With their 30-15 loss vs. the Arizona Cardinals, Washington now falls to 1-1, sitting on top of the division (yay?).
Some of my takeaways from Sunday’s game:
1. Kyler Murray is special. He might be young, might make some mistakes, or have some inaccuracies, but that dude is the truth. His running ability makes him hard to defend, mixed with two of the most sure-handed WRs in the NFL in Hopkins and Larry Fitzgerald, this Arizona team is going to be a problem very, very soon
Kid is special. Murray gets in the open field; no one is going to get him 1-1
— John Keim (@john_keim) September 20, 2020
2. The offensive line for Washington is atrocious. If you look around at some of the best offenses in football like Baltimore, Kansas City, New Orleans, etc., they’re not only talented with their weapons, but their offensive lines allow them to mix up their play calls. If you can’t run block, you have to pass. But when you can’t block for more than two seconds, what are you supposed to do? It’s even harder when the worse part of your OL is your left tackle spot in Geron Christian Sr. Maybe we see Sadiqq Charles soon. My opinion: why not? Unless the coaching staff thinks he’s not ready, I don’t see why you don’t play him, you’ll get at least the same production out of Charles as you are from Christian.
I talked with a former Washington D-lineman last week, he said it would be really hard to evaluate Haskins this year without better O-line play
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) September 20, 2020
3. Dwayne Haskins definitely has some issues with accuracy. His mechanics need work. The coaching staff said when he misses, he misses high, and when you miss high, you’re allowing the ball to be tipped in the air and intercepted, or even overthrown and intercepted. Allow him time and maybe he’ll get better at it.
4. Terry McLaurin is an f-ing stud. That’s all.
There's a bright spot. His name is Terry McLaurin
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) September 20, 2020
5. This offense lacks weapons. Outside of Terry, is there anyone? Gibson is very young and needs more time to get better. Their other WRs are either unproven or average at best. We don’t know what AGG can be, he dealt was some concussion issues and never got to practice, Sims was a UDFA is quick, but is not a true WR yet, and the TEs are not good. They need more weapons on offense if they want to maximize Dwayne Haskins’ potential.
6. This team is very, very young. I need everyone to realize that there was no real offseason. No minicamp, no OTA’s, no preseason games, just a few weeks of practice and that’s it. They’ll make mistakes just being a young team. But mixing the COVID situation and have 99% of your new coaching staff is new, mistakes will be made. Growing pains are common. Coach Rivera said there will be growing pains, that’s common with a young team. San Francisco had these pains, but they set the culture, got the right players in who wanted to win, now they’re one of the best teams in football. Not saying this team is going to be San Fran, but things like this take time. That’s why when you look at my record prediction, I had them finish at 7-9. They aren’t supposed to be that good. But it’s about building for 2021 and beyond. Setting the culture, getting the right guys in the building, winning games.
Ron Rivera says Washington is a "young team." He's right, and there's going to be a lot of frustration in growth
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) September 20, 2020
