The Washington Redskins were able to do a couple of positive things late by scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but the damage had already been done. A 34-17 loss to the New York Jets stings, especially when you consider that the Redskins were coming off of a bye and had two weeks to prepare. After falling behind 34-3, a couple of young players scored their first career touchdowns, but it doesn’t do enough to take the stink away from this game. Here are our three takeaways.
The Streak is Finally Over
16-straight quarters without a touchdown was a perfect example of the ineptitude that has been brewing in Washington this season. For over a month, the Redskins were held out of the endzone, but at long last, that streak has come to an end.
First career TD pass ➡️ Haskins
First career TD ➡️ Guice#NYJvsWAS(via @NFL)
— PFF (@PFF) November 17, 2019
Early in the 4th quarter, Haskins and Guice connected for a 45-yard touchdown that allowed the young RB to put his skill on display and show just exactly what he can do after the catch. It wasn’t all that impressive on Haskins’ part, but that doesn’t matter. What’s important is that both Haskins and Guice notched their first career touchdowns, which was hopefully the spark they needed to get the offense going in Washington.
It’s unlikely, but it could happen.
A New Rock Bottom
Don’t let the two late touchdowns cloud your memory of the first half. This was an absolutely poor performance from the Redskins for the first three quarters.
Somehow, someway, the Redskins continue to find new ways to hit rock bottom. After a much-needed bye week, Washington fans weren’t subjected to misery last Sunday and could sit back and enjoy a nice slate of NFL games.
The same couldn’t be said about this Sunday, as Washington returned to action and put up an all-time stinker against the Jets. In the first half alone, Washington totaled seven penalties, and they finished the game with 11 for 66 yards. At one point in the second quarter, the Redskins got the ball on the New York 16 and 27-yard lines, and they came away with just three points and six total yards.
The Redskins have now gone 16 quarters without scoring a TD, the longest streak by any NFL team since at least 2001.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 17, 2019
In a season from hell, it seems like there are few things that Washington can do to compound the many mistakes that have gotten them here, but each and every week, they continue to succeed in that regard. Yay for all of us watching.
Haskins Stock Stays the Same
Once again, Dwayne Haskins did nothing too much to impress on Sunday, but he wasn’t awful either. By being mediocre once again, it technically could be called a failure of an outing for the rookie quarterback. The word out of practice for the last couple of weeks has been that Haskins is growing more comfortable and developing nicely, but there has been absolutely no proof of that so far. He ended Sunday with 19 for 35 with 214 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception.
There a few bright spots, to Haskins credit. In the first half, Haskins uncorked a 55-yard bomb to Terry McLaurin, finding his college teammate in stride for a big gain, but, of course, the play was called back because of a hold. Later in the fourth quarter, Haskins threw his first career touchdown pass to Guice and later orchestrated a drive down the field that ended in another TD to Jeremy Sprinkle.
The Redskins have done the right thing by naming Haskins the starting QB for the rest of the season, but now it’s on the rookie to start taking advantage of that opportunity. At some point in the next month, Haskins needs to show that he is making legitimate improvements and starting to really grasp the moment, and it has to be noticeable before the fourth quarter rolls around. That did not happen on Sunday.
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