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The Washington Football Team fell to 2-6 on the season after a 17-10 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 8. Now, Washington, which has lost four in a row, goes into the bye week hoping to get healthy — especially on offense.
On that loss to Denver, Washington played arguably its best defensive game of the season. However, you must also consider the opponent. The good news is the defense has put together three consecutive respectable performances, so the hope is that continues after the bye week when Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers come to town.
The one player who stood out on Washington’s defense Sunday was safety-turned-linebacker Landon Collins. Go back and watch the game. Collins passed the eyeball test. He was active throughout the game near the line of scrimmage, finishing with eight tackles, including two for loss and one sack.
According to Pro Football Focus, Collins wasn’t one of Washington’s top two defenders from Week 8.
Defensive end Chase Young was Washington’s highest-graded player. Young graded out with a score of 83.9 on 49 snaps. Young was dominant as a run defender, registering a 92.2 grade as a run defender. As a pass rusher, it was much different. Young only graded out at 56.3.
If you rewatch the game, those grades are accurate. Young was good against the run, showing discipline on some outside runs. He was not impactful as a pass rusher.
Meanwhile, cornerback Kendall Fuller was right behind Young with a grade of 83.0, including an 84.2 grade in coverage. It was Fuller’s best game of the season, going against three good Denver wide receivers in Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy and Tim Patrick.
Collins finished with a 76.5 grade. If you watched the game, Collins was Washington’s most disruptive defender.
Offensively, center Chase Roullier was Washington’s highest-graded player at 83.2 on 29 snaps. Unfortunately, Roullier was lost for the season with a leg injury in the second quarter.
Surprisingly, right tackle Saahdiq Charles was the WFT’s second-highest-graded offensive player with a 78.4 grade. Charles struggled in pass protection but looked dominant in the run game. PFF agreed, grading Charles at 92.2 as a run defender.
This game proved Charles’ best position moving forward is at guard, where he could be really good.
Running back J.D. McKissic was Washington’s highest-graded skill player at 75.9.