Category: Latest Washington News

Joe Burrow’s torn ACL adds to long list of horrific leg injuries for QBs at FedEx Field

A torn ACL suffered by Joe Burrow on Sunday is just another instance in a long line of severe leg injuries suffered by QBs at FedEx Field.

Do you believe in curses? I don’t mean curses as in a hex or a spell that someone puts on another person, but rather a curse in the sense of something bad happening, over and over again, in the same spot, to similar people, at coincidental times.

The public is likely split on this. In our world of conspiracy theories and superstition, many people will likely wave off the notion of a curse and explain it as nothing more than coincidence. However, others (me included) look at connected patterns and occurrences and can’t help to dive a bit deeper. All of that leads me to say this:

I think that FedEx Field is cursed for quarterbacks.

I know that this is nothing new, as a simple Google search of ‘FedEx Field Turf’ will send you into an overwhelming rabbit hole of mismanagement and poor upkeep. However, the injury suffered by Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow on Sunday afternoon just adds to the list of promising young quarterbacks who have suffered serious setbacks while playing on the grass in D.C. Here are some notable instances:

Terry McLaurin’s production thus far has him on pace with NFL great Jerry Rice

Through 24 career games, McLaurin has more receiving yards than Jerry Rice did at this point, and he’s on pace to become an all-time great.

The past 24 games for Washington fans may have been a bit frustrating when you look at the outcomes of each matchup, most of which have ended in a loss. However, there’s been a singular bright spot that’s stood above all of the dread, and his name is Terry McLaurin.

After coming into the league without much hype surrounding him, this third-rounder from Ohio State quickly made a name for himself in training camp, and then he proved that he could do it on the field as well, despite a lack of consistency at the quarterback position. Now, with 24 career games under his belt, we can adequately get a feel for where he stands in the grand scheme of things, and comfortably predict where he might be going from here.

Some of the comparisons that are being made are pretty exciting.

Yea, that Jerry Rice. The guy who is considered the greatest wide receiver of all time, and one who holds records for most career receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. That’s who McLaurin is currently out-pacing through 24 games.

While McLaurin’s rookie season was undoubtedly encouraging, his sophomore stint has been even more remarkable, where he currently ranks fourth in the NFL for receiving yards, trailing only DeAndre Hopkins, Stefon Diggs, and Travis Kelce. He may not get the love in his draft class that players like DK Metcalf or AJ Brown do, but Captain Terry has made it clear that he’s among the best at his position not only of his age, but in the entire NFL.

It’s a lofty expectation to figure that McLaurin will continue this pace and eventually break the records held by the GOAT receiver, but based on what we’ve seen from him so far in his career, it wouldn’t be smart to count him out. We have a potential superstar on our hands in Washington.

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Washington opens as 3-point underdogs to Cowboys in Thanksgiving battle for 1st place

The Cowboys are currently favored to win this crucial NFC East rivalry on Thanksgiving, where the winner will take the division lead.

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Whenever the Washington Football Team and Dallas Cowboys meet for an NFC East matchup, you know that tempers are going to be elevated and there will be no love lost between the two sides.

When the two teams meet on Thursday afternoon, playing in a classic Thanksgiving Day matchup, there will be a bit more on the line than just bragging rights, with the winner taking sole possession of the NFC East division lead, for a few days at least.

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At the time being, three teams in the division — Washington, Dallas, and the New York Giants — are tied at 3-7, while the Philadelphia Eagles currently lead with a 3-6-1 record. That being said, the stakes are obviously going to be pretty high on Turkey Day.

Although Washington won the last game against the Cowboys just a few weeks ago in a 25-3 blowout, Dallas is favored by three points at home as the line opened on Sunday night, according to BetMGM. There is a chance that the line will move a bit as the week goes on and injury news comes out for both teams, but the field goal advantage feels about right, especially after how Dallas played on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. In a game that they were not expected to win, the Cowboys impressed, putting up 31 points and beating a red-hot Vikings team. If Dallas can play like that again on Thursday, then it shouldn’t be much of a contest against Washington.

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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Antonio Gibson is ‘still learning’ the RB position, which is fantastic news for Washington

Considering the lack of experience that Gibson had at the RB position coming into the NFL, his production thus far has been remarkable.

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Through 10 games so far, it hasn’t been Chase Young that’s gotten the top grade of rookie players in Washington, but rather Antonio Gibson, a third-round pick out of Memphis who had an uphill battle when it came to exceeding at the running back position in the NFL.

We all saw highlights of him in college, darting in and out of tackles and making defenders miss out in the open, but questions still remained. Could a player who only had a total of 33 carries as a running back in college succeed at that position at the next level? Would he be successful running in between the tackles and operating out of a backfield? Was it really smart for Washington to take a bit of a flier in the third round when they already had players like Derrius Guice and Adrian Peterson on the roster?

Man, do those questions seem pretty silly now.

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Gibson has been a revelation so far through 10 games, and with both AP and Guice long gone from the team, Washington needs every ounce of production that the rookie can give them. So far this year, he has 742 total yards with eight touchdowns, and he’s assumed the lead back role on the team with ease. What’s more, is that he claims to still be learning a position that is somewhat new to him.

“Just getting started,” said Gibson, after rushing 16 times for 94 yards and a touchdown in a win over the Bengals. “It’s a lot I have to learn. There’s a lot to the running back position that’s new to me. Each week I’m learning. I keep saying that. It’s just the beginning.”

If “the beginning” means asserting himself as one of the best young players in the game, and finding a spot in the top 15 RBs in the NFL, then yea, I think everyone in Washington is pretty happy with where things might go from here. It’s always hard to predict what the career of a running back might look like because there is usually so much variance from player to player depending on scheme and injury risk, but so far, Washington seems to have found an absolutely solid building block of their offense, and he’s just getting started.

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Ryan Kerrigan says Washington views Chase Young as ‘team leader’ instead of rookie

Many rookies in the NFL take some time to adjust to the league and gain the respect of teammates, but Chase Young is already there.

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In a loaded 2020 NFL rookie class, Washington defensive end Chase Young might be one of the most well-known, but around his teammates in the locker room, he isn’t viewed as such. Nobody looks at him as they would your typical rookie in the league, still needing to take his lumps and learn how to adjust to the speed of the NFL.

Instead, they see him as an equal, and even more so than that, they view him as a leader on the team, standing up in the locker room and on the field before games making his voice heard, and working to inspire his brothers around him. That’s what veteran DE Ryan Kerrigan said after the game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals said, at least.

Though it once again didn’t show up on the stat sheet, Young had a huge impact on the game against the Bengals on Sunday, notably laying a huge hit on Joe Burrow in the first half, saving a touchdown, and forcing a fumble that gave Washington the ball. Young finished the game with just three tackles and one forced fumble, but what he brings to this team cant be measured in stats.

He is one of the more respected players in the locker room, and he has the love of his teammates and coaches, which is everything you could ask for from a young player.

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4 biggest takeaways from Washington’s 20-9 win over the Bengals

Washington got the win that they needed on Sunday, but it wasn’t a game that instilled a lot of confidence in the offense or the defense going forward.

Whether we like it or not, this Washington team is doing everything they can to try and win every game that they play in order to win the NFC East. They just might be able to do it, too, considering how bad the rest of the division is.

On Sunday, they were successful in their ventures, knocking off a bad Cincinnati Bengals team that played much of the second half without their franchise QB, Joe Burrow, who was knocked out of the game, and likely the season, with a knee injury that saw him get carted off the field. From there, the game turned and Washington was able to take control and pull away, picking up their third win of the year. It was a crucial win, and one they needed to have in order o stay in the race for the playoffs. Here are our biggest takeaways from the game:

Chase Young is excited to play on Thanksgiving: ‘LeBron is gonna be watching’

Chase Young is going to enjoy his first NFL Primetime game with a matchup against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.

One thing that the Washington Football Team didn’t get any of this season was primetime football games. That is, outside of Thanksgiving, which may be the biggest football day of the entire season.

Washington will be on the big stage on Thursday afternoon, taking on the Dallas Cowboys in Jerry World, in front of the whole world to see. For rookie DE Chase Young, who was used to being on the big stage in college, but has yet to have a breakout game in the NFL, he’s excited to have the extra attention, and he knows that everybody is going to be tuned in.

LeBron James likely will be watching, along with the rest of the football world. There will be some added stakes as well, with a win for Washington putting them in solo possession of first place in the NFC East, giving them a clear path to the 2020 postseason.

We’ll see what happens on Thursday afternoon. All eyes will be on Washington and the Cowboys.

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Alex Smith grabs first win since suffering devastating leg injury two years ago

Alex Smith grabbed his first win since going down with a terrible leg injury just over two years ago, something nobody thought could be done.

Not many people thought that he’d ever be able to play football again, let alone start a game. However, Washington quarterback Alex Smith won his first game on Sunday since almost losing his career to a leg injury that was suffered just over two years ago.

The win came against the Cincinnati Bengals, 20-9, and Smith played decently in the game, finishing 17-for-25 for 166 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Ironically, the game saw one of the starting QBs, Bengals Joe Burrow, going down with a leg injury and likely seeing his rookie season come to an end.

Regardless of the outcome, it’s incredibly to see Smith doing what he’s doing once again in the NFL. There is no greater storyline this season.

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A win over Cowboys on Thanksgiving could give Washington NFC East division lead

They may be a bad team, but a win vs. the Cowboys on Thanksgiving would give Washington sole possession of 1st place in the NFC East.

For all we’ve made about how bad this Washington Football Team is, the win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday put them in a great position in the NFC East. Of course, it couldn’t have been done without a loss from the Philadelphia Eagles, where Carson Wentz looked terrible once again, but the point still remains:

Washington is a win against the Dallas Cowboys away from taking sole possession of the NFC East division lead.

That win over the Cowboys could come as soon as Thursday evening when the classic Thanksgiving matchup will hold more weight than normal. Sitting at 3-7, with the Eagles at 3-6-1, and the New York Giants at 3-7, Washington could get to 4-7 with a win over a depleted Cowboys team that is reeling after a strong start to the season.

The last time Washington and Dallas met was just a few weeks ago, with the Burgundy & Gold putting a 25-3 beatdown over Andy Dalton and the Cowboys. Dalton was knocked out of the game with a concussion in the second half, but he should be good to go in this one.

We may not think that this is a playoff-worthy team in Washington, but based on the rest of the division, they might stumble into the playoffs nonetheless. We will know more after their game on Thursday.

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Washington vs. Cincinnati: Everything we know following Washington’s 20-9 victory

Washington got back into a race for the top spot in the NFC East with a 20-9 victory that saw QB Joe Burrow knocked out for the season.

It definitely wasn’t the prettiest game we’ve ever seen, but the Washington Football Team got the job done on Sunday, finding a way to eventually beat the Cincinnati Bengals and claw their way back into contention for the NFC East division title.

The win on Sunday deserves a bit of a caveat, as it seemed in doubt until Bengals QB Joe Burrow went down with a season-ending injury that had him carted off the field in the third quarter. From there on, Washington quickly took the lead in the game and assumed control from there on out. Here is everything we know so far.