The good boat “WFT” found itself in a bit of the doldrums entering last week’s game. There was simply no real momentum to be found. The injury list was long and growing. And, the loss to Atlanta had left a general feeling of ennui in the fanbase. That was the feeling entering the game. Ten-minutes in one could be excused for feeling something worse than simple listlessness. It reminded of the old 12-Meter America’s Cup days. Dennis Conner would be in some trouble as his boat was being overtaken when he’d look over at his master Tactician Tom Widden: “Find us a Lift.” Invariably he would find the most subtle color change in the water that indicated a wind shift that would “lift” or help the boat sail closer to the most favorable line. On Play #10 of the Chargers’ third possession, in Washington territory, with Washington already down 10-0 the lift came in the form of Safety Quan Martin‘s violent collision with LAC Receiver Quentin Johnson. Out came the ball. Often maligned Corner Marshon Lattimore pounced on it. Los Angeles would not score another point. The Offense shed its early game funk scoring 27 in what turned out to be a comfortable win. One Lift turned everything.
Sea State Changes
The volatility of football is frequently underappreciated. Entering last week the Philadelphia Eagles were in total control of the NFC East Division. They were unbeaten; Washington was two games behind; and the other two teams were even farther behind. In the second-half PHI was two scores up on the solid Denver Broncos. Seven days later that set of initial conditions has been disassembled and scattered about like so much storm damage. It’s easy to forget that one week of football is roughly equivalent to ten-days of baseball season. There the wins and losses come in daily drips and drabs. Football drops a bucket full of results in the lap all at once.
So, the Eagles lost. Then four days later they lost again. The WFT won as did the Cowboys and Giants. It sets up a situation where Washington could tie for the lead in the Division with a win on Monday night. Honestly, did you see that coming?
It’s not only the standings, it’s the sudden realization that the Eagles are far from in full bloom. Something is off up I-95. One shouldn’t relish in the misfortune of others. But, we’ll make an exception in this case. Saquon Barkley had a season to remember last year. He’s having one to forget so far this year. Young “Bill” Jacory Croskey-Merritt is only 42-yards behind Saquon with a “game in hand” as the hockey fans say. And he’s done it on less than half of Barkley’s carries (43 vs 95) while finding the End Zone 4-times to Saquon’s 3. There are 27-Quarterbacks starting in the NFL that were drafted in the 1st Round. Two that were not 1st-Rounders are Jalen Hurts and Dak Prescott. Hurts is the overachieving lunch pail guy. His best talent is his strong running. His passing is streaky. He can get white-hot or blue-cold for a few games in a row. Right now he’s neither. He’s just “Meh.” In the two losses he’s thrown 71-passes. That’s a formula that will not work well.
In the meantime in Dallas Dak Prescott is looking every bit the part of the NFL’s highest paid player. People are whispering “MVP” knowing full well the award rarely goes to a non-playoff team. The Offense in Big D is just fine. The Defense in Big D is just awful. There was talk that the Cowboys would shrivel up and be insignificant this year. That’s not going to happen. Dallas resembles the Bengals when Joe Burrow is upright: Score many points, allow many points and sort it out at the end. Yesterday the Cowboys joined Washington as one of the very few teams to score 27-points only to lose. Washington has them on the schedule twice. A split seems inevitable.
Then there’s the Giants. Brian Daboll has found Big Blue’s apparent saviors in young Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo. Daboll needs desperately to take a course on Emotional Intelligence. The guy is the living caricature of a live wire. Antics aside, the youngsters are in the process of saving his job. It might work out well for Washington as the afterguard in the Meadowlands has shown little in the way of competency the past few years. Keeping them around could portend more time with the Giants being less than fully relevant. Both of these rookies like to run over people. It’s not a formula for longevity in this league. Washington has one game left with them on Week 15.
The whole dynamic of the Division changed in one week. What changes will this week bring?
“Monsters of the Midway”
That phrase is associated with the WFT’s next opponent, the Chicago Bears. But, that’s been appropriated. Originally the phrase was meant to describe the University of Chicago’s team, the “Maroons” under the vaunted helmsman Amos Alonso Stagg. In the University campus is the mile-long plaza named the Midway Plaisance. Monsters of the Midway. Get it? The team produced the NFL’s very first Draft pick Jay Berwanger. He never played a down of NFL football. And, the school dropped football altogether just four-years later. Somehow the moniker got attached to George Halas‘ Bears where it remains.
Scheduling NFL games is a bit of a mystery in terms of where and when. But, the opponents for a given team are driven by a formula. Somehow that formula keeps plugging in the Bears for a WFT opponent year after year. This will be their fourth-year in a row meeting. It’s also the third straight trip to Landover. Every Washington fan remembers last year with the miracle catch to win the game. Nearly every Washington fan has forgotten, or tried to forget the hapless Bears coming to town in 2023 with a 0-4 record in tow only to dominate Ron Rivera‘s squad. This year they come to town with hints of a promising future.
When the attributes were distributed first-year Head Coach Ben Johnson didn’t get in line to get his fair allotment of humility. He’s equal parts creative and cocky. Washington fans won’t soon forget that he backed out of consideration for the Head Coach job here. Then he had the temerity to insult the Ownership group here calling them, “A bunch of basketball guys” who didn’t know football. A small dose of payback came his way last year when the Burgundy and Gold throttled his Lions in the Divisional Round of playoffs where he was Offensive Coordinator. An ever bigger portion would come his way should the WFT produce a win tonight.
But, Johnson is smart and creative. He went into a complete mess of a franchise expecting to tidy up things. The early results are just that, early and far from complete. After two losses, with the second being an absolute mugging, the Bears have won their last two. The win over the Cowboys was convincing. On the other hand the win over the Raiders was anything but. Jim Miller, the former Quarterback and NFL Radio analyst also provides color for the Bears’ pre-season games. His commentary was that the Bears were flat out awful for all but the late minutes in that game. It probably is the way to consider that team: Good at times, bad at most.
Their Defense is the primary issue. They are 27th in Yards Allowed and 28th in Points Allowed. But, they are good at takeaways with 9-takeaways. That’s 6 more than Washington’s Defense has produced. Ball Security for Washington is absolutely key.
Even though Kliff Kingsbury worked with Caleb Williams at USC the #1 Draft Pick overall came to the League less NFL ready than Jayden Daniels. There is tremendous talent there. Now that he’s under a bona fide Offensive Coach the thought is that he will develop. It is good fortune to catch him on the schedule now before the tutelage takes full root.
About that Hail Mary
However gratuitous it is, here is that “Maryland Miracle” one more time:
When asked about it the response from Jayden Daniels reveals the team’s mindset going in to this game.
“I just left that in last year. It speaks for itself. Like, I mean, that Hail Mary ain’t gonna help us win a game on Monday. So what’s the point?”
Jayden Daniels
Dropped Cylinders
Back in the day a popular gasoline engine for the workboats on the Chesapeake was the Oldsmobile 455. This unit came in five different flavors of horsepower with all of them over 300 hp. They just had one nagging problem; a “Dropped Cylinder.” One or two cylinders would stop firing. This was all back in the carburetor days. Still, many a boat would come home on 6 or 7 cylinders. Washington’s Offense is a lot like that right now. The top-2 Wide Receivers are out again for this game. The new #1 WR is Deebo Samuel. Right now he’s “Questionable” for this game with a heel bruise. Still this team is averaging 26.8-points per game. It’s hard to imagine how robust the squad will be with all cylinders up and firing. Unfortunately, right now one has to imagine it.
The void is being filled by “Bill” and Deebo with contributions from Luke McCaffrey. This ensemble crew will have to man the pumps until Terry McLaurin and Noah Brown return.
Defense Matters
Washington’s Defense has been a bit digital: It’s either really good or really not. The determining factor so far has been the strength of the opponent’s Offensive Line. Against Green Bay and Atlanta the unit looked overmatched. Against the other three teams, all with struggling O-Lines the same unit looked nicely competent. The rush yards allowed are high at 117 per game. Chicago averages just over 100-yards per game rushing with their Offense. It might project to be a good day for the Defense should they be able to limit the rush yards. Lost in last week’s win was the success the Chargers had running the ball to the tune of 155-yards. That has to be better this week. Chicago is allowing sacks at nearly a 2-per game clip. Washington is producing them at a 3-per game clip. A pleasant surprise is that Von Miller has garnered three of them.
A fumble recovery and an interception last week produced the first multi-takeaway game for the Defense all year. More games like that are just what the Doctor ordered.
Also not to be lost on last week’s game was that Washington’s Defense had zero penalties. It would be wonderful to repeat that same feat this week. But, it isn’t likely. This game is getting the most flag-happy crew in the Rota. They love them some flag throwing, yeah, Buddy. Their rate per game is over 23-penalties. Expect lots of flow-choking infractions. One bright spot is that Troy Aikman will call them on it. Unlike Tom Brady, bound by restrictions as a part Owner Aikman will take the Officials to the woodshed. He’ll get his chances with this bunch.
More Compass Headings
As discussed above a Win would move Washington into a tie with Philly for the top spot in the Division. However, PHI has lost a Division game where Washington has not. That would technically move the WFT to first place by the most slender of margins. It’s too early to entertain tie-breaker discussions. A loss would not only waste a golden opportunity it would start to firm up the notion that Washington is only in contention for a Wild Card. So there’s plenty of incentive to go win this game.
Game Information
Chicago @ Washington 8:15PM
ABC/ESPN Joe Buck and Troy Aikman (Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge)
D.C. Radio: Bram Weinstein (play-by-play), London Fletcher (analyst), Logan Paulsen (analyst) BIG 100 WBIG-FM
