The Takeaways, Week 13: Miami Dolphins at Washington
December 5, 2023
by Steve Thomas
Honestly, this game, a 45 – 15 home loss to the Miami Dolphins, coming on the heels of a 45 – 10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, went about as most people expected. Washington is in freefall mode at this point; for the math deficient, they’ve been outscored 121 – 44 over the last three weeks. In other words, nothing’s working. That’s absolutely terrible, embarrassing, insert your negative adjective of choice here. The players lack talent and motivation, and the coaching staff isn’t doing everything they can to put the players in a position to succeed. There’s no turning around the season now, and Washington played like it against the Dolphins, surrendering multiple long touchdowns and acting like Tyreek Hill was playing an entirely different game. I’d say that this is as low as it gets, but considering that this is the second week in a row of epic beatdowns, we don’t really know we’re at the bottom. The only thing that’s certain is that Washington won’t lose in week 14. Maybe.
Maybe Sam Howell isn’t what we all hoped he’d be
Howell went 12 for 23 for 280 yards this week, with one pick 6 interception, for a quarterback rating of 50.5. I realize that the fanbase thinks vey highly of this player, and he’s certainly had his moments this year. The fact of the matter is, though, that he’s regressed as the season went on, and the offensive line shouldn’t shoulder all of the blame. Howell showed a small bit of moxie against Miami with his rushing touchdown, but he also made multiple bad throws and bad decisions. He wasn’t a positive “X factor” this week; rather, he was part of the problem, for the third week in a row. I’m not saying that it’s time to bench him, particularly since Washington isn’t a playoff team. Howell should definitely get to finish off the season, but if Washington happens to be in a position to draft one of the top quarterbacks in the class, they should probably do it.
Terry McLaurin gets shut out
McLaurin had zero receptions in three targets in this game, which was only the second time that happened in his entire career, the first being against Dallas in week 14 of the 2021 season. Of course, he had perhaps the best corner in football, Jalen Ramsey, on him for most of the day, and also had to contend with a quarterback suffering through a poor game against a first place team. Still, though, McLaurin is probably the best player on Washington’s roster, and they need him to come through during weeks in which things are going poorly. He didn’t get that done this Sunday. For that matter, with 60 receptions for 694 yards, which is 11.9 yards per reception, for the season, he’s been more mediocre than great this season. Washington needed McLaurin to do better this week, Ramsey or not.
Ron Rivera’s debut as defensive coordinate went . . . poorly
As everyone knows, Washington fired former defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio last week after the Debacle in Dallas. A handful of fans probably expected immediate improvement, but most folks saw through the charade. That proved to be the right opinion, as the new defensive coordinator, Ron Rivera, did his head coach dirty by immediately making bad decisions that resulted in Miami points. Raise your hand if you were in favor of putting draft bust Jartavius Martin in one on one coverage against Tyreek Hill. Anybody? I’m waiting. Things went downhill from there, unfortunately – there’s no need to recap everything. The Takeaway point here is that Washington’s defense under Rivera achieved the exactly the same results as they did last week under Del Rio, maybe worse. The Dolphins took their foot off the gas in the second half, so it could have been worse. Rivera’s defense looked mismanaged, unimaginative, and completely outclassed against Miami. So much for that move.
The secondary stinks and is terrible
Washington’s secondary group has to have one of the worst resources committed to performance ratios of any position group in the NFL. Washington has a high priced vet, Kendall Fuller, who got torched in a blown coverage in the game. They also have two high draft picks who have failed to not be bad for the majority of the season, Emmanuel Forbes and the aforementioned Martin. Forbes was inactive this week, so he escapes blame for Miami, but as I said, Martin gave up a touchdown, without help from the safeties. Even Kamren Curl hasn’t been great this season. He’s leading the team in tackles, but hasn’t made a tremendous impact. He’s a good value since he’s still on his rookie deal, but that’s going to change this offseason. In my view, this entire position group, with the possible exception of Curl, needs to be blown up this offseason and rebuilt from scratch, because it just isn’t working.
The linebackers stink and are terrible
What more needs to be said? Rivera’s big defensive free agent this past offseason, Cody Barton, has been an unmitigated disaster. That level of performance continued this week, as Barton made some horrible plays against the Dolphins. I’d say he should get the “goat of the week” award, except that the secondary was somehow worse. Jamin Davis was slightly better than Barton, but he’s not exactly greatness personified, either. If there’s a worse linebacker group in the NFL, I’d like to see it. Seriously, speak up in the comment section if you can identify one that is worse.
That’s it for this week, thankfully. Washington mercifully has a bye in week 14, so their next matchup is an away game against the Los Angeles Rams.