10 quick thoughts from Week 12 as Washington stifles Seattle in primetime

The Washington Football Team officially entered the playoff conversation following their Week 11 win over the Carolina Panthers.

After getting some help in other games from the Week 12 slate, all Washington needed was to defeat the free-falling Seattle Seahawks in primetime to firmly entrench themselves into the NFC playoff picture.

In years past, that would’ve been a tall ask. But the 2021 version of the Seahawks are seemingly broken beyond repair. Russell Wilson is feeling the effects of his finger surgery. The defense tends to break when it’s bending and the play-calling and game management from Pete Carroll is as bad as we can remember.

Thanks to that, and another lights-out showing from the defense, Washington improved to 5-6 on the season. The final score might not show it, but the Football Team dominated Seattle on all three levels in this one.

There was a lot to digest, but hopefully 10 thoughts are enough (probably not) to get through everything we just watched unfold.

Landon Collins is a difference-maker: It becomes more and more obvious every week, but Collins isn’t switching positions for as long he’s in Washington.

Sure, he’ll be deployed at safety for a couple snaps every game, but the majority of his playing time should come at linebacker. He really helped set the tone early by blowing up a run by Alex Collins at the line of scrimmage and forcing a fumble on another Collins run with a perfectly-executed punch.

Collins and run blitzing go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Offensive tempo was beautiful: If Scott Turner drew anything from the scouting report on Seattle, it’s that they love giving up underneath routes and struggle against up-tempo offenses, because that was Washington’s exact blueprint tonight.

We’re not sure why folks like to hate on Turner. He’s an innovative coordinator but knows when to take what the defense gives him. What more can you ask for? Time for fans to give the second-year OC his flowers.

The man dials up long drives with the best of ’em.