What we learned from Washington’s first preseason game

August 16, 2022

by Steve Thomas

The Washington Redskins Washington Football Team Washington Commanders Washington’s new expansion team played its first game of its existence this past Saturday, a 21 – 23 loss to the Carolina Panthers at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in Raljon, Maryland.  It was only the first preseason game of the new 2022 season, so too much can’t be made of the effort; however, we were able to learn a few things about the team during this game, so let’s discuss.

The first team offense and defense lost

The game was fun to watch, as it came down to the end of the 4th quarter, with the Panthers earning the victory courtesy of a field goal with 24 seconds left after Washington took the lead on the previous drive.  However, the score of the end of the first quarter was 10 – 0 in favor of Carolina, 10 – 6 when most of Washington’s starters left the game.  Washington didn’t take a lead until the fourth quarter after the bulk of the realistic regular season active roster candidates were out of the game.  Washington’s first offensive series was a quick three and out exit, followed by a quick Panthers field goal, then another Carolina touchdown resulting from a fairly devastating Antonio Gibson fumble on the Washington 28 yard line.  Carson Wentz was then finally able to lead Washington on a quality drive, a 14 play, 82 yard drive that led to a touchdown early in the second quarter.  The point is, we essentially saw more of the same as we did from the prior franchise that ceased operations last year, i.e., sloppy play and poor performance with some quality play mixed in.

Washington’s defense underwhelmed – they let the Panthers march down the field twice, allowed some decent running plays to develop, and generally didn’t look like a top-ranked unit.  It is painfully obvious that Washington needs another linebacker.  Why head coach Ron Rivera chose to ignore the most glaring need on the team this offseason remains one of the universe’s greatest mysteries.  I laughed out loud when the broadcast had to announce just two starting linebackers.

Players who outplayed the depth chart

As I said on this week’s episode of The Hog Sty Podcast, the primary thing I watch for in preseason games is players who outplay their spot on the depth chart.  For example, hypothetically letting starters go into the third quarter would be fine for a team to do, but nobody should be overly impressed when they beat up on the opposing team’s third stringers.  To me, a few Washington players stood out in this regard.  First, Brian Robinson Jr. – a certain brilliant Hog Sty writer has been telling you for months that Robinson’s destiny is to be Washington’s principal franchise back, and Saturday was a good start.  Robinson only had 6 carries for 26 yards, for an average of 4.3 yards per carry, but most of those carries were against Carolina’s starters.  Robinson looked decisive and showed decent vision.  If that’s a harbinger of things to come, he has a bright future.

Armani Rodgers, the rookie undrafted free agent tight end, surprised by getting the start in place of the injured Logan Thomas.  He made the most of his opportunity, getting three receptions for 12 yards.  That isn’t spectacular – and frankly, I thought Wentz probably should’ve made a more aggressive choice on at least one of plays – but it’s much more than your average undrafted free agent normally gets.  It appears as though Rodgers has had a solid preseason; otherwise, head coach Ron Rivera wouldn’t have given him that kind of role.

As far as I could tell, Phidarian Mathis didn’t get into the game until the third quarter, but he looked good, more than holding his own in the interior defensive front.  He had a few good plays and generally looked stronger than those around him.

Running back Jonathan Williams had 5 carries for 31 yards in the second, third, and fourth quarters.  Williams has been around the NFL for awhile, and it shows.  He’s played in 33 total games since 2016, and has 97 carries for 413 yards, for an average of 4.3 yards per carry.  He had the look of a legitimate NFL running back who deserves a spot on the active roster.  In my view, Williams helped himself.

Defensive tackle Daniel Wise was another standout late game standout who outplayed those around him.

Dax Milne looked like a legit NFL player amongst players who mostly aren’t. Milne will be on the roster for another year.

Players who underplayed the depth chart

This list needs to begin with Antonio Gibson.  Coming off of a subpar 2021 season which saw him rack up 1037 inefficient yards along with 6 fumbles, he needs to have a strong start in 2022.  This game was the opposite of that, with 4 carries for just 2 yards, plus the aforementioned fumble in Washington territory that led to a Panthers touchdown.

Taylor Heinicke is a proven, good backup-quality quarterback who can play a role either in Washington or elsewhere, but Saturday wasn’t his finest hour.  He completed just 4 of 9 attempts for 21 yards, and had a critical interception.  I like Heinicke in the QB2 role, but he needs to show more to stay ahead of the rookie Sam Howell, who looked pretty good in the third and fourth quarter.

The other two quarterbacks were okay

Carson Wentz had decent stats – 10 for 13 for 74 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, and an 89.9 quarterback rating in a little over one quarter of work.  Howell was also pretty good, going 9 for 16 for 145 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 86.7, albeit against the Panthers third and fourth stringers in the third and fourth quarters.  I wouldn’t say either man either outplayed his depth chart position, but neither one hurt the team.  Howell clearly has a ton of arm talent; for him, it’s a matter of developing consistency, and that’ll only happen with time.  Considering how much Washington is paying Wentz, Carson doesn’t have the luxury of time.

The play calling isn’t a concern at this point

Scott Turner’s offensive play calling didn’t look very good, but it was clear that they didn’t have a regular season game plan prepared and were simply trying out different players in different situations.  Certainly, many had concerns with Turner’s play calling last year, and while Saturday didn’t really do anything to alleviate those issues, rest easy, as it will get better in the regular season.  No worries here, yet.  The game plan raised zero red flags with me – the bigger concerns were the poor performances by the starters.

The new fight song was insulting and ridiculous

As a huge, lifelong fan of the now-defunct Redskins, I was deeply offended that this new team co-opted “Hail to the Redskins” and turn it into a “Commanders” song.  The result was laughable.  That’s the one link to the past that the franchise kept?  Please . . . just don’t.