Washington Football Team Vs. Seattle Seahawks – Studs and Duds

Three in a row…and back in the hunt!

The Washington Football Team finally got the primetime monkey off their backs, and beat the hated Seahawks (who have ended our seasons more than once) at home. More importantly, they pulled themselves back into the playoff conversation, and now control their own destiny with five of their next six games coming within the division.

As fans, all we can ask for is meaningful football in November and December, and for the second year in a row, this football team looks to have given us that.

Below are my Studs and Duds of the game, followed by some notes.

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Studs:

Antonio Gibson – Gibson was a true workhorse Monday night, carrying 29 times for 111 yards, and catching seven passes for 35 yards. He also scored a two point conversion. Most importantly, he didn’t put the ball on the ground.

J.D. McKissic – J.D. scored both Washington touchdowns on the evening – one on a quick screen to the right where he got a big block from Brandon Scherff, and the other on the ground where he followed Ereck Flowers to pay dirt up the right B-gap. Unfortunately, he had to be carted off the field late in the game with an injury.

Ereck Flowers – The offensive line was a bit up and down Monday night, but Ereck Flowers was an absolute beast! On the touchdown drive that put Washington up 17-9, Flowers had multiple key blocks, including two on both the touchdown and extra point.

Landon Collins – Collins led the team in tackles with seven total, including one for a loss, and what I considered half a sack, but it was his hustle play where he punched the ball loose from Alex Collins down the left sideline right after a Taylor Heinicke interception that way key. He looks to have finally found his home down in the box as a hybrid linebacker.

Kendall Fuller – Fuller has really elevated his game as of late after a rough start to the season. He showed good coverage on the evening, tackled well, and it was his interception late in the fourth quarter on the attempted two point conversion that sealed the win.

Washington Defensive Line – This entire unit gets credit for an excellent game played up front in the trenches. They held Seattle to 34 total rushing yards and made life in the pocket very uncomfortable for Russell Wilson all evening. Kudos to Jack Del Rio on a solid rotation and keeping everyone fresh throughout the game!

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Duds:

Cornelius Lucas – Lucas looked very bad Monday night, giving up multiple pressures, two quarterback hits and a sack. It was his poor blocking on the extra point attempt that resulted in Seattle returning the blocked kick for two points. He also had two holding penalties (one that was mistakenly called on Scherff).

Deshazor Everett – Although he was only in for a few plays in place of Landon Collins (who got hurt) late in the game, Everett managed to blow a coverage (along with Bobby McCain), that allowed the Seahawks back into the game in the fourth quarter, and nearly cost Washington the win.

Bobby McCain – McCain blew coverage on Tyler Locket in the first quarter that helped set up Seattle’s first touchdown, and it was his lack of help on the blown touchdown late in the game that helped the Seahawks make it interesting at the end.

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Notes:

– I believe Logan Thomas scored on the throw from Heinicke at the goal line late in the game – but it was close. I thought his wrist was under the ball the whole time, and even though the football did hit the ground (it’s allowed to as long as the ground didn’t aid in the catch), he maintained control after only slight movement. Close call for sure, but I didn’t think there was enough to overturn the call.

– Kam Curl didn’t have his best game Monday night. He did get credited with a sack on Russell Wilson (which I believe he shared with Landon Collins), but he dropped an EASY interception, was beaten in coverage on a few occasions and was called for a costly pass interference late in the fourth quarter against Tyler Lockett.

– William Jackson III played a really solid game, both in coverage and sure tackling. He seems to be getting back on track after a rough start to the season (which included an injury).

– Shaka Toney recorded his first NFL sack on Russell Wilson, and had a nice hustle play on a Wilson scramble to stop the quarterback short of a first.

– Jamin Davis made a few splash plays – one in the right flat where he read the play and showed great burst getting to the football to throw the ball carrier to the ground.

– We had a Matt Ioannidis sighting; actually a few of them. The big man was in on three tackles and had a few pressures on the evening.

– Brandon Scherff blocked well on the evening (most notably his block on the quick screen to McKissic that sprung the back for the TD), but he was called for two holding penalties, one was legit, while the other should have been on Lucas (refs made a mistake). His holding in the fourth quarter negated a 36 yard run by Gibson.

– I’m not going to lie – I was mad as all hell at Scott Turner for his play-calling in the third and fourth quarters that saw us try to be WAY too conservative when we SHOULD have stepped on Seattle’s throats. I debated having him as a dud, but we did win the game so he gets a reprieve here…but just barely – and only because I woke up in a good mood!