Win or go home. It is that simple. A win today by the Washington Football Team would clinch the NFC East Division crown. Washington controls their own destiny in this 2020-2021 season because if they win — they are in! If there is some good news, quarterback Alex Smith, running back Antonio Gibson, and wide receiver Terry McLaurin are all expected to play in this evening’s game. Head coach Ron Rivera will have his team on primetime tonight on the NBC Sunday Night game. Originally, this game was scheduled for 1 pm, and the NBC and the NFL flexed it to the game of the night.
Alex ✅
Terry ✅
Gibson ✅https://t.co/DbpOLH1KAe— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) January 3, 2021
Earlier in the week, the team made the decision to release Dwayne Haskins after a series of team infractions and after head coach Ron Rivera said, “don’t make what’s interesting important” because Haskins was once again punished for rules violations and poor decision making. Haskins was given the start last week and failed miserably and was replaced by a quarterback who was out of football until recently. Because Taylor Heinicke looked so good in his 19 pass attempts as compared to Haskins in the same game, it just showed the football world how far Haskins had fallen. Heinicke had not thrown a pass in a football game in over two years! When Washington contacted Heinicke, he was back in college and finishing up his engineering degree. Unfortunately for Washington, they were not able to trade Haskins and have to eat the rest of the guaranteed portion of his $14,416,611 contract.
“This afternoon I met with Dwayne and informed him that we would be releasing him,” Rivera said in the statement. “I told him that I believe it benefits both parties that we go our separate ways. We want to thank Dwayne for his contributions these last two seasons and wish him well moving forward.”
Opportunity knocked once again for Haskins last week, and he could not take advantage of this golden opportunity. With Smith starting today, Heinicke will be his backup with Steven Montez as the third string quarterback with Kyle Allen on the injured list.
For Washington, Haskins, finished his Washington career as a 3-10 starter and this season was 1-5 with his only win in the season opener against Philadelphia coincidentally as they are Washington’s opponent today. It is time for Alex Smith to finish this regular season with a win. If he does, you can expect Disney or another movie producer to have the script written to one of the most improbable football stories ever.
The team will have to find other ways to score and none better than looking to Wasington’s defense led by rookie Chase Young and his teammates to wreak havoc on the Philadelphia offense and specifically Jalen Hurts who took over as the Eagles’ starting quarterback a few weeks ago.
“I thought he had a good day. He moved around well, threw the ball well,” Rivera said Friday about Alex Smith. “Tomorrow will be the indicator.”
Okay, tomorrow is now today.
On the Vegas line, Washington is favored by 6.5 points on the William Hill Sportsbook. Keep checking back as this line could change:
- Washington vs. Philadelphia spread: Washington -6.5
- Washington vs. Philadelphia over-under: 43 points
- Washington vs. Philadelphia money line: Washington -290; Eagles +245
This game is televised on NBC at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 8:25 pm ET.
