There were a few moments during Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals where Washington looked half decent. Maybe it was when Dwayne Haskins stood in the pocket and fired a bullet to Dontrelle Inman over the middle for a third-down conversion late in the game. Maybe it was when Terry McLaurin hauled in a pass over the middle and turned a slant upfield for his first touchdown of the season. Maybe it was Antonio Gibson’s 11-yard scamper up the middle for his first touchdown of the season.
If you care to look for it, there were a few positives for Washington on Sunday. Unforutnately, they were largely buried by the many mistakes that were made as well.
Washington is still a young team, and they have quite a bit of upside. However, it’s going to take some time for us to see that, and that’s what coach Ron Rivera said after the game on Sunday.
Ron Rivera: "These are growing pains, guys. … We just have a lot to learn. We're a young team."
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) September 20, 2020
Growth hurts, and it’s often frustrating, but there’s a huge benefit in seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and knowing thatthings are likely to get better down the road. We got a taste for that last week with an upset win over the eagles. Unfortuantely that momentum couldn’t be carried into Week 2, but who are we kidding, Washington wasn’t supposed to win this game. As a team projected to win 6-8 games on the season, you’re rarely going to start out your season with a 2-0 record against teams better than you.
Take the lumps, learn from them, and move on. Don’t forget them, but make sure you grow from them.
This is a young team, and there is still a lot of growing to do.
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