The Takeaways, Wild Card Edition: Tampa Bay at Washington
January 12, 2020
by Steve Thomas
I can’t say I’m surprised at the ultimate result of this game, but Washington acquitted themselves well in their loss. The team didn’t embarrass themselves and achieved results that were about as good as could be reasonably expected given the circumstances. Tom Brady played exactly like you’d think a guy with 6 Super Bowl rings would play, and in the end, Tampa Bay was just too much for Washington. This game did raise some questions for the team as we head into the offseason, which we can discuss in the coming months. Obviously, that also leaves plenty to talk about in the final edition of The Takeaways for the 2020 – 21 season, which is my weekly effort to bring you the major “around the watercooler” talking points from each Washington game. So without further ado, let’s jump right in.
Taylor Heinicke proved he belongs
Heinicke’s performance Saturday night was significantly better than we had the right to expect. He was calm and poised and continued to look downfield while under pressure. Heinicke rarely made a bad read and had only a handful of passes that were off target all night. The most impressive part of his game against Tampa was his use of his athletic ability – I can’t say I was expecting that aspect of his game. He probably saved 3 or 4 sacks and turned them into positive plays. Heinicke played like a seasoned pro in the most stressful circumstances of his career. Automatically assuming that he will be the team’s 2021 starter is jumping to conclusions, but I think it’s fair to say that he’s at least earned the right to come back for training camp next season and compete for the job. I hope he’s in Washington, but my guess is that other teams will show interest as a result of his performance, so their will probably be competition for his services. Time will tell.
The offensive line wasn’t up to the job
Washington’s offensive line did not have a good day. They failed to produce interior rushing lanes and allowed Heinicke to be pressured and harassed all night. Tampa was one of the top pass rushing teams in the league this season, and Washington gave up 50 sacks in the regular season, so that shouldn’t have surprised anyone. The problems with the running game against Tampa weren’t just the result of poor running backs. This group needs help next year, especially since guard Brandon Scherff is about to become an unrestricted free agent and may or may not be back. In my view, Chase Roullier and Moses are the only ones who are safe – aside from Scherff, they need to look for a left tackle and left guard. Nobody knows if Saahdiq Charles can actually play or not. Moses seemed to have a good year and was able to cut back on all of the penalties that had plagued him for the past couple of seasons. So yes, the offensive line was outplayed by Tampa, and it’s safe to say that big changes may be on the horizon.
The failure of Washington’s defensive front 7
I don’t want anyone to think that I’m necessarily disparaging this group, as they definitely had their moments this season. However, their performance against Tampa was another example of them coming up a bit small against a good team as compared to expectations, which is something they’ve done all year. Many of Washington’s defensive stats were piled up against some bad offenses, or offenses that were having problems, such as Pittsburgh, not the NFL’s top teams. Washington needed the defensive front to get to Tom Brady on a consistent basis in order to give the team a fighting chance to win, and while they had intermittent moments, they didn’t get the job done. They also had big problems with Leonard Fournette, who averaged 4.9 yards per carry. Washington’s defensive front four is only going to get better as these players continue to get more experience and playing time together. Chase Young, in particular, looks to be a home run. Ron Rivera and company will have to make some decisions about who to keep, as Jonathan Allen played this season on his 5th year option and is due for a huge contract from someone, Daron Payne is heading into the final year of his contract, and Matt Ioannidis, who was the team’s best lineman in 2019, is in the middle of a three year extension. They may not be able to afford to keep all three of them on big contracts. Also, we saw what appeared to be Ryan Kerrigan’s final game as a Redskin with Washington. This Tampa Bay game proved that while the future is bright for Washington’s defensive line, they aren’t quite there yet. Assuming health, the hope and expectation is that the defensive line will take another step forward and become one of the NFL’s most dominate front four. The linebacker group is another story. Hello, draft.
Secondary busts cost Washington
A major key to this game was the secondary playing solid football and not making coverage mistakes given that Tampa Bay featured Tom Brady passing to a very deep and talented group of receivers. Unfortunately, the secondary proved to not be up to the task, as Antonio Brown and Mike Evans beat Washington’s defensive backs on several occasions. Furthermore, were it not for Chris Godwin’s uncharacteristically atrocious game, the final score could’ve been worse, as he dropped several key passes that spared Washington from further damage. Controlling Tampa’s passing game was always going to be a tall order absent Brady being put under significant pressure, which didn’t happen, but still: the secondary was exposed on Saturday evening.
The run game accomplishes very little
We all love the progress Antonio Gibson has made as a running back this season and watched him have multiple impressive games this season, but at the end of the day, Washington’s running back group as a whole was one of the NFL’s worst. They got essentially nothing done against the Buccaneers, gaining just 36 yards on 16 carries for an average of 2.3 yards per carry. For reasons known only to him, offensive coordinator Scott Turner didn’t get J.D. McKissic involved in this game at all, giving him only 4 total touches, including two runs and two receptions in 3 targets. Washington was going to need McKissic to have a big game in order to have a shot at Tampa, and that didn’t happen. Gibson is the future, for sure, and McKissic will have a role as well, but this team must find a viable interior running game next year and needs to look to either the draft or free agency this offseason in order to get it.
That’s it for The Takeaways for the 2020 season. I hope you enjoyed this column. I will bring it back for next season.