Washington Football Team: Positive and negative takeaways from Week 4 win

Positive Takeaways

3. Washington’s playmakers on point

Washington’s offensive playmakers were potent as can be on Sunday afternoon. From DeAndre Carter’s kickoff return touchdown, to Terry McLaurin catching Taylor Heinicke’s punt, to JD McKissic willing his way into the end-zone within the final minute of the game, Washington has flat-out playmakers on its roster.

One playmaker, in particular, is Terry McLaurin, a bonafide superstar at the position that nobody can dismiss any further. The top 10 wideout finished with six catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns. His versatility was on display as he caught passes at all three levels of the passing game, as well as saving his QB’s bacon on one occasion after what should’ve been an incompletion ended as McLaurin’s second touchdown of the evening. What can be said that hasn’t already when it comes to the former third-round pick?

He has emerged as one of the game’s premier talents, someone who should be a member of this organization for the next eight seasons. He’s arrived, folks. Terry McLaurin is all that and then some, now Washington needs to find the long-term thrower that can take advantage of his dynamic ability.

2. Defensive Line making strides

The defensive line played well today. Though they only finished with just one sack today, the unit forced pressure on a consistent basis and held Atlanta’s running back committee to 20 carries for just 45 yards.

Guys like Montez Sweat, Tim Settle, Chase Young each had one tackle for loss in the game while likely finishing with a handful of hurries combined. It’s a solid improvement for a unit that gets unnecessary hate, in my opinion. We’ll touch on the actual “enemies” of the defense later in this piece, but Washington’s front four/five won their matchup on Sunday afternoon.

1. Taylor Heinicke magic

Taylor Heinicke, somehow, did it again. He played a decent football game on Sunday afternoon He had his up and down moments. A few soft-balls that should’ve ended as incompletions or interceptions, both of which were saved by McLaurin, he missed a few easy throws like on third and two where he missed Ricky Seals-Jones in the flats, but he played well enough to win. His final drive of the game was huge, QB1-level stuff. He scanned the field, went through his progressions, and worked his way back to the opposite side of the field to find JD McKissic.

It was absolutely an exceptional play from Washington’s signal-caller, who did all that he could and flat-out made 50-percent of that play happen. You can’t ask for anything else, he kept the football clean, limited his mistakes, and ultimately it ended with a huge win for a Football Team that desperately needed it.

Negative Takeaways

3. Injuries pile up

Injuries, injuries, injuries. Dyami Brown, Logan Thomas, Brandon Scherff, and even Tory McTyer, were all unable to finish Sunday’s game. A disappointing outcome for a Washington group that stayed relatively healthy this season. Without three of Washington’s starters offensively and a key rotational defensive back, the Football Team must embrace the “next man up” mentality as they will likely be without four key members of their roster for this Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints.

2. Not nearly enough from LBs

We’ll start with the linebacker room. Cole Holcomb wasn’t bad today. He had some lapses in coverage, but nothing noteworthy. Jamin Davis had a very good play against the run late in the fourth and he was bulldozed on one occasion in the run-game, but all in all, No. 52 has improved from week to week.

The “captain” of the defense though, Jon Bostic, has been abysmal this season. Missed tackles, blown coverage assignments, and pulling the old “Will Compton special” running straight into blocks in run support. It’s been pretty bad, and as respectfully as I can say this, he shouldn’t be on the field for Washington much, if at all, for the remainder of this season. It has been that bad, leaving you questioning why Ron Rivera and company felt the need to “live” with their personnel at linebacker, knowing how limited they were. The scheme is not the issue here with Jon Bostic, he just is not a starting-level NFL linebacker.

1. Secondary struggles continue

The defensive back room has been even worse than the linebackers. I know, I know. Landon Collins in particular, has played some of the worst football at the strong safety position that we have seen here in recent years. What should have been a routine fit here as a box-safety, playing downhill against the run with minimal coverage responsibility, has turned into a nightmare. Collins cannot stay out of his own way, and when it comes time to make a play, he fails to do so time and time again.

For example, some believed late in the first half that Collins’s inability to tackle Cordarrelle Patterson was simply a matter of poor scheme plus poor execution. I say, nonsense. Collins is taught in the open field to attack offensive players near-hip, wrap up and make a tackle. In football, the low man always wins. Collins stays upright, over-runs and out-leverages himself in the open field, and gets juked into the sideline. Landon Collins does not fit in Washington, at least not in the scheme they want him in.

Quite frankly, I am unsure of what scheme actually fits for a guy who struggles at just about every ask of the position, including asks of other positions like linebacker. Luckily for Collins, he isn’t the only player who has struggled on the back end. This week, it was Kendall Fuller and Bobby McCain who may have played just a tick worse than Landon. Both Fuller and McCain were lost in coverage whether it be man or zone, both players have started out slow and have regressed significantly from their play last season.

They’ve moved Fuller around from slot corner to outside corner and it didn’t work. For McCain, his responsibility as a free-safety prioritizes around keeping the play in front of him, something he hasn’t been able to do on a consistent basis.

The Washington Football Team’s defensive back room has been horrendous, arguably the worst room on the roster given the amount of talent there. Nonetheless, they have a huge test against offensive mastermind Sean Payton next week, someone who can attack this unit in ways they never thought were possible.

Washington Football Team: Jack Del Rio’s seat is scalding hot despite Week 4 win

Washington Football Team defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio's seat better be scalding hot after the defense's shambolic showing in Week 4.