The good feeling didn’t last for long. Washington followed their impressive comeback win over Philadelphia with a not-able-to-comeback loss against Arizona.
Plain and simple, the offense needs the second half production in the first half. On paper, the coaching staff is doing a good job with Dwayne Haskins. Last week, Haskins tied a career high in completions with 19. But the second year quarterback still misses receivers that are open in small windows. ““Unfortunately early on he missed some opportunities. When you get chances, you can’t miss them and unfortunately we did,” said head coach Ron Rivera.
Terry McLaurin leads the team in receptions (12) and tied for first in targets (17). By far he’s been the best receiver and most consistent threat on the offense.
The offense comes into the Cleveland Browns game ranked 30th in the NFL. The pass offense is 31st but Cleveland’s pass defense is 28th. This is your classic “something must give” situation.
Haskins could use some help from the running game which stands at a very unimpressive 24th in the league. This might not be the best situation for the rushing game to “get right” because the Browns defense has been really good against the run (7th in the league). It’s way to early to start the “does Washington miss Adrian Peterson” talk but this is a game where they could use that type of performance out of Antonio Gibson and/or Peyton Barber.
The defensive side of the ball has been much better. The Browns will challenge Washington’s defense in the running game. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt has been Cleveland’s new Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner. The have combined for 242 yards rushing and three touchdowns in the first two weeks of the season. “They’re two talented backs that compliment each other and
push each other,” said Cleveland Browns’ head coach Kevin Stefanski. “We’re gonna look for ways to get those guys to rock.” The rushing offense is 2nd in the league and could provide Washington’s stiffest test to date.
If Washington can contain Cleveland’s rushing game, they could take advantage of Baker Mayfield. The talkative quarterback tends to make mistakes under pressure. With Washington leading the league in sacks, they could have an opportunity to flip the field for the offense.
Keys for Washington
It starts with the running game. Simply put, Washington must take some of the responsibility off Haskins early in the game. Of course, opposing defenses know that and will stack the box. Washington still must try.
The defense will have opportunities to score or put the offense in a position to have an extremely short field. The defense will need to force Cleveland into some second and third and longs. If so, they can take advantage of Mayfield.
