Washington Football Team: 6 takeaways from Week 7 loss to Green Bay

1. Poor execution

Washington’s execution was their downfall. Despite what you might read on social media, offensive coordinator Scott Turner had himself a day. The Washington football team‘s office moved up and down the field with ease, gaining Green Bay is often significantly while also winning the time of possession battle.

It was when Washington entered Green Bay territory, specifically inside the red zone, where Washington fumbled every opportunity imaginable. But, it wasn’t because of poor play-calling, but rather, a lack of execution. Whether it was Taylor Heinicke attempting the worst “dive” for the end-zone that we’ve seen, or even Terry McLaurin being out of position and dropping a touchdown pass on third down, Washington shot themselves in the foot.

They were their own worst enemy when it comes to executing, and it’s unacceptable since Green Bay‘s defense coming into Sunday’s game was the worst red zone defense in all of the NFL. Washington’s lack of execution fried any hopes that they had of pulling off what could’ve been a major upset.

2. Where was Chase Young?

This is the first time that I’ve had to mark Chase Young as a negative, but here we are. The former No. 2 overall pick has had a roller coaster ride of a second season. The sack numbers aren’t there, but the pressures, hurries, and hits are.

Eventually, he’ll break out of the funk, but as of today, he was a negative after his performance against the Green Bay Packers. His matchup on the offensive line favored him immensely, and he was unable to take advantage of it.

Young was Washington’s lowest-graded defender yesterday, according to Pro Football Focus, and while he had two hurries and one batted pass, he was ultimately ineffective on Sunday. He’ll take on another poor offensive line in Denver on Halloween, where, hopefully, he has a spooky basket prepared for us all.

1. Not enough from the QB position

We can’t end this piece without discussing Washington’s quarterback situation. The lifelong Packers fan, lived out his dream yesterday. Taylor Heinicke had the opportunity of a lifetime, playing against the team he grew up watching every Sunday.

It started great, as Heinicke hit McLaurin on a deep ball and found himself running the ball like Lamar Jackson deep into Green Bay territory. The fun seemed to disintegrate there, however, as Heinicke put together a poor performance overall against a defense that was ripe for the picking.

Whether it be Heinicke‘s diving attempt that was unnecessary and ultimately cost Washington a touchdown, or his lack of arm talent, both accuracy and strength, hurting this team yet again, he was a negative on Sunday afternoon.

We knew coming into the season that if he had to play any more than three or four games in a season, you’d be in trouble. That’s proving to be correct, and while he is a great story and should be a career backup for the Football Team, expecting him to give you anything more than mid-tier backup QB play is expecting too much.

As the saying goes, precision beats power, and timing beats speed, yet Heinicke has none of the accuracy, speed, strength, or anticipatory skills to be a competent quarterback in the NFL. Sunday’s performance against the Green Bay Packers proved that yet again.