You could say it was a good Sunday in the District. For the first time in my life, our home opener was not flooded with fans of the other team. I would say it was 80-85% burgundy and gold. I guess that’s what happens when your team takes a trip to the NFC Championship. We brought out the big flag, had a fly over, Santana Moss was inducted into the Ring of Fame at halftime, and most importantly, we got a win. I personally couldn’t have asked for a better Sunday.
It’s a new feeling in DC knowing we don’t have to bring our A game to win every week. Any win is a good win in this league. With the schedule we’ve been handed this season, we can’t afford to drop games to teams like this. We took care of business and that’s all that matters. This was one of the best warm-up games you can get this season. They are a dumpster fire of a team with one threat on offense. I feel for Malik, and he did not try to hide his frustration. In due time, Adam Peters will rescue him and bring him to Washington. It’s not even crazy to say that after Schoen let Saquon walk over to Philadelphia. There is a strong chance this team has 2 wins through their first 10 games. I expected the Saints to be the worst team in the league this season, but I definitely overestimated the Giants going into this season. Their only hope is putting Dart on the field and seeing what happens. It’s only one game in but for their sake, what do they have to lose at this point.
I don’t know how much of it was bad offense or good defense. Payne and Kinlaw both played great. I would go as far as to say that’s the best Payne has looked in a long time. The fact that I didn’t notice any of our corners on the field for the majority of the game was a breath of fresh air. I thought the group did a great job on Malik. The only passes he caught were moon balls thrown by Russ. There wasn’t much to critique. They let up 6 points. We showed we can dominate a game when a lackluster offense shows up. It was the least number of points we’ve given up since 2022, and I hope to see more of it throughout the season.
What I am not considering a win was the performance of our offense. We had so many penalties. Penalties that in most games will come to bite us. Fortunately, in this one, they did not. We stood at 2nd and 10 or longer on 10 different plays Sunday. In those situations, we averaged 15 yards per play. That is not sustainable. It is the opposite of staying ahead of the sticks. 12 total penalties and 7 of those coming from the offense. I will subtract 1 and call it 11 because the roughing the passer on Bobby was a terrible call. I am hoping for a much cleaner game tonight because that could be the difference between winning and losing.
One penalty in particular had me scratching my head when it came across my Twitter feed. It was when Jayden threw it out of the endzone for a grounding to end the half. After watching this back, it wasn’t on Jayden at all. Laremy Tunsil temporarily went deaf and did not move a singular muscle after the ball was snapped. It gave Abdul Carter a free run at Jayden forcing him to throw it away. All there is to say is that we are lucky this game didn’t come down to a field goal. I would have disavowed Tunsil.
Jayden performed as expected aside from missing Terry on the deep ball. I do however think if we had Terry around for a full camp then they would’ve connected on that one. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself. As for our other wide receiver, Deebo looked phenomenal. It took one game for people to start asking if he is now our wide receiver 1. I would like to think the answer to that is no. But, the beauty of having two studs out wide is that on any given Sunday, either one of them can step up and be the guy. Ertz started the game with a bad drop ending our first drive. He quickly made up for it grabbing the first touchdown of the season. In my book, he’s the best safety blanket in the league. Another thing I loved was Jayden going right back to Lane on the play following his drop. I’m sure his nerves were all over the place when his first NFL pass was on its way.
Bill and Austin are going to be a very fun one-two punch to watch this season. Ekeler in the open field is such a weapon. On any given play, Jayden can dump it off to him then next thing you know he’s flailing him arms and spinning past people 25 yards up the field. Bill put together the greatest performance ever seen by a 7th round running back in their first game. He was the first 7th rounder in history to rush for 75+ yards and a touchdown in his debut. Just to let more numbers speak for themself, Bill’s 42 yard rush was longer than any run BRob had in DC.
For the majority of the game, the offense looked very stagnant. It was a one score game in the 4th quarter until Deebo ran it in. By the way, I knew that man was getting in the endzone. And yes, his touchdown dance was very cool. Not as cool as Bill’s, but it definitely gets an A+ from me. Touchdown dances aside, we let them hang around. When you play good teams, like the one we have tonight, leaving the door open has your night ending like the Bears did on Monday. All I’m asking is that we put games away when we have the chance so we aren’t telling ourselves we let anything slip away.
All and all, it was a week 1 esque performance from the team. We dominated an inferior opponent and got out of Landover with a win. I did happen to miss the fight that took place right outside of the exit I use every game. I would’ve found that very entertaining. Nothing says football season like a couple drunk guys in their 40s trying to knock each other out in the parking lot. Now that we’re through with the Giants, let’s get into Thursday’s matchup.
To put this one into perspective, never in my life have we beaten the Packers on the road. As a matter of fact, if you are 36 years old and reading this, then it hasn’t happened in your life either. The last time it happened was in 1988. Doug Williams was throwing touchdowns to Art Monk and Gary Clark. When I came across this stat, I did not believe it at first glance. However, we do have one massive thing going for us. In 1988, we won the Super Bowl. I am not trying to get too ahead of myself, but if we win tonight, I am most definitely going to get extremely way too ahead of myself. That is all I will say on this topic for now.
My biggest worry for this upcoming game is quite obvious and common among every fan of this team. The guy who just got traded out of the division and now already have to play him on a significantly more talented team. Micah Parsons is going to be a problem. The second biggest problem is Josh Jacobs. Our offensive and defensive lines will need to be firing on all cylinders. Javon Kinlaw, who I have deemed the second scariest player on our roster after Frankie, called it an ice bag game. He’s right. Green Bay better have those things ready after Bill and Deebo start running over their whole team.
We are playing a team that dogwalked the one seed last season this past weekend. The “They lost Ben Johnson” argument died on Monday night for the Lions. To put it plain and simple, this is a really good football team and a potential preview for a playoff game we’ve got on our hands. Their defensive line is dangerous, but they do already have a depleted secondary going into week 2. After sending Terry’s son, Jaire Alexander, to Baltimore in the offseason, I hope our pass catchers will be able to take advantage of their matchups. If we are able to mitigate the damage done by Micah and Rashan Gary, I believe we will be able to sneak out of Green Bay with an early season statement win.
At the end of the day, this game comes down to Jayden vs. Jordan Love. And I don’t think there are any doubts among this fanbase and team as to who they would rather have at quarterback. Our guy is going to do what he does best and that is win football games. They may have a deeper receiver room but we have two guys who would be their number 1 option. If you have any doubts or need to win any arguments going into this one, just refer back to that.
Now, let’s get into the fun part about all this. The bets. We are currently three and a half point underdogs. If there’s anything I love, it’s taking an underdog on the road in primetime. I like Terry’s receptions over. He had a lackluster performance to start the season. I firmly believe they will make it a priority to get him more involved. He has scored every game in his career so far against the Packers. I don’t hate placing some money on him to make it 4/4 tonight. As a matter of fact, every single player on our roster is plus money to score. I also like Deebo to get back into the endzone and Austin to score one as well. Lastly, give me our guy Luke McCaffrey to score the first touchdown. He’s going to take the opening kickoff to the house and send every bar and household in the greater DC area into mayhem.
It’s only week 2 and we already have a very big game on our hands. I cannot recall a game that I believe could have more implications down the road than this one. Getting out of Green Bay with a win wouldn’t just be a statement, it would be history. If there’s anything Jayden likes doing, it’s making history. All of the ESPN know-it-alls are picking against us. As of now, the public is heavily on the Packers. No complaints there, Vegas wasn’t built by winners. To say I am excited for tonight may be an understatement. I hope it lives up to my expectations. Looking forward to being 2-0 and and writing again next week. Until then, go Skins.
Photo Credit: © Peter Casey-Imagn Images