What a game we got to witness Sunday. In terms of a Redskins’ football game, that was as close to a perfect storm as we will ever get. An entire season of emotions condensed into one 60 minute football game. At the end of the day, we are 2-0 for the first time in 12 years. Sexy Rexy was our quarterback when that last happened. What a weird franchise we root for.
Most Skins’ Skins Game
At the start, it legitimately looked as if we were going to be contending for Caleb this year. Others, it looked like we were going to win the Super Bowl. Literally, the entire fanbase thought it was over after the Hail Mary. I thought “Oh my god we are really going to throw this entire game away like this.” The ball was tipped like 4 times and ended up in the endzone. Just one of those bad beats that always seem to happen to us. The two point stop was not. That stop was gritty. We all thought the game was over. Thankfully, the team just had to give us all a quick heart attack before ending it. If you’re gonna argue PI there, then give us the Giant’s game last year back right now.
When we were down 18 points, it was painful looking at that +2500 number for our moneyline. To the people out there who took it, I respect the hell out of you. I haven’t seen us battle through adversity like that in such a long time. The last time we came back from 18 points was when we heard the famous words “You like that!” The last time we did it on the road was in 1990. The momentum shifts that took place throughout the game were extremely apparent. The pendulum was swinging heavily for both sides and we never bounce back in games like that. There are so many signs pointing to that this is a new franchise and things are actually going to change in the long term. I absolutely love it and couldn’t be happier to be a fan during these times. But the name still has to go.
Dumpster Fire Start
Hate talking about this. Because we won, I really want to just forget about it. But I feel the need to mention that we will likely not be able to complete these comebacks against the teams we have coming up on the schedule. We can afford to do that against the Broncos but not against actual competent organizations. I can absolutely say I lost confidence in us Sunday. The game had Monday Night Massacre vibes written all over it. We had Russell Wilson looking like Mahomes and Mimms like Tyreek for some time. I thought for a few minutes it was all aboard the tank for Caleb train. Thank god, I did not turn the TV off.
Logan Thomas Game Changing Play
What a dirty hit. Leaving his feet and leading with the head. That dude has a large fine coming his way and also should’ve had some fists connecting with his face. I loved seeing the team immediately come to Logan’s defense. We are 2/2 on defending our players in moments like these this year. That’s a good stat. What a dog for holding onto that ball. He ate that hit and ran off the field giving a double thumbs like a beast. This touchdown absolutely changed the landscape of the game. He still had to leave the game but it’s just a little bit of CTE and he should be alright for next week. Without that catch and response, I think we would have lost by more than 30 points. We needed a spark and the best tight end in football gave it to us. It got the entire team back into the game. After this play, you could clearly see a change. Our tight ends stepped up when Logan went down. Both Bates and Turner brought in huge passes that led to points on the board. Our guys did not let Logi take that shit for nothing.
Sam “Never Lost” Howell
Three games and three wins under his belt to start off his career in the NFL. When down 18 points on the road in his third game ever starting as a NFL quarterback, he kept his cool and delivered darts to bring us back. Him keeping it together is an extremely promising quality to see. He hasn’t been perfect, but he has been good enough to win us games. I think Sam has proven that he is going to be the guy this year and possibly many more to come. Most games the offense just needs to be competent and not turn the ball over. We have become accustomed to watching the defense win us games. This time around the offense had to go out there and put up points to bring us back. This game gave me a lot of confidence in our offense and in Sam Howell.
My biggest knock on Sam Howell so far is that he holds onto the ball for too long. There are a lot of plays where he stays in the pocket for too long or he tries to extend them and bad things end up happening. That strip sack could have been devastating, but we got it back. This is bound to happen. He has only played in three games. And he has also won all of those games. So I really can’t be too upset. I would love to see Sam get the ball out of his hands faster and give the other teams less opportunities to hit him. Contradicting the whole get hit thing, I cannot wait for us to start running the option with him. It felt like there were a lot of plays when the defense left spaces wide open for him to tuck it and run. I am all in on Sam Howell. What a steal in the 5th round.
Future HC Eric Bieniemy
He’s a dog. Is Sam Howell the luckiest quarterback in the league? He might be. Bieniemy is hands down the best offensive mind in football. When we went down big, it was actually surprising to see a coach with their head shoved in their playsheet game planning and saying actual words. This shouldn’t be surprising at all. But unfortunately, I’ve become conditioned to expect an emotionless Ron Rivera standing there with his arms folded not saying a word to anyone or doing anything when shit hits the fan. It is truly mesmerizing to watch. It was refreshing to finally see a coach actually trying to fix things while we were getting it handed to us. The last time we scored 35 points was in 2020. Bieniemy managed to do it within two games as our OC. I love Eric. He has brought so much good change to our team. We have off days on Mondays instead of Tuesdays now. Eric’s idea. I say that’s the best idea I have ever heard in footballs. Brilliant stuff. I hope he becomes our head coach. At this pace, he might end up taking over mid season.
Terry and Jahan
Terry’s jump ball in the end zone was incredible. From 40 yards out into double coverage. If anybody forgot how good Terry is, then this was a nice reminder. Also it was to tie the game. After that catch, I didn’t want to say it but I felt like we were going to win that game. His postgame social media posts were awesome. It’s obvious how excited and happy he is with the organization right now. We’ve had problems keeping our stars happy in the past, but I am glad to see us not royally screwing this one up with our best offensive player. Terry tagged the photo of him scoring at the The Louvre. Yes, you’re right Terry, the play was a masterpiece. Jahan had a relative quiet game with only 5 targets. My dissonance reducing opinion is that we would’ve been stupid not to keep feeding BROB the ball once he got rolling. Great game from the guys who catch footballs. Don’t have any bones to pick.
BROB
He is the most free player to gamble on in the entire NFL. He is going to have a touchdown in every single game this season. If it is ever a 4th and 1 situation, he should get the ball every single time. He is starting to become more dynamic and a big play threat. As he continues to develop, he is going to become more popular throughout the league. Antonio Gibson’s fumbling problem has led to BROB becoming the lead back on this team. He ran for two touchdowns Sunday and played an incredible game. He will always be apart of the parlay. Every time we get within the 5 yard line, we should be giving him the ball four times in a row. He is going to get in the endzone.
CHASE YOUNG IS BACK
We have been waiting so long for this moment. The talk of calling him a bust and saying we should trade him is over. He is so good at football and I don’t want him ever chasing after Sam Howell. As long as he stays healthy, he is going to be a productive and crucial player for our team. Our defense is already stacked and his addition puts us in the best in the league argument. It was awesome how he was supposed to be on limited snaps but then by the second half was out there every play. He wants to play ball. He wasn’t only out there. He was dominating. He had a sack that felt like a huge momentum shift. Him and Montez combined for another one in the 4th quarter. Watching him sprint to Robinson after his big play that next drive was awesome. You can never say a bad thing about Chase Young as a teammate. He is always there hyping up his boys when they make plays. Hope to continue seeing Chase contribute and be the same dude who we drafted.
The Defense
Phenomenal second half. However, they came out asleep. The broadcast booth in the second quarter was talking shit on Allen and Payne. That was definitely a bad idea. It seemed like right after the booth said this the defensive line turned it on. 7 sacks total. Payne played like a monster. The Chase Young and Montez Sweat combo is back. Not a great stats game for Jon Allen but he made his presence known. In the 4th quarter, it seemed like every play Russell Wilson was running for his life or getting swallowed up. It was really scary when Payne went down. That would’ve been awful. Jamin Davis stepped up huge to cause that fumble. Forbes got burned in the first half but made up for it with that enormous pick to cause another momentum shift. Cam Kurl running down Wilson to keep him inbounds was another huge play even though it ended up meaning nothing because of the Hail Mary and everything. Still a great effort when we needed it from him. The first half was so ugly but they played like the unit we all know they are capable of in the second half. It is such a fun defense to watch when they are in rhythm.
Offensive Line Woes
This group has a lot of work cut out for them. We have yet to go up against an elite defensive line and that is going to have me worried for Sam’s safety. Charles Leno Jr. scares me. Like a lot. Sam Cosmi going down was another big scare we had during the game. Injuries to this offensive line would absolutely ruin our season.
Cut Cheeseman
Initially, I thought our kicking woes were because of Joey Slye. That first field goal attempt Sunday was the worst kick I have seen in the NFL in who knows how long. It was literally 50 yards wide right. It was not Joey’s fault because the snap was terrible. Last week, twitter was not happy with our long snappers performance. Cameron Cheeseman, you gotta figure it out. We used a draft pick on you, a long snapper. If you are going to forget how to snap the ball, which is quite actually your only job, then you gotta go my man.
Looking Forward
The vibes are high here in D.C. I am actually excited and optimistic going into this game against the Bills. We have a chance to be 3-0 and take down a heavy weight. Normally, I would be saying I just hope we don’t get absolutely embarrassed. But simply because we are 2-0 and coming off this huge comeback win, I am feeling more optimistic. This is the first real team we will be playing this year. Followed by the Eagles the week after. Two super bowl contenders in back to back weeks will be a very strong indicator to tell if we can make any noise this year. As of now, I genuinely do think we are going to make the playoffs. Our wins total for this season was so free. If we come away from these next two weeks 1-1, then I think everyone may have to apologize to the DC fan base and accept that we are actually a good team this season. I found it so much easier to wake up on Monday morning. It is hard to have a bad week after a Skins’ win. Good luck to everyone out there this week. See you at FedEx on Sunday.
Photo Credit: Emilee Fails (Team Photographer) — Twitter / X – emfails