NFL

Haskins Commits Four Turnovers, Browns Beat Washington

Deonta Saleem September 28, 2020

This game was like a rollercoaster; Washington started fast, but there were so many twists and turns. A few highs, a lot of lows.

The thing that a lot of people were praising Dwayne Haskins for since he became Washington’s starting QB last season was that he limited turnovers. But Dwayne Haskins was not looking like that QB, he was looking like the Dwayne Haskins in Cleveland last preseason in his first NFL action.

When Haskins was successful, he was going through his matchups, finding the one he liked and hit it. After he overthrew Logan Thomas and it got picked off, he didn’t let that get to him and allowed himself to get back in the game. They eventually orchestrated another scoring drive.  He came back after, drove down the field and they took the lead after throwing his second TD to Dontrelle Inman.

But after his third and final interception, the Browns scored another TD. Then Myles Garrett blew up Gerron Christian for a strip-sack to put the game away. Haskins was telegraphing his passes, and once Cleveland’s defense caught on, Haskins was having a rough time.

This team is not good enough to overcome four crushing turnovers. Cleveland scored 34 points, so you might look say the defense didn’t step up today, but that is far from the truth. 24 of those points came off turnovers, all of those scoring drives coming within 35 yards or less. When you are giving away turnovers but not forcing them on the side, you’ll lose that game 99% of the time.

Postgame, coach Ron Rivera said yes the turnovers, especially the interceptions upset him. But he said he’s sticking with Dwayne Haskins, and that’s his best option. He already said he does not expect this offense to hit their stride till 2021, and these 2020 growing pains are going to be something they’re going to have to work through.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. This is Dwayne’s real rookie season. His first year was a wash. Give him the opportunity to show you what he can do, if he doesn’t improve, move off him. But he’s in his 10th career start as an NFL QB, don’t jump the gun too quickly. Does he need to improve? Yes. 10 games are not enough to determine if he’s your franchise QB or not.

Want my opinion on Haskins, watch this post from NBC Washington’s JP Finlay.