Washington Football Team: The entire team needs to Put up their Dukes

Can the Washington Football Team pull off one of the biggest upsets in NFL Playoff history versus the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

In a classic David vs. Goliath matchup, the Washington Football Team faces off against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in what could possibly be the most exciting contest of the Wild Card weekend.

This is a big test for Washington for obvious reasons. If they’re to pull off a massive upset, the defensive line will have to take over the game. The unit has played a key role all season in each of Washington’s seven victories this season. Washington’s defense has been key during the 5-2 run to end the season. The unit has held opponents to 20 points or fewer in the past seven games.

Being that Washington’s offense lacks the firepower to match scores with Tampa’s prolific offense, it’s imperative that Washington makes this game as ugly as possible. These are the types of games that Washington thrives in.

The Washington Football Team should aim to make Tampa’s run game non-existent. In four out of five losses, Tampa Bay failed to rush for over 100 yards. Tampa Bay also committed at least two turnovers in four out of five of their losses. If they can limit the run and create several turnovers, the defense should be able to create short fields for the offense.

In his first season with Tampa, Tom Brady has produced big numbers. He’s completed 65.7% of his passes, throwing for 4,633 yards, 40 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Excellent numbers on paper but when Brady faces pressure he is a completely different quarterback.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Brady is fifth in QBR without pressure but 31st when facing pressure. Although Tampa’s offensive line allowed only 21 sacks all season, Washington’s defensive line is more than capable of dominating Tampa’s offensive line, especially at left tackle and along with the interior at the center position and right guard.

According to Pro Football Focus, left tackle Donovan Smith has allowed six sacks, eight quarterback hits, and 35 total pressures on the season. Center Ryan Jensen allowed four sacks and 23 total pressures. Right guard Alex Cappa allowed a team-high 13 quarterback hits and was second with 27 total pressures allowed.

The true studs have been Ali Marpet and rookie Tristan Wirfs. Marpet has allowed only 10 pressures all season while Wirfs has allowed only one sack. Nonetheless, the defensive line has to be disruptive for a full 60 minutes if the Washington Football Team is to have any chance to hang with Tampa Bay.

Washington’s secondary will face their biggest test of the season against Brady and his full arsenal of weapons. With Mike Evans set to play, that could potentially make matters worse for Washington’s secondary. Make no mistake about it: Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, and Rob Gronkowski are all more than capable of defeating Washington. If Washington jams and disrupts the routes of Tampa’s receivers, they should be able to find success generating enough pressure on Brady.

This past week, head coach Ron Rivera suggested that Washington could use a quarterback rotation. Those aren’t conventional and rarely work but this is more out of necessity due to Smith’s nagging calf injury. Reports are now surfacing that backup Taylor Heinicke could start at quarterback for the Washington Football Team. Heinicke played well against Carolina, but he did so with the Panthers playing a lot of soft coverage late in the second half.

The key on offense will be identifying and picking up blitzes in Todd Bowles’s blitz-heavy schemes. Taking advantage of the absence of linebacker Devin White will be key for Washington’s offense. White was the most productive player on the Bucs defense. The former LSU standout led Tampa Bay with 140 tackles, was second with 9.0 sacks, first with 15 tackles for loss, and third with16 quarterback hits. With Kevin Minter likely to start in his place, Washington should look to exploit this matchup with running backs Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic.

It’s a tall task especially against the No.1 rush defense in the NFL, but Scott Turner can ill-afford to abandon the run game. Washington will have to live with the occasional two-yard gain. Another way to beat Tom Brady is to keep him off the field. If Washington can win time of possession with a ball-control type of offense, they’ll be able to play complementary football which is key for an underdog in the playoffs. The Washington Football Team should at least try to establish the run early on to ease some of the pressure off of whoever starts at quarterback.

The offensive line led by All-Pro Brandon Scherff has performed admirably all season. Now they’ll need to raise their level of play against a stout front seven that is pressuring quarterbacks on 27 percent of dropbacks. As far as the special teams are concerned for the Washington, this is the week where a muffed punt or missed kick could be a fatal error for Washington’s chances to win this game.

No one is giving Washington much of a chance to win this game but other teams in similar spots have fared well. In 2010, the 7-9 Seahawks beat the Saints who were the defending Super Bowl Champions at the time. The following year, Tim Tebow and the 8-8 Broncos knocked off the Steelers who had the No.1 defense in yards and points allowed.

In 2014, Rivera’s Panthers upset the 11-5 Cardinals after going 7-8-1. Can the 2020 Washington Football Team continue the trend? Only time will tell, but to pull off the upset, it’s going to take an all-around team effort to defeat Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.