Category: Latest Washington News

Crazy stat puts Terry McLaurin in same conversation as DeAndre Hopkins, Larry Fitzgerald

McLaurin’s early-career statistics are so impressive that he’s now in the same conversation with DeAndre Hopkins, Larry Fitzgerald.

Sometimes you see a statistic that makes you stop a second and consider what you just read.

That’s exactly what NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlay provided us with on Friday morning, drawing a direct comparison between Washington’s Terry McLaurin, and Arizona’s top two receivers, DeAndre Hopkins and Larry Fitzgerald.

Through the first 15 games of their respective careers, all three were successful, but it’s clear that McLaurin was the most productive, hauling in the most catches for the most yards, though Fitzgerald scored one more touchdown than him.

It’s always impressive for a young player to be mentioned in the same breath as someone like Hopkins, who is arguably the best receiver in the NFL, but when you get in the same realm as Fitzgerald, who is an undisputed future Hall of Famer?

That’s next level.

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Dwayne Haskins on establishing himself as NFL QB: ‘I’m done playing around’

There have been many doubters in Haskins’ NFL career, but an offseason of work and a new mindset has him ready to prove everyone wrong.

Of the group of second-year quarterbacks getting set to kick off the 2020 season, there was arguably no person who had more questions about his abilities, or more doubters already writing him off than Dwayne Haskins. After a tough rookie season where just about everything went wrong, we saw the young D.C. player take matters into his own hands and set out this offseason to get better.

According to a recent post from The Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala, Haskins wrote out a checklist of things he wanted to accomplish this offseason, and he was thorough in completing it. Lose weight, check. Organize throwing sessions with teammates and other big-time receivers in the NFL, check. Travel across the country and meet with top QB’s in the league, seeking their advice and working to learn from them, check.

After all of the work this summer, we saw it culminate in a season-opening win last week for the team, and while Haskins’ stat-line may not have been the reason for the victory, his leadership absolute deserves credit.

Jhabvala spoke to Haskins’ college coach, Urban Meyer, who has been watching his former QB throughout the summer and taking notes on his progress. His takeaway?

“He’s a grown a– man,” Meyer said. “I talked to him for a while, and I’ve seen videos of training; his body’s changed, and he even told me, he says, ‘I’m done playing around.’ ”

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Maybe that was the gist of Haskins’ half-time speech that riled up his team enough to lead them on a 17-0 comeback charge, finishing the game with 27-unanswered points and beating the division rival Philadelphia Eagles in upset fashion. Maybe his teammates already knew Haskins’ mindset going into the second half, and they just needed to be reminded.

Whatever the case, it’s clear that the second-year QB in Washington is on a mission, and it’s starting to look like his end-goal is tangible.

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Urban Meyer hints that Chase Young can become ‘one of the best defensive ends ever’

We all marveled at Chase Young’s abilities in his first NFL game, and Urban Meyer seems to think he can become the best defensive end ever.

Washington fans have been waiting all summer to see just how good rookie DE Chase Young could be, and they got their answer last weekend when he lined up against the Philadelphia Eagles. The stats don’t show exactly how dominant he was, but Young came away from his first career NFL game with four tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 QB hits, and 1 forced fumble. He made his presence felt more often than not, and was often in the middle of a party in the Eagles backfield.

Going into a tough Week 2 test against the Arizona Cardinals, many fans are waiting to see if his second act will be just as good as the first, especially now that he and the Washington defensive line will be going up against an offensive line that is healthy, and a quarterback that is elusive and mobile.

The Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala recently asked Young’s former college coach, Urban Meyer, about the player, and he made a comment that alludes to the fact that Chase could one day be among the best defensive ends of all time.

It’s unfair to place that type of expectation on his shoulders less than 2 weeks into his NFL career, but from what we’ve seen so far, nobody has any real reason to dispute that claim.

We’ll see what Young can do this week against Kyler Murray, but odds are that he continues on this path towards greatness.

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Washington vs. Arizona: Expert picks lean heavily towards Cardinals

For the second straight week, NFL experts are picking heavily against Washington as they travel to Arizona to take on a hot Cardinals team.

The Washington Football Team was the talk of the town last weekend after a fun opening weekend of football, upsetting the Philadelphia Eagles 27-17 after coming back from a 17-0 first-half deficit. It’s a tough act to follow, but Washington will have a chance to take its show on the road now and try to follow it up with what would be another impressive victory over the Arizona Cardinals, who are themselves coming off of a huge victory in Week 1.

Arizona upset the defending NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers on the road, relying on a dynamic performance from QB Kyler Murray, and a nice Arizona debut from WR DeAndre Hopkins.

The experts last week were all over the Eagles going into the divisional matchup with Washington, but that didn’t stop the Burgundy & Gold from showing up and showing out. So can we expect much of the same this week?

According to NFL Pick Watch, 94% of NFL experts are taking the Cardinals. NFL Pick Watch aggregates picks from all over the internet to make it easy to see which way the experts are leaning.

Washington has won the last two meetings between these two teams, beating Arizona 24-6 in 2018. In fact, Washington has won 12 of the last 15 games in this current matchup, and they hold a 76-46-2 all-time record over Arizona. Will that trend hold true this weekend? According to popular opinion, it’s unlikely, but we saw what Washington could do as the underdog last week at home. so who knows what could happen.

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How to watch the Washington Football Team and the NFL this season without cable

Washington will go on the road in Week 2 to take on the Arizona Cardinals in what’s shaping up to be a fun afternoon matchup.

The NFL returned last weekend and will continue this weekend with NFL Week 2. If you recently cut cable or are looking for a way to watch your Washington Football Team this season, you’ve come to the right place.

You don’t want to miss any of the action this year, below is all your tune-in information for this week and 2020 season!

Washington Football vs. Arizona Cardinals

  • When: Sunday, September 20
  • Time: 4:05 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: FOX
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

How to watch the Washington Football and NFL

fuboTV has complete local NFL coverage (CBS, FOX, ESPN), plus NFL Network and NFL Network Redzone. FuboTV includes every network you need to watch every NFL game in your market.
fuboTV is available on your phone, tablet, desktop, TV, connected TV Devices including Roku. Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV plus many more.
*Regional Restrictions Apply*

NFL Odds and Betting Lines

NFL odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds last updated Wednesday at 10:55 a.m. ET.

Washington Football Team (+6.5) vs. Arizona Cardinals (-6.5)

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Washington signs speedy WR Jeff Badet, TE Temarrick Hemingway to practice squad

Washington made a couple of additions to the practice squad, highlighted by WR Jeff Badet, who is famous for running 4.27 40-yard-dash.

Washington is signing two new offensive weapons to the practice squad in wide receiver Jeff Badet, and TE Temarrick Hemingway. Both players are young offensive talents that could potentially have a chance to play down the line.

Badet is a speedy receiver who was the fourth overall pick in the 2020 XFL Draft, and his 4.27 40-yard-dash time is among the top in the NFL. After a solid college career at the University of Oklahoma, Badet went undrafted in the 2018 NFL Draft, but signed with the Minnesota Vikings where he has played in a number of preseason games, but he is yet to find the field in the regular season.

Hemingway knows his way around an NFL locker room, as he was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the sixth round in 2016. He played eight games in LA, and then moved to Denver in 2018 where he played mostly special teams. He will now have the chance to fight his way onto the active roster under Pete Hoener in Washington.

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Both Kliff Kingsbury and Ron Rivera have anxiety over matchup, and rightfully so

The two coaches admitted to having anxiety about being tasked with slowing the other down Sunday, which alludes to the great matchup on tap.

Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury provided Washington fans with a nice sound bite on Wednesday morning by admitting that watching tape of Chase Young and the Washington defensive line gives him anxiety about trying to stop them this coming week when the two teams face off.

Maybe Ron Rivera was listening, or maybe he was just being honest, but on Wednesday afternoon, he said the very same thing about watching QB Kyler Murray, who he will be tasked with containing on Sunday afternoon, something that few teams have been able to do thus far in his young NFL career.

If that’s not the perfect way to set up an exciting matchup this weekend, I don’t know what is. Both Washington and Arizona proved a lot in Week 1, coming out of their first games with major upset victories over division rivals who are supposed to be the class of the conference. Washington was able to do so with the strength of their defensive line, who looked to be among the best of the league against the Eagles, and Arizona accomplished that feat by relying on Murray and his proficient ability to extend plays and make something happen with his feet.

Now we get to see these two sides go against each other, and both will enter the matchup feeling pretty good about their abilities.  The coaches, on the other hand, might lose some sleep in the next few nights wondering what exactly they can do to slow the other down.

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Ron Rivera admits WR depth is a concern, team ‘keeping its eyes open’ for help

The depth at wide receiver is an issue for Washington, and it’s something they plan to address with roster moves going forward.

There’s been a constant theme for Washington both this offseason and during training camp where the team has been monitoring wide receiver talent across the league and looking for an answer to their depth problem.

Fans may wish that the coaching staff and front office decision-makers were a bit more proactive when it came to adding WR depth to the roster, even if that means trading away future assets for a player like Allen Robinson, or potentially adding a free agent like Mohamed Sanu to the roster. Nonetheless, Washington knows that they need help at that position, and head coach Ron River admitted as much when talking to the media on Wednesday.

Earlier in the week, Washington held a try out for a number of free-agent receivers, among the most notable being former Arizona Cardinals WR Hakeem Butler, who was released earlier this year. With few major names on the FA market, it’s possible that the team could try to trade for a big name, though it seems unlikely given what we’ve seen so far from this coaching staff. Regardless of who they get, though, it’s clear that they need to get someone to come into D.C. and help add some experience and depth to the receiving corps. That much we know.

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Ron Rivera says if you can’t contain Arizona’s Kyler Murray, you’ll lose

The key to winning the game against Arizona will be Washington’s ability to bottle up QB Kyler Murray and stop him from extending plays.

Washington did what they were asked to do last week by blowing up a make-shift offensive line for the Eagles and be a constant thorn in QB Carson Wentz’s heel.

Heading into Week 2, though, its task is going to be much harder, as they are now being asked to contain QB Kyler Murray, which is something that few people have been able to do thus far. For Washington’s defense, all success starts with the defensive line, where they are talented enough to control the tempo of the game and keep opposing quarterback on their toes, at times forcing them into terrible decisions.

For average quarterbacks who tend to stay in the pocket, this is a massive problem. For Murray, this just allows him to do what he does best — escape pressure and make plays with his feet.

We saw Murray orchestrate an incredible upset victory over the San Francisco 49ers last week thanks in large part to exactly what Rivera is anxious about; his ability to extend the play. If Washington can help mitigate that elusiveness factor, and find a way to keep Kyler bottled up, there’s a good chance they can slow down Kliff Kingsbury’s air-raid offense and win yet another game with their defense.

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It’s a big ask, but so was winning the season-opener against Philly. If the outcome is once again in the hands of the defense, it’s going to take some guts to bet against this unit.

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Injury Report: Kendall Fuller, Thomas Davis full-participants in practice

The first injury report of Week 2 shows that Kendall Fuller and Thomas Davis may be able to return to action this Sunday against Arizona.

After being forced to sit out the 2020 season opener last week against the Eagles, both CB Kendall Fuller and LB Thomas Davis were listed as full participants in practice on Wednesday, giving the team hopes that they will be able to suit up and play on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

LB Cole Holcomb, who played last week but was limited due to a minor knee injury, was not a full go at practice on Wednesday, and his situation will be monitored over the next few days as Washington prepares to head to the desert.

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The possibility of getting both Fuller and Davis back will be massive for this Washington defense that at times struggled to contain Philly’s receivers in the secondary. The tight ends were able to run free through the middle of the defense, and receivers were often open deep, getting behind Washington’s cornerbacks at times. The addition of both Fuller and Davis will directly help fix this problem, and it comes at a great time with Arizona’s deadly passing game rearing to go.

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