Washington came into the week riding a four-game losing streak, and they were desperate for a win. They took on the injury-plagued Dallas Cowboys and beat them convincingly, 25-3.
Washington dominated every phase of the game and holding Dallas to only two drives of 40 yards or more. This is by far the best this defense has played all year, and this is back to back weeks of great defensive performances. Is the Cowboys offense at its best without Dak Prescott and their depleted offensive line? No, but Washington is supposed to take advantage of a team that has a lot of injuries. They did the same exact thing in week 1 when they played the Philadelphia Eagles, and they smelled blood in the water.
Six sacks, holding Dallas to under 150 of total offense, mixed with the defensive performance, this defense is starting to come together very well. Also, Cole Holcomb had probably his most complete game as a pro. I’ve been saying that I think he should start along side Jon Bostic, and probably get the most playing time from the ILB position.
Unfortunately, starting safety Landon Collins likely tore his Achilles.
I fully expect Washington to make a call to former Carolina safety Eric Reid, especially with Washington going into a bye week. He played in Carolina for the last two years and is a free agent. When asked about Reid a few weeks ago, Rivera had this to say about him:
The offense is starting to look more fluid under Kyle Allen. I don’t think he played bad last week, but he did not give them a chance to win with his two terrible turnovers. The passing game looked improved, and they actually took a shot downfield, scoring on a 52 yard Terry McLaurin. But the biggest takeaway on offense is rookie Antonio Gibson had by far his best game as an RB. 20 carries for 128 yards and one TD, and the overall team had 200 rushing yards. They were last in the league in rushing yards, so going into the bye week, this is definitely something to build on.
I think after the bye week, the offense will take a step forward. They had their best running game performance, the passing offense will get some of their pieces back, and they’re building momentum in all the right places. They’re not going to become the Kansas City Chiefs, but the offense will be improved.
Now the question remains, is Washington back in the run for the NFC East again? How many wins do they need to get to have a chance in week 17? Will the Giants crumble? With the Eagles remaining schedule, they have top tier teams like Seattle, New Orleans, Green Bay, and Arizona, how many wins do they get?