Week 5 by the numbers: Defensive struggles continue to plague WFT

After the Washington Football Team let another winnable game slip away in Week 5, one Ron Rivera quote stood out postgame, “We lack a little bit of confidence right now.”

I know he was referring to the players, but you can add the entire fanbase to those that are lacking confidence in this team right now.

Week after week, the team is plagued by the same mistakes, whether it is blown coverages, big plays given up on defense, or costly mistakes in the red zone. The list goes on and on.

The success the team had last year, backing into the playoffs gave this fanbase something it had been missing for quite some time…HOPE! But, every game, this team continues to choke out any hope the fanbase had left in this season.

If I told you before the game that Washington was going to win the time of possession battle by almost 13 minutes, force an interception and a fumble in New Orleans’ territory in the first quarter, and have its first five possessions reach New Orleans’ territory, would you have predicted a win?

Nine times out of ten, the answer would be a resounding yes, but this Washington Football Team has time and time again found itself to be the exception to that rule.

The faith in this defense has turned to dread any time the opposing team is facing third down. Will Washington hold this team to a three-and-out has become how many plays until the opponent pulls off a 40+ yard touchdown. The magic of Taylor Heinicke has begun to lose some of its luster and its back to the drawing board for Washington with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs coming to town next week.

The disappointments continue for the Washington Football Team and at some point, the quotes about there being plenty of season left will stop holding weight.

This fanbase has continued to be patient throughout the Dan Snyder era. Scandal after scandal, season after season of false hope, new saviors, potential franchise quarterbacks.

Enough is enough, this fanbase does not need to be placated with false hope and empty words, it needs action. It deserves answers. It deserves accountability.

This proud franchise went from being a perennial Super Bowl contender during the Joe Gibbs era to becoming a team content with going 7-9 and making the playoffs. This fanbase deserves so much more!

Let’s get into the Week 5 numbers.

With many offensive weapons injured, there weren’t many highs for the Washington Football Team in Week 5.

3: It only took five weeks this season, instead of 17 weeks, but the Washington Football Team finally scored on its first drive of a game, adding three points on a Dustin Hopkins 45-yarder to take an early 3-0 lead.

2: After only having two takeaways all season, both coming in the first game of the season against the Chargers, Washington added two more takeaways today. The first was a Cole Holcomb interception in Saints territory, and the second was a Chase Young sack/forced fumble.

10: Washington did take advantage of the turnovers and was able to put 10 points on the board off turnovers. The early field goal by Hopkins and a five-yard touchdown run by Antonio Gibson.

1: Chase Young finally got his first sack and forced fumble of the season, both coming on the same play.

0: For the first time all season, the Washington defense held its opponent without points on the first drive of the game.

12, 176: With Logan Thomas and Cam Sims both out for the game, Adam Humphries, DeAndre Carter, and Ricky Seals-Jones stepped up, combining for 12 receptions and 176 receiving yards. Humphries led the team with 73 receiving yards, while Carter and Seals-Jones both came up with big catches in the contest. Seals-Jones caught a 16-yard tip-toe catch on the sidelines on 3rd and 10 early in the game, and Carter snagged a 26-yard reception on a 4th and 14 on a Washington touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

3-3: On a day where the Bengals and Packers game featured five missed field goals in a row, Dustin Hopkins showed out, going 3-for-3 on field goals of 23, 24, and 45 yards. The team did however pass up a 50+ yard kick and went for it on 4th and 10, showing a lack of confidence in Hopkins after a week of the coaching staff talking him up.

4.16: Adam Humphries had an average of 4.16 yards of separation from defenders in this game, compared to a league average of 2.88 yards, which is impressive in itself.

Big plays and missed assignments continue to be costly for Washington’s defense.

47: Washington Football Team’s defense last year thrived on a bend but don’t break approach, but this season, it looks like the defense is broken. The Saints got 47% of its total yards on five scoring plays, including a 72-yarder early in the game where Landon Collins found himself out of position.

31: Even when the offense was performing, Washington was able to receive lucky breaks to keep the drive alive. Washington’s first touchdown drive was seven plays and 44 yards, out of which 31 came off a penalty. The drive was all but over, but Washington was saved by a 15-yard roughing the kicker penalty on a Tress Way punt. Later in the drive, Washington benefitted from a pass interference call on a pass intended for Dax Milne.

8: Washington continues to struggle on its opening drives of both halves, finishing with 8 total yards on 7 plays, but getting three points due to good field position of an early interception.

9.9%: According to NextGen Stats, the 49-yard Hail Mary from Jameis Winston to Marquez Callaway had a 9.9% completion probability, the lowest likelihood for a passing touchdown all season. Washington fans watching the game would kindly disagree as the defenders did not even attempt to defend the pass, on what ended up being a major turning point in the game.

13: Washington’s offense was able to get into Saints’ territory on five of its six first-half possessions and finished with only 13 points.

369: The defense gave up 369 total yards, which embarrassingly enough is the lowest allowed in a game by Washington all season.

140+: According to PFF, Landon Collins allowed over 140+ receiving yards and two touchdowns against the Saints. It looks like all the pre-season hype surrounding him was all a mirage.

2: Curtis Samuel only ran two routes against the Saints before re-injuring his groin. After only playing 22 snaps last week and missing over four months since joining the team, Samuel looks to be the latest in a long line of wide receiver misses for the franchise.

13: With Jon Bostic lost to injury, many expected Jamin Davis to get a major uptick in playing time. That hasn’t happened as he finished with only 13 snaps in the game. One of those plays was the Alvin Kamara touchdown run where Davis looked to be in the wrong defensive lane, leading to a huge opening for Kamara.

31.25: Coming into the game, Washington had the second-worst third-down conversion percentage on offense. It did not get much better against the Saints as Washington finished 5-for-16 (31.25%) on third downs.

48.7: After having a 69.5% completion percentage in his first four games this season, Taylor Heinicke came back to earth a bit against the Saints, finishing with a 48.7% completion percentage.

1-for-7: After throwing his first interception of the game, Heinicke went 1-for-7 for 7 yards for the rest of the first half and into the first drive of the second half.

2: Heinicke finished the game with two interceptions, but he was lucky he did not have more. In what was his worst performance this season, he constantly missed receivers and underthrew Terry McLaurin multiple times. The Saints were able to expose Heinicke’s lack of arm strength and his propensity to force some throws.

40%: Washington came into the game with the sixth-best red zone scoring percentage (TDs only), but finished the game only 2-for-5 (40%) on red-zone scoring attempts against the Saints.

The road doesn’t get any easier for Washington, with upcoming games against Mahomes and the Chiefs, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, and Teddy Bridgewater and the Broncos before going into the bye week. Washington could very easily finish the upcoming three-game stretch 0-3, which will leave the team with a lot to think about for the future during the bye week.

Will Landon Collins’ quote on the Hail Mary completion (“We weren’t prepared for that one.”) foreshadow the rest of the season or will this team be able to overcome adversity and make a run, as it did last season? We’ll find out!

Washington Football Team: Studs and duds from Week 5 debacle

The Washington Football Team lost to the New Orleans Saints at home on Sunday. Here are the best and worst performers from the game.