Well Washington fans, we are all here again.The Washington Football Team is back in the double-digit loss column for the second time in three years. With nine or more losses in 14 of their last 20 seasons, the Washington Football Team is in familiar territory yet again.
It’s been a season full of ups and downs like no other. From Washington losing their starting quarterback just minutes into their first game of the regular season, to brutal injuries to their best players on both sides of the football beyond the QB position, to FedEx Field seemingly falling apart by the week, if it could go wrong, it went wrong for Washington in 2021.
The new and improved culture from just a year ago was tested in the trenches, with Washington’s very own taking a swing at one another. Though you’re happy that this team is unhappy with losing, their composure is just as valuable as their play on the field, and at times, both were mediocre at best.
Much has been said about the Washington Football Team’s rollercoaster ride of a 2021 NFL Season. With yet another season down with double-digits in the loss column, should Washington fans be disappointed?
The glass is foggy, but with many times of struggle and suffering, maturity and character begin to build. This season did not go in the best ways for Washington, and at times it seemed like everything took a step back.
But that would be just one part of the grand story. With brighter days certainly on the horizon, from a likely top-10 pick in the first round to at least $50 million in cap space this offseason, this season may have been the necessary stepping stone towards the life that all Washington fans have prayed for over the last two decades.
Should Washington be disappointed with how this season went? In some cases, sure. But in the grand scheme of things, Washington fans should be confident in where this team can go, and have faith in not only Ron Rivera, but front-office execs Martin Mayhew and Marty Hurney going forward.
Washington fans should be disappointed about a couple of things that took place this season. For starters, it seems as if the defensive masterminds, Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio, had trouble playing their personnel to their strengths throughout this season. Washington began the year with some of the worst secondary play imaginable throughout the early weeks of this season.
From Kendall Fuller looking like a cut-candidate after moving to the slot to start this season, to William Jackson III and Bobby McCain seemingly never being able to get on the same page, to Landon Collins looking like he shouldn’t be on an NFL roster prior to his position change, Washington played with fire and got burned by their personnel decisions early on, in the back end.
Not only that, Jamin Davis was projected to be a weak-side linebacker at the next level, but Washington decided to play him inside for over 300 of his 400+ snaps this season. In addition, Washington’s defensive line unit struggled to rush as one unit when healthy and routinely played down to competition throughout this season.
From an execution standpoint and a coaching perspective, Washington fans should be disappointed in the fact that Rivera, Del Rio, and others couldn’t truly solve the puzzle when they had this unit at full strength. They definitely made adjustments and improved throughout the year, but in the grand scheme of things, Washington’s defense was mediocre for weeks on end throughout 2021.
Another thing Washington fans should be upset with is the fact that this team needed their most valuable pieces to shine, game in and game out. Outside of Terry McLaurin, Washington’s best players, from Chase Young to Antonio Gibson, truly did not rise to the occasion throughout 2021.
This is not to say that those players aren’t going to be stars one day, but some of Washington’s best players had an underwhelming 2021 campaign. You have good reason to be concerned, but not out on these players.
Their 2022 offseason will be as important as you can imagine, but for Washington to take that first step forward to winning and relevance, the Chase Young’s and Antonio Gibson’s of the world must set the tone and improve in a big way in 2022.
We’ve heard this before, “There’s always next year!” but truly, I believe this is the first time Washington fans can embrace this saying with confidence and good faith. It seems like for the first time in decades, Daniel Snyder is done as the primary decision-maker and will be giving all of the power to Hurney, Mayhew, and Rivera to dish out this new era of Washington football.
In the first year of doing so, Rivera took a dreadful 3-13 roster with a few new parts, to seven wins in year one and likely seven wins in year two, both years with backup quarterbacks under center. In addition, the injury bug, and COVID, for that matter, wrecked this team like nobody’s business.
And yet, the Burgundy and Gold continued to battle.
Throughout all the trials and tribulations, Rivera’s team answered every call, battled back, and beat some very good teams. Between the defending Super Bowl champions and the Las Vegas Raiders, you got a taste of what good coaching and proper execution looks like when this system is rolling.
There are clear signs that the process is working and has the potential to turn things around in the long run, but this is all a part of the process. This was a developmental process that started at ground zero. Washington on the field seems to have stagnated a bit, but this isn’t the total story. The future isn’t bleak, as Washington will have plenty of opportunities to build this thing towards relevance, with seemingly nothing standing in their way.
The Football Team needs to add some key pieces, most notably, a quarterback. Washington needs to either trade or draft their guy (you’ll read my perspective on both, eventually) under center, while also adding a few pieces on both sides of the football. For once, not only will Washington have the resources and the chance to do both in the draft, but they will have plenty of money to do so in 2022.