First the most importantly, it is officially official the stadium is coming back to RFK. By 2030, home games will be played on DC soil. Earlier this week, 11 of the 13 DC council members voted to bring the team back. Obviously, the two who voted no are soccer fans or have just never seen Jayden Daniels play football. I am excited about this for a number of reasons. The biggest reason being that we are getting a dome. We will be able to host Super Bowls, Final Fours, CFP games, and many more events that were not possible before. Yes, I am worried about what PSL prices will be. However, that is a problem for years down the road. Ideally, I’ll make enough money gambling on this team by 2030 to pay for one.
At least we got one win because last Thursday didn’t exactly go to plan. We got dog walked on national television in a game where the final score did not indicate what exactly took place on the field. It was a beat down from start to finish. We witnessed Jayden’s worst game in the NFL. Yet, we only lost by 2 possessions with 2 missed field goals. It was a wake up call game. If there’s ever a good time to have everything go to hell, it’s early in the season. Credit where it’s due, the Packers are a monster. Their defense may the best unit I’ve seen since the 2016 Broncos.
The biggest story coming out of this game was injuries. We lost Ekeler, Deatrich Wise, and most importantly, Jayden is hurt. It’s never great when you lose two starters especially when one is at a position widely considered the worst on our roster. We are going to be seeing a lot more of Von Miller. As for Ekeler, we lose a playmaker out of the backfield in what most believe to be his last game in the NFL. It’s a terrible way to end a career. He has been a lot of fun to watch in Washington the last 2 years and had a great career if it is really the end.
As for replacements, we have already signed ex Washington Redskin Preston Smith at defensive end. Hopefully, the 32 year old still has some gas in the tank. It feels like he was on the roster 15 years ago already. As for running back, it’s now Bill’s backfield. In an interview he said, “I’m treating it like I’m still at the bottom. I’m just hungry.” We all expected this to happen eventually but just not under these circumstances. He credited Austin to teaching him a lot in a short amount of time. The move to restructure Tunsil’s contract and open up more cap room is going to end up being useful. I predict we will trade for a defensive end or running back before the deadline.
It has just been announced Jayden will not play Sunday. I am happy with this decision and did not want to see him on the field. I think this was a common feeling amongst the majority of fans. The last thing this team needs is another RG3 situation. Given he will not be playing, this gives me confidence the new regime has learned from the past’s mistakes and will not let history repeat itself.
Last Sunday had to the worst coached game we’ve seen since Ron. There was actually a moment they panned to DQ doing Ron’s three blind mice impression. He was standing silent, staring into the crowd as shit was hitting the fan. The timeout ignorance before halftime was ridiculous. I’m already in the camp that we need a new kicker. Kingsbury wasn’t helping us out either. For example, screens on 3rd and 17 to our rookie aren’t what I consider good play calls. There were more, but I’m not forcing myself to watch the highlights. I’m forgetting about this game the second I post this. He just needs to start wearing sunglasses every game, day or night. He is a much better play caller when he has shades on.
Our offensive line was exposed. Jayden was sacked 4 times. He had nowhere to go on scrambles. It felt like every play there was a defender in his face before he could even look down the field. We had zero run game. 34 total yards came from our running backs on 12 attempts. The line collectively allowed 23 pressures on 52 dropbacks. 9 of which came from our rookie first round pick, Josh Conerly. Maybe throwing him straight into the fire wasn’t the best idea. We all knew Micah and their defensive line were going to be a problem. Just not to this degree.
The defense on the other hand I am significantly more worried about. Week 1 tricked me and most others into believing Lattimore had reverted back to his old self. After this game, we were reminded that he is in fact still not good at football. He is incapable of guarding anyone in motion, down the field, or pretty much anywhere. I hope he figures it out, but it is very frustrating to watch. There was one guy who had a good game on the defensive side of the ball. Trey Amos was targeted 4 times and gave up 1 catch for 14 yards. A little better than Lattimore giving up 5 catches on 6 targets for 84 yards and Sainristil giving up 6 on 7 targets for 65 yards and a touchdown. It’s a very small sample size but promising that we’ve got a good one in our rookie.
One thing DQ and Joe Whitt need to realize is that Bobby Wagner cannot be in coverage. It would also be a good idea to not let opposing tight ends be wide open every single time they run a route. These might be two good places to start with fixing the defense. It was demoralizing watching Bobby run down receivers. He’s too old for that. Maybe, it wouldn’t hurt to activate our rookie linebacker who runs a 4.46 40 yard dash. It’s just an idea if we’re going to be letting opposing tight ends combine for 150 yards.
Jacobs only rushed for 84 yards and a goal line touchdown. Given the player he is, you could argue that’s about as good as you are going to get with respect to containing him. Another stat I would like to mention is that Luvu only had two tackles. The guy is one of our middle linebackers. I can make the speed argument about Bobby, but at least he knows how to get involved. He’s 35 years old and leads our team in tackles. Luvu has done nothing but cardio through 2 weeks.
As of now in my eyes, the Packers are the team to beat in the conference. The Lions putting up 52 on the Bears proved how good the Packers defense is. I imagine we will have to play them at some point again. This could be a Buccaneers situation from last season. They get the best of us early and we end their season in the playoffs. I prefer to think optimistically so that’s how I’m going to approach it if we meet again. Fingers crossed it will look nothing like this past game.
The Raiders are coming to town on Sunday. We are coming off an extended break and they played late on Monday night. So far through this season, they beat the Patriots, who are nothing special, and lost handily to the Chargers, who I am very high on this year. Geno threw three picks while we were all asleep Monday. Ashton Jeanty has not lived up to the hype he entered the league with. I am very hesistant to say this. I really don’t want to jinx anything. But I am going to say it anyways. We have a prime opportunity for a get right game this Sunday. I do believe we will win even with Mariota under center.
Their best player who worries me most is Maxx Crosby. I would prefer to not watch Conerly get exposed for another week. Things went well with Wylie at right tackle last season. Let’s roll him back out again and let Conerly get some visual reps. As for the rest of their team, the lone guy on offense who worries me is Brock Bowers. He is not 100% right now and could miss this game. I wouldn’t hate that for Brock to use this week to get healthy. We sit our best sophomore and they sit theirs. I view that as a fair trade off. We showed against the Giants we can take care of business against less than stellar offenses. Ideally, Geno continues his struggles and lets our defense get their legs back under them.
We are currently 2.5 point favorites. I will be taking that bet. It’s a revenge game for Marcus. I like Bill to get back into the endzone. We’ll just have to make sure we’re running to the side opposite Crosby. In last year’s week 3 outlook blog, I expressed concerns stating “I am just a little bit worried about Terry.” His start to this season has been eerily similar to last year. For that reason, I would like to let everyone know that I am once again just a little bit worried about him. We all remember what he did in week 3 against the Bengals. It’s not a target share issue. He had the ball thrown his way 9 times last game. So for that reason, I am very high on Terry this week and will be betting anytime touchdown and his overs. Lastly, Luke McCaffrey first touchdown because it’s bound to happen eventually.
That’s about all I’ve got for this one. This is a bounce back game. Jayden’s long term health is the most important thing for this team right now. We lose him and the season is essentially over. I would rather us not end up like the Bengals. We have the better team even with quarterback taken out of the equation. I hope to see a lot of our guys who didn’t show up last Thursday play with some fire. There are a lot of names who are due for a rebound. Without Jayden, that’s even more of an incentive to elevate their play. This may not be the most high scoring game, but all I care about is going 1-0. Wishing everyone a great weekend. Looking forward to writing back after Sunday’s win.
Photo Credit: Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images