Washington Football Team: Landon Collins’ dominant first half vs Bengals proves he’s back
By Jerry Trotta
If you enjoy offense, the Washington Football Team‘s preseason showdown against the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday night probably isn’t your cup of tea.
A total of nine points were scored in the first half, and it looked like a touchdown wouldn’t have been scored if they played for another 15 minutes.
The good news for the Football Team? Well, Dustin Hopkins made both of his field goal attempts after he went 0-for-2 in Week 1.
More important, though, is that the defense looked as good as advertised, limiting the Bengals to just 51 yards of total offense.
While a handful fo players on Washington’s defense stood out, the play of Landon Collins was particularly satisfying, as the star safety made arguably the play of the first half with a huge hit on a play that had the rest of the D scrambling.
Nice hit here from Landon Collins. Best part of it, started as the single deep safety (not even on the screen to start the play), made the read and closed quickly. Didn't make that play from deep last year. pic.twitter.com/auNfDnyfHM
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) August 21, 2021
Landon Collins was everywhere in the first half on Friday night.
Look at that closing speed, folks! We’ve heard rumblings that Collins has looked like his former All-Pro self at training camp following Achilles surgery and this highlight-reel tackle on Thaddeus Moss proves it.
Though he’s an important asset in coverage, Collins is at his best when he’s flying all over the field making plays like this.
The 27-year-old star almost produced a would-be highlight earlier in the game on third down when he and Ja’Marr Chase looked headed for a big collision. Clearly aware that Collins was waiting to lay down the hammer, however, the young wide receiver pulled up on his route to seemingly avoid getting hit.
We know Chase is only a rookie, but WRs being afraid to meet Collins in the middle of the field has us all kinds of excited. He only had that one tackle, too, which just speaks to the impact he can make without padding the stat sheet.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Collins at his very best, but this dominant first half performance proves he’s poised for a bounce-back year.
