Washington Football Team: Winners and losers from Week 2 preseason win over Bengals

We’re not about to throw a party that the Washington Football Team won its Week 2 preseason game over the Cincinnati Bengals.

While it was nice to rebound from the Week 1 loss, we’re just relieved Ron Rivera’s side escaped the game without any major injuries. That’s arguably the most important battle of training camp and the preseason.

In a vacuum, it was an admirable performance from the Football Team. The defense played lights out despite the fact that some starters didn’t play, and the offense, though it didn’t have much sting in its attack, moved the ball well.

Like any game, however, there were some things to not feel so great about. Taking that into account, let’s dive head first into a breakdown of the winners and losers from Friday night’s defensive showcase.

Football Team: Winners and losers from Week 2 win over Bengals

To keep you on your toes, let’s rotate between winners and losers. Of course, we’ll start with the undisputed biggest winner from the game.

Winner: Jaret Patterson

What more is there to say about Jaret Patterson? If the undersized RB hasn’t cemented his spot on the 53-man roster, then fans of the Football Team might assemble a protest outside the gates of FedEx Field.

After leading Washington in rushing and receiving in Week 1, Patterson posted 96 yards from scrimmage (71 rushing, 25 receiving) on Friday. He also returned a kickoff for 37 yards, indicating  he could carve out a role on special teams.

We could go on, but we’ll leave you with this: no player maybe in the NFL has boosted their stock more in the preseason than Patterson.

Loser: Ryan Fitzpatrick

In no way are we insinuating that Ryan Fitzpatrick’s starting job should be brought into question. The 38-year-old gunslinger did some positive things in the game, like throwing a gorgeous jump ball to Dyami Brown and connecting with Logan Thomas for another gain of 20-plus yards.

However, we can’t ignore the fact that he missed Adam Humphries in the endzone on what would’ve been an easy TD. Because of that, Fitz comes out as a loser.

Winner: Landon Collins

Landon Collins didn’t play a ton of snaps against the Bengals, but he didn’t waste any time making his presence felt. He made arguably the play of the game when he deprived Thaddeus Moss of a big gain on a delayed screen.

Just minutes later, Collins was ready to lay a big hit on Ja’Marr Chase, but the rookie WR made a wise business decision and pulled up on his route.

Suffice it to say Collins is in for a big bounce-back year.