5 negatives for Washington Football Team vs Packers

The Washington Football Team found another way to lose on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, but it likely ends any hopes of a division title or playoff appearance this season.

Your Washington Football Team had several golden opportunities to score an upset victory against the Packers on Sunday afternoon.  The only problem Washington faced was, you guessed it, the Burgundy and Gold.  The Packers were clearly outplayed by the visitors from northern Virginia and Washington failed miserably to take advantage of the hospitalities on Sunday.  The loss all but knocks Washington out of any hopes of returning to the playoffs and winning a second straight NFC East title.

Washington was able to make it a contest for two quarters and still had some opportunities in the final fifteen minutes, but self-inflicted gaffes, mistakes, and good old-fashioned rotten luck doomed any efforts of an upset.  The score will reflect a loss at the hands of Green Bay, but the boys from Ashburn truly beat themselves on Sunday afternoon.  Quarterback Taylor Heinicke gave it his all, but it wasn’t enough.  And Heinicke had his issues as well.  It was encouraging to see the team giving the Packers all they could handle, but moral victories don’t count in the win column.

Washington’s season is perilously close to being on life support, but the illness that is known as “red zone-itis” paralyzed the team’s chances on Sunday.  We’ll have more on that later, but the no-name team had a very realistic chance to come away with a huge victory in the frozen tundra of northern Wisconsin.  The statistics that caused the loss are staggering and difficult to understand, but a professional football team simply can’t be this inept and hope to win.

Welcome to our weekly analysis of the latest game as we endeavor to dissect a mind-boggling loss and a new level of futility from the Washington Football Team.  We’ll give you five primary negatives from Sunday’s defeat and grade each unit on their performance.  There is no grading on the curve this week.  There is some praise for various plays and performances, but let’s be honest – a loss is a loss and it is magnified this week due to how the team lost.  Winning in an ugly manner is fine and losing in a pretty manner is still a loss, but losing ugly is unacceptable.  Washington’s loss to Green Bay is the kind of ugliness that is inexcusable.

In addition to the five negatives, we’ll also take a look at the game in Denver this Sunday against the Broncos and offer a prediction.  How do you think Washington will fare this Sunday in Denver?  Is the season basically over?  Are you optimistic of any kind of comeback for 2021?  We’ll offer our thoughts and see what the Riggo’s Rag crystal ball predicts for Sunday’s trip to the Front Range of Colorado.

1. Red zone failures

The number of red zone problems that haunted the Washington Football Team on Sunday was scarier than a Halloween nightmare on a dark and stormy night.  The numbers are frightening. Other than the two scores (touchdown and field goal) from Sunday’s game, Washington traveled inside Green Bay’s 30-yard line eight times and came away with three points.  Late in the game, Washington added a field goal after a drive stalled at Green Bay’s 27 yard line.

Also, the Burgundy and Gold ventured into Green Bay’s red zone four times and came away with zero points.  Zero.  Nada.  None.

The red zone failures include a mind-numbing series where Washington had the ball well inside Green Bay’s one-yard line and didn’t score.  It didn’t help when quarterback Taylor Heinicke slid too early on the previous play prematurely and failed to score an easy touchdown.

These mistakes and miscues doomed a very solid effort on Sunday and obviously leaves fans frustrated and demoralized.  These red zone failures and mental mistakes are the first negative from Sunday’s game.