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The English language has no word that would properly describe the feeling as my eyes gazed across the tweet that announced the benching of Dwayne Haskins Jr. Shock, confusion, discombobulation and a bit of anger, roll all that into one word and that’s how I felt.
It was certainly a lot for my brain to handle. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do it alone this week. Ben Standig of The Athletic joined by to help make some sense out of the move and what we can expect with the team moving forward.
There is also a game to preview this week. The Washington Football Team hosts the Los Angeles Rams–who will somehow have Jalen Ramsey despite the fact that he started a brawl at midfield last week–in what is officially the KOC revenge game.
Haskins was benched because Ron Rivera thought that Kyle Allen gave the team the best option to fight for a playoff spot. Agree or disagree with the decision, that puts a lot of pressure on the shoulders of Allen.
To all the Kyle Allen truthers out there, you got your wish, now hopefully he doesn’t suck.
Keys to the Game:
Get the ball in the hands of the playmakers
Terry McLaurin is a stud. Antonio Gibson is a stud. Find ways to get the ball in their hands. From the outside looking in, it’s really that simple. Those are the two best guys on the field for the offense and with a new quarterback under center it should be a priority to get the ball in the hands of the best players and let them make big plays.
Keep Kyle Allen Alive
In Week 2 the offensive line face a huge test with Chandler Jones and passed. Round of applause for them. Now Aaron Donald is coming to town. Is there a way to stop Aaron Donald? That’s a multi-million dollar answer to that question. Donald already has 3.5 sacks through four games. Keep him far away from the quarterback.
Force Turnovers
Jared Goff might be a really good quarterback. Goff might also throw multiple picks. Both outcomes are plausible at this point. The defense is good enough to win football games by themselves, let’s see them do it. If Chase Young is back, expect him to get very friendly with Goff.
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