Category: 2019 NFL Regular Season

Discouraging video shows Haskins trying to fire up offensive line to no avail

A video on social media shows Haskins trying to ask what he can do to help the offensive line find success, but they seem to ignore him.

A video has surfaced online that shows Washington Redskins’ rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins trying to reason with his offensive line in the second half of a 34-17 loss to the New York Jets, and having little success.

“What can I do to help you?” Haskins repeatedly ask the front-five, who seemed to barely be paying attention. At this point in the game, the Redskins were down by at least three possessions to one of the worst teams in the NFL, at home, in a stadium that was dangerously close to being closer to empty than full. It’s all the worse when you consider that Washington had two weeks to prepare for this game after having a bye in Week 10, and it made no difference.

Haskins’ message didn’t seem to reach the big men up front, as he was sacked six times in the loss. The offense scored a couple of touchdowns late in the game, but it wasn’t enough to cover up the three-quarters of putrid ineptitude that precluded it.

This is definitely a tough look for a team that’s used to tough looks.

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Dwayne Haskins had best stats of his NFL career in loss to NY Jets

It was an ugly loss that was never close, but some late garbage-time production gave Haskins the first two touchdowns of his career.

It’s important to acknowledge that most of the production came in the 4th quarter, which could be classified as ‘garbage time’ in a blowout game like this, but Washington Redskins’ rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins had the best game of his NFL career on Sunday.

That may not be saying much, but it’s saying something at least.

The Redskins ended up losing to the New York Jets, 34-17, after being down 34-3 in the second half. However, Haskins finished the game going 19-for-35 with 214 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. The two touchdowns late in the game were the first two of his young NFL career.

When you take a step back and look at the franchise as a whole, it’s a grim sight. The Redskins are 1-9 and on the brink of officially being eliminated from the playoffs and spirits seem to be at an all-time low. A video from the game on Sunday shows Haskins trying to fire up his offensive line on the sideline while trying to work with them and see what he could do better. They barely seemed to notice him.

You don’t love to see it. You like to see a final stat line from the rookie QB that shows he got into the endzone a couple of times and found some success, but anyone that watched the game knows it means about as close to nothing as anything possibly can.

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The 365 days since Alex Smith’s horrific injury have felt like an eternity

It’s been 365 days since Alex Smith saw his life changed for the worse, but it’s felt like an eternity for fans of the Washington Redskins.

Exactly one year ago today, all was well for the Washington Redskins.

The team was 6-3 with a top spot in the NFC East and a clear path toward a playoff berth.

What happened next changed not only the course of Washington’s season, but completely altered the path of Alex Smith’s career and put into motion the wheels of change for the Redskins franchise.

In the third quarter of a game against the Houston Texans, Smith dropped back to pass. Pressure came, and Smith’s leg was rolled up on, resulting in a compound fracture that would place his career in jeopardy. The Redskins would end up losing the game 23-21, which would kick off a brutal 365 days in which they would only win two of the next 16 games.

Since Smith went down on that fateful day — one that bore eerily similar circumstances to when Joe Theismann suffered a gruesome broken leg in 1985 — the Redskins have seen six different starting quarterbacks take the field, all of whom have faced insurmountable criticism. The need for a new answer at the position led Daniel Snyder and Bruce Allen to select a QB with their first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, a player who has yet to find his footing in the league. They’ve also seen a longtime head coach fired, and an interim flirting with the idea of being ousted as well.

In his first year with the team, Smith was off to a hot start and looked to be the answer to Washington’s woeful stretch. He ended up being just another chapter in the book of misery and misfortune. In the months after the injury, Smith has had a tough road getting back to the point where he can walk under his own power, and multiple infections and surgeries have slowed the recovery. However, he continues to be determined to play football again, no matter how unlikely it seemed a year ago.

As for the Washington Redskins, they’re still looking for an answer at the QB position, anyone who can bring the hope and success that Smith brought for nine games in 2018. It may have only been 365 days since he took the field for the Redskins, but it’s felt like an eternity, and there’s no end in sight.

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Bill Callahan says the Redskins are nowhere near ‘close’ to being successful

The mantra in Washington from GM Bruce Allen has been that the Redskins are ‘close’ to being successful, but Bill Callahan disagrees.

The mantra in Washington — whether it’s truthful or not — is that the Redskins are “close” to getting things going in the right direction, despite a now 1-9 start to the season and no semblance of a plan going forward. 

When asked about what “close” means to him, head coach Bill Callahan expressed some frustration and honesty in his response. 

It’s nice to hear the head coach be honest with the media and tell them that the “close” word that we’ve heard so much in the past really is not any closer than it was then. Of course, it’s still frustrating to see the Redskins try to be good at things, and fail when they should really be trying to improve young talent instead of winning games. 

But, you take what you can get, and what we got from Callahan on Sunday was honesty. The Redskins are nowhere near “close.”

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WATCH: Terry McLaurin makes ridiculous circus catch in 4th quarter

Terry McLaurin can make some jaw-dropping plays when given the chance.

Are you kidding me Terry McLaurin?

Once again, the rookie wide receiver for the Redskins defied physics and made an incredible leaping grab down the left sideline where he snatched the ball from the defenders’ grasp and came down with it for a big gain.

The Redskins went on to score their second touchdown of the game — and second in the last 16-quarters — to put the highest point total since October 13th. It may not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but the catch and throw from Haskins and McLaurin were impressive, and they nod to a hopefully bright future that the two can have down the road.

 

 

Dwayne Haskins and Derrius Guice score first career TDs and end 16-quarter streak

The Redskins finally ended their touchdown-less streak after Guice took a screen pass to the house.

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THE STREAK IS DEAD. THE STREAK IS DEAD. THANK YOU DERRIUS GUICE, THE STREAK IS DEAD.

With the game completely out of hand early in the fourth quarter, second-year running back Derrius Guice scored his first career touchdown — and the Washington Redskins first touchdown in 16 quarters — with a nice screen pass from Dwayne Haskins that went to the house.

The touchdown was also the first of Haskins’ career as well.

It was a brutal day for the Redskins, as usual, but at least fans can walk away knowing that they have something in Guice if he is able to stay healthy. Going forward, he needs to be the No. 1 back on the offense.

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How do you measure rock-bottom anymore for the Redskins?

Coming off of a bye, the Redskins just played a putrid first half against the New York that portrays a new low in Washington.

How do you measure rock-bottom for a team as bad as the Washington Redskins?

Is it going 15-straight quarters without a touchdown? Is it coming out of a bye week and getting stomped at home by one of the worst teams in the league? Is it getting the ball on your opponent’s 16 and 27-yard line on consecutive drives and turning it into just six yards and three points?

The first half against the New York Jets on Sunday was just about as bad of a half of football as you can expect to see in the NFL. The defense was porous and multiple blown coverages in the secondary allowed Jets players to run rampant downfield. The offense was no better, and the Redskins totaled just two first downs and seven first-half penalties.

It’s been a common theme all season that this is about as low as things can get in Washington, but each week, the Redskins seem to find new ways to disappoint. There is no sure way to measure failure, but they might need to come up with one soon in Washington.

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Predicting Dwayne Haskins stats for Sunday’s game against the Jets

Haskins has a chance to show a lot of improvement on Sunday in his second career start, so we took a shot at predicting his final stats.

At this point in the season for the Washington Redskins, it’s tough to judge success simply by wins and losses. What’s more important is that young players show growth.

With that being said, the most important thing for the Redskins to see during Sunday’s game against the New York Jets is that rookie QB Dwayne Haskins finds some success in the offense, and shows that he feels more comfortable on the field.

That leaves a lot of grey area by which we can judge his performance on Sunday. The Jets rank 17th in the NFL when it comes to yards allowed per game, and they have the second-ranked run defense in the NFL, so a lot of the offense will look to Haskins to move the ball. With second-year running back Derrius Guice returning for the first time since Week 1, it will help take some of the pressure off of Haskins by having a reliable check-down option. Looking ahead to the game, let’s set a stat line that paints the floor for a successful outing from the rookie.

Pass Attempts: 25

Completions: 17

Touchdowns: 2

Interceptions: 1

Sacks: 1

Rushing Yards: 20 yards

Third Down Conversions: 3

Those may seem like lofty expectations, considering that in his career thus far, Haskins has thrown zero touchdowns and four interceptions, but he has now had several weeks to prepare for his second start, and it’s imperative that he shows growth in the offense.

It will be interesting to see how many times Bill Callahan and Kevin O’Connell choose to let him air it out — he had only 22 attempts in his first start against the Buffalo Bills — but no matter what the final number is, a completion percentage around 68-72 percent would be great.

If Haskins can put up a stat line similar to this one, the Redskins will have a great chance at winning on Sunday.

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Redskins promote Cam Sims from practice squad, hoping he can fill in for Paul Richardson

Sims will have his best opportunity yet to make a mark in the Washington offense with Paul Richardson out for Sunday’s game.

If you were keeping track of how many times an injury has forced the Washington Redskins to make a last-minute roster adjustment in order to be fully prepared for a Sunday game, you might have lost count by now.

The Redskins made another minor roster move on Saturday morning, but it has a chance to play big dividends going forward. Wide receiver Cam Sims was signed off of the practice squad once again and released linebacker Tanner Vallejo, who was one of their better special teams players.

The move was made in order to bolster the WR depth, as starter Paul Richardson will miss Sunday’s game against the New York Jets. Earlier this week, coach Bill Callahan spoke on his desire to get all of the receivers more active in the Redskins’ offense, and he specifically mentioned Sims as a major piece in that.

Since the start of the 2018 season, Simas has made a few trips between the 53-man roster and the practice squad, but with Richardson out this time, he might have his best shot yet at making an impression and sticking on the team.

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Trent Williams was trying to get new helmet when Redskins placed him on NFI

Williams says that he was in the process of finding a suitable helmet when the Redskins placed him on the NFI, ending his season.

Would you believe it if someone told you that, after failing his October 29th physical because of discomfort when putting on a football helmet, Trent Williams was actually looking for a suitable option so that he could play football again?

According to an interview with The Athletic, Williams said that he was in the process of working with Riddell in order to find a helmet that worked for his head, and wouldn’t irritate the scar that remains after having a growth removed from his scalp earlier in the year.

While he was waiting to receive a new helmet from Riddell, the Washington Redskins placed him on the Non-Football Injury list, assuring that his season was over, and he would not be paid by the team.

The left tackle did acknowledge that day that his injury was a non-football injury, though he did say in the Thursday interview that the team’s move to place him on NFI caught him off guard. He was actually looking forward to having a new helmet from Riddell that Monday that would hopefully address the discomfort he felt when he tried on two different helmets to no avail on Oct. 29 and subsequently failed his physical two hours after initially passing it.

Of course, just because he was looking for a suitable helmet doesn’t mean that he had any intention of using said helmet with the Redskins, but the optics are still terrible.

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