very poorly. Throwing 28 passes, he only completed 14 for 154 yards and completed two to the other team. He also lost a fumble on a strip sack. After he suffered another sack on a crucial fourth down early in the fourth quarter, Haskins was officially benched for Taylor Heinicke.

It’s astounding how steep the drop-off has been from any other quarterback to Haskins this year. The team invested an entire offseason in him as starter and gave him numerous second chances, and through it all, Haskins looks far worse than he looked last season. It appears the book may be closing on his career in Washington, and he’s very likely played his last snaps in burgundy and gold.

Whatever your feelings on Haskins, don’t be that guy that takes countless victory laps because you predicted his failure. Don’t be that guy that relishes in a fellow human being’s downfall. Haskins is still young, and he’s going to make mistakes. Those mistakes went on a bit too long in Washington. But here’s to hoping he can make it through the tough times, learn, and rebound somewhere else.