Washington Vs. Detroit - Studs and Duds

This game was yet another tale of two halves for the Washington Football Team. Washington was outscored 17-3 in the first half, but flipped the tables in the second half, putting up 24 versus just 13 for the Lions.

Despite a valiant effort, the comeback fell short as Matt Prater nailed a 59 yard field goal as time expired, sending the Football Team tumbling to 2-7 on the season.

Can we officially start talking 2021 NFL draft?

Below are my Studs and Duds of the game followed by some notes.

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Studs:

Alex Smith - I mean, I guess I kinda have to do this. Despite the MULTIPLE checkdowns, and the fact he now leads the league in percentage of passes thrown as checkdowns, Alex did get a bit looser in the second half and started to take some shots down the field. I think it’s TERRIBLE that we had to throw the ball 55 times, but despite that(and all the checkdowns) he did complete 38 of those passes(69% completion percentage) for 390 yards. He threw for zero touchdowns, but didn’t turn the ball over, and if it wasn’t for a bone-headed penalty at the end of the game, we would have gone into overtime with a shot at winning.

Terry McLaurin - Yes, F1 again winds up on the Studs list. Despite an early fumble, the second year stud led the team in both receptions and yards, racking up 7 for 95, and had 27 rushing yards on one carry.

Brandon Scherff - The Pro Bowl guard looks to be playing the best football I’ve seen from him in quite some time, and that could very well be because he’s fully healthy - that is, if you can EVER consider an offensive lineman “fully healthy”. Regardless, the guy is a beast!

Kamren Curl - The rookie is doing a nice job in the Landon Collins role. One may actually say, he’s been better in that role than Collins was this year before his injury. He led the team in tackles with eight, had a sack, a tackle for a loss and a quarterback hit.

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Duds:

Peyton Barber - Despite getting the start, Barber registered just seven yards on two carries, and caught one pass for seven yards. Personally, I can’t wait to see Bryce Love take his spot.

Montez Sweat - Sweat looked lost, injured, or both during the game Sunday. I didn’t see any explosion off the ball, and he certainly didn’t look like the same player we saw dominate through the first eight games.

Linebacking Corps - I literally feel like a broken record here, but this linebacking corps is abysmal! They are coached by two former good ones, which makes it that much worse. Jon Bostic should not see the field again. Kevin Pierre-Louis had two decent games this season - that’s it. Holcomb has fell back down to earth after his one exceptional performance. We need help here...BADLY!

Kendall Fuller - For as good as Fuller has been this year once he returned to the field, he was equally as bad against the Lions. He was beat twice in the game on deep(er) passes both resulting in touchdowns. Better days will certainly come - however this was not his best effort.

Dustin Hopkins - I don’t know what else to say at this point. Defend him if you want for the “injury”, but I’m done!

Opening Offensive Drive Play Calling - I’m not about to say Turner called a poor game, but again, we failed to score on our opening drive, and are the ONLY team with that distinction in the league.

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Notes:

- I give Morgan Moses a heck of a lot of credit for kicking over to left tackle mid-game and keeping it together. Was he perfect on the left side? - no, but given the circumstances and knowing that’s far from an easy task, I say KUDOS to him!

- Antonio Gibson is quietly putting together a nice rookie campaign. The “weapon” now has 638 all-purpose yards and seven touchdowns.

- The duo of Isaiah Wright and Cam Sims showed nicely against the Lions. These are both big-bodied, athletic kids who have a nice future here if they continue to grow in their roles.

- Yes Chase Young made a bone-headed play, but no, he didn’t lose this game for us. Was Young his normal, dominating self - no, but he did his job, played his part, and most importantly, owned up for his mistake after the game.

- I see why David Sharpe was kept on the bench this whole time...