Thoughts on preseason game 2

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August 25, 2026

by Steve Thomas

Washington lost their second preseason game against the Detroit Lions by a score of 17 – 13, but the loss itself isn’t particularly important and isn’t the point.  The big picture here is whether this contest helped Washington get ready for its tough opening few weeks of the regular season.  The answer is, probably not.  I recognize that the Lions are a highly-rated team this year, likely way out of Washington’s league, so by all rights, this could have been a good test for the Redskins Washington Football Team Commanders the team.  Maybe this is just my natural pessimism coming to bear, but I’m not sure how much we actually learned from this game, at least not good things that could make the fans excited for the season.  Let’s dive in.

What was the point of playing the starters in only 1 series?

Head coach Dan Quinn has massively bungled playing time so far this preseason.  Honestly, what’s the point of playing Jayden Daniels and most of the rest of the offensive starters for just one 3 and out series?  It accomplished very little for a group that needs to play.  Don’t forget that not only is this a new offensive system, but it’s one that requires Daniels to play in a manner that he’s never done before, i.e., under center, for a significant number of plays.  Not only was there little point in yanking the starters after one series, but that one series didn’t even go well.  One three-and-out that included an incomplete pass, a sack, and a run on third and 20 that was clearly just a surrender simply isn’t enough playing time.  Assuming that the starting offense doesn’t play much or at all in the final preseason game against the Ravens next weekend, Daniels and the rest of the offensive starters will have had almost zero game play prior to the when the games start to count.  Things may not go well early on in the regular season as a result, and that’s on Quinn.  He’s coaching like he’s scared of injuries, and in my view, that isn’t the correct approach.

The offensive line mostly stunk

This partly relates back to the playing time issue for the starters, but this group just generally didn’t play particularly well, especially not in the short amount of time the starters were on the field.  Two of the snaps in the first series were impacted by poor protection.  The sack of Daniels on the second play appeared to be caused by the supposed blocking tight end, John Bates, getting blown up.  To a  certain extent, allowing a tight end to be one on one with a defensive pass rusher is a scheme problem, but it wasn’t a good look.  More importantly, the center situation is beyond ridiculous.  Washington started Julian Good-Jones, who didn’t stand out, and rotated Matt Gulbin in and out throughout the game.  Never forget that this problem was one of the team’s own making by their inexplicable release of Tyler Biadasz.  Yes, Biadasz tore his ACL with the Chargers last week, but that may or may not have happened he had been here in Washington.  The point is that the team released an average to slightly above average center and are now in a world of hurt as a result.

Meet your new third string quarterback, Athan Kaliakmanis. Maybe.

Kaliakmanis and Sam Hartman switched on and off during this game, with Hartman taking the first quarter and part of the fourth quarter and Kaliakmanis playing the second and third quarters, as well as a few plays of a drive that extended into the fourth quarter.  Hartman finished with 9 completions in 11 attempts, for 67 yards and a 92.0 quarterback rating, and Kaliakmkanis went 11 for 14 for 162 and a 114.9 quarterback rating.  Hopefully, neither one of these players will get on the field in the regular season, because if they do, things will likely go horribly wrong.  It’s obvious from the split in playing time that the team considers the two to be in a competition for the third string spot.  At a minimum, there’s not a ton of difference between the two in terms of ability.  In my view, Hartman is probably more athletic and is more adept at scrambling, but Kaliakmanis is more accurate in the short to mid-range.  Neither quarterback has a great deep arm, but I question Kaliakmanis’ arm strength on deep balls slightly more than I do Hartman.  At the end of the day, I think the coaching staff is going to give Kaliakmanis every opportunity to win the third string job, and he’s probably going to get it done.

The running game crumbles

The running game looked great last week against the Dolphins, with Robert Henry exploding onto the scene and Kaytron Allen also doing very well.  This week was the polar opposite, with the team collectively having 17 carries for just 35 yards, for an average of 2.1 yards per carry.  Allen had 10 carries for 30 yards, and Henry totally erased his goodwill from last week, with 4 carries for -3 yards, including a long of 3.  This was partially due to the poor performance by the discombobulated offensive line, but also, the running backs simply didn’t perform well.  I’d also like to point out at this time that the starter, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, has thusfar received zero carries in two games.  I understand that he has a minor injury, but that still seems like it might be a bit important.  The fact that Detroit’s defense up and down the depth chart is worlds apart from that of the Dolphins, and it showed.  Washington is going to need a strong, active running game this season, and this game showed us the opposite.

Tons of penalties

Washington was flagged for 11 penalties for 84 yards in this game, including what seemed like 1,034 pre-snap penalties.  That isn’t the hallmark of a team that’s prepared and ready for the season.

Jayden Bradley makes his mark

One final note here today: Jayden Bradley made the catch of the preseason.  In case you missed it, here it is, courtesy of the X fee from our friend Mark Tyler, @Tiller56:

The wide receiver room is very crowded right now; perhaps that play gives him a leg up.

That’s it for this week.  I’ll be back next week after Washington faces the Ravens in the final preseason game of the year.

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