Is Washington’s Season Unrecoverable?

November 22, 2025

by David Earl

Quick Review After 11 Games

What many saw as a promising offseason heading into week one turned out to be a nightmare of a season. After adding wide receiver Deebo Samuel and left tackle Laremy Tunsil via trade, then drafting rookie tackle Josh Conerly, Washington looked like an offense ready to take the next step as a championship-caliber unit. Defensively, they looked to bulk up the run defense by signing defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw while taking a bit of a hit in the pass rush. I am sure they had hoped corner Marshon Lattimore, being now fully healthy, would have returned to form alongside second-year standout corner Mike Sainristil back into the slot position. Among the other additions, plus the draft, the offseason projections by many had them as the favorite to challenge defending champions, the Philadelphia Eagles.

After a 3-2 start to the season, the offense showed promise considering that they lost wide receiver Terry McLaurin early, as well as and reliable veteran RB Austin Ekeler in the first game of the season. During this stretch they ranked 8th in the league in points per game, averaging 26.8, and had a red zone scoring percentage of 71.4%. They were the best rushing team in the NFL in average yards per carry, at 5.9, and had an overall a top 5 ground game, with 39.58% of their runs resulting in first downs. Washington’s passing offense struggled, having one of the worst completion percentages in the league, at 60.1%, and a team 95.3 quarterback rating which placed them middle of the road in the league. Washington was ranked 10th in average yards per completion, at 10.8, yet struggled to convert first downs in the passing game with a 46.88% conversion rate. The revamped offensive line was ranked just outside the top 15, allowing a 7.01% sack rate. So, even with some early injuries plus a struggling Jayden Daniels in year 2, the offense seemed ok but not great.

Disaster then struck, as the team is currently in a 6 game losing streak. With the unavailability of McLaurin and Noah Brown, Jayden Daniels had to deal with a shuffling wide receiver group while battling injuries himself.  To compound matters further is Washington’s run game seemed to peak in a week win against the Los Angeles Chargers when 7th round rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt averaged 7.9 yards per carry, gaining 111 rushing yards. Offensively, they dropped to 24th in the league, averaging 21.5 points per game. While they are still technically ranked as one of the better rushing offenses in the league, averaging 4.9 yards per carry, they have averaged just 4.4 yards per carry over the last 3 weeks, ranking them 18th in the league. Surprisingly enough, their passing completion rate has improved to 63.9% and 70.3% over the last 3 weeks. Washington’s team passer rating has remained relatively stable at 92.6 for the season.

As for the defensive side of the ball, Washington was ranked 10th, allowing 20.2 points per game during their 3-2 start. They were also much improved against the run from last season, ranking 11th allowing 4.0 yards per rush and 12th with a 30.6% first down conversion rate against the run. Even with some early struggles from the secondary, they still managed to rank 9th in completion rate, at 64.1%, but ranked 24th in an overall 101.2 quarterback rating.  A surprising result early in the season was the 6th-ranked 8.77% sack rate they had through 5 weeks.  Unfortunately, key injuries to edge rushers Deatrich Wise Jr and Dorance Armstrong plus their inability to cover athletic tight ends took a toll on an already inconsistent defense.

Since week 5, Washington has dropped to a league rank of 28th in average points per game, at 26.9, and have allowed 32.7 over the last 3 games. Their rush defense has become one of the league’s worst over these 3 games, having allowed 5.5 yards per rush attempt. Their secondary is now allowing a 67.9% completion rate and a gaudy 75.9% over the last 3 games, and have also given up an average opposing quarterback rating of 111.7, including an average of 132.9 over last 3 games. While they rank 15th in the league in sack rate, at 7.08% sack rate, they have one of the worst pressure rates in the last 3 games, at 3.66%.

Can They Recover the Season?

While I’d love to be positive here and show some hope, the reality of the remaining schedule makes it highly improbable. This season clearly did not go nearly as well as they hoped and the reasons cannot be placed on a single situation. While Jayden Daniels never truly had a chance with the full complement of offensive weapons after losing Terry McLaurin, Noah Brown and Austin Ekeler, he also was not nearly as accurate this season. That is not fully on Daniels though, as Washington was cycling through the practice squad all season for wide receivers.  Defenses were able to stack the box to stop an average running attack as the fear of Washington’s downfield passing attack just was not prevalent.  This placed more pressure on the offensive line in pass protection as the running game became a non-factor.  The problems on offense were never just a problem to be attributed to offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury or a sophomore slump for Daniels, but a domino effect of multiple problematic issues snowballing all at once.

Overall, the defense has just not been very good all season and obviously injuries compounded this group as well. Defensive coordinator Joe Whitt may have had a simplistic and predictable schematic approach much of the season, but the execution by the players was just not present either.  The missed tackles, terrible reads from the defensive backs, and inconsistencies in the execution of the scheme go beyond coaching.  Like the offensive issues, we cannot simply point the finger at one issue alone, as far too many other factors exist.  Adam Peters took a swing this offseason to build off last season’s NFC Championship game run and it just simply feel flat. This team is old and lacks any true depth.  This season is certainly a loss, barring a miracle, and now Peters will need to assess this team for the rest of the season to determine who are pieces to build around, plus formulate an offseason plan to effectively rebuild this roster.  In my personal opinion, at least they have the most important piece in place at quarterback with Daniels but they need to find that center piece to quarterback the defense going forward.