In the Right Light

November 23, 2019

by Jay Evans

A plague is good for a grave digger. The same cannot be said for the doctors. One of the most frustrating feelings in all of humanity is being smart enough to understand there’s a better way to do something, but not clever enough to invent a way to correct what is broken.

Try to conceive an original solution to the Redskins. Dan Snyder isn’t selling. Bezos is no savior, let alone saint. Let me help you. Team President Bruce Allen is a derisive figure in the equation, but his removal is one of many necessary resolutions to the complex Redskin calculation.

The two we are dating has potential, but accept the time it will take to become a ten. In the right light, would you settle for a six? How about a four?

Dwayne Haskins was caught pleading with his offensive line for help. Cameron Crowe couldn’t have written a better scene as Haskins begged, “what do I have to do to help you.” The silence was deafening and there were no answers, not yet anyway. Help me, help you.

In the first four games of the Bill Callahan run first offense, the Redskins were averaging six points fewer than the Jay Gruden offense. They were running the ball on first and second down at nearly a 70% clip during the interim regime and altered the game plan last week only after trailing the New York Jets by 31 points in the third quarter.

For the season, the offense is producing 12.8 points per game, worst in the league. Meanwhile, in contrast, the defense is allowing more than 25 points per game. The negative coefficient has been amplified by the team’s inexperience.

The Redskins scored their first touchdown in over a month against the New York Jets and marked the first achievement for two of the hopeful cornerstones moving forward.

Dwayne Haskins found Derrius Guice on a slip screen five minutes into the fourth quarter, at which point Guice weaved through some solid blocking led by Brandon Scherff and Trey Quinn on the perimeter for a 45-yard touchdown.

Void of impactful seasoned faculty, the Redskins have struggled with consistency on both sides of the ball. The secondary has a shallow pool of talent and has underperformed. Quinton Dunbar has turned in a Pro Bowl season and Landon Collins has been a tackling machine, but the unit has struggled as a whole.  Josh Norman is completely checked out and Fabian Moreau has looked lost in recent weeks. Rookie Jimmy Moreland continues to make amateur mistakes and commit costly fouls.

There is no tight end who can act as a safety valve for a young quarterback. Jeremy Sprinkle caught a meaningless touchdown at the end of the game, but has struggled with drops at pivotal moments throughout the season.

Adrian Peterson and Derrius Guice averaged 3.2 yards per carry on sixteen attempts against the Jets. Not the envisioned identity of a run first team.

One wide receiver has made a name for himself, but little else is exciting as the roster currently resides. Maybe the play of the game, perhaps of Haskins’ young career, occurred when a broken pocket forced the quarterback to his left and performed an act of athleticism few in the world can make. Under duress, Haskins torqued his body and threw a rope against his momentum for a massive gain to Terry McLaurin up the left side of the field.

The play was promptly nullified by a penalty and can’t be found in the box score, but it does highlight the prodigious arm talent of Haskins. As for McLaurin, who has failed to reach the end zone in the past four weeks, remains ranked first in rookie wide receiver touchdowns, first down completions, and plays greater than twenty yards, as well as second in total receptions and receiving yards.

To escape the season with your sanity, grade the Redskins on an organic chemistry curve. D’s get degrees and the collective trio all received passing grades on the curve. Add rookie wide receiver Kelvin Harmon to the mix, who contributed five receptions for 53 yards to the young nucleus who are beginning to shape the team and the positives are visible through a prism.

Dwayne Haskins is slowly improving, despite being handcuffed by his surroundings, but will continue to make some poor decisions. He threw an awful turnover to the New York Jets. It was hardly his first interception or first confounding decision, but the incidents are occurring with less frequency than in Haskins’ earlier appearances in the season.

Jets linebacker Neville Hewitt intercepted a ball from Haskins, who stared at one target, that was horrendously behind Trey Quinn and into double coverage. Other throws have been as equally troubling, but improvements have been made, albeit at a restrained skip.

Haskins is getting the team in and out of the huddle. Callahan and offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell have praised Haskins’ attention in recent weeks. Haskins’ weaknesses are glaring when he misses open receivers and is tentative to release the ball, but the mistakes are receding with every game.

After two professional starts, Haskins is still susceptible to veteran tropes. Gregg Williams routinely sent pressure towards the overmatched rookie requiring the quarterback to account for more rushers than blockers. The strategy was effective and the experienced defensive coordinator doesn’t apply whiskey on the gums to soothe quarterback baby teeth.

If Haskins’ plea to the offensive line expressed all you needed to know about the game and the current malfeasance of the Redskins then a reasonable conclusion is to stick your tongue in a light socket. It will get worse before it gets better.

The Redskins have six more games. In the correct light, the young group of Haskins, Guice, and McLaurin are the seedlings of a future, but are going to need time and space for their growth. How much time? That may never be known.