Bill McPeak was the Washington Head Coach for 5 seasons in the mid 1960s. His record was 21-46-3. Ron Rivera’s record will be similar when his tenure ends perhaps as early as “Black Monday.” 26-39-1.
If you dislike amusement park rides the coast into the end is always a relief. This has been a rough autumn and winter for the WFT. That’s the norm. Washington football fandom is not for the feint of heart. This season will end with the proverbial whimper that most do. Tomorrow, or shortly thereafter the team will start the off-season with a bang by dismissing some or all of the coaching and front office staff. Winning the off-season is what the WFT does best. Winning on the field is another matter.
Joe Montana threw some 5391 pass attempts in his career. But, only one of them resulted in “The Catch.” Dwight Clark leaps up high in the air to put away Dallas. January 10, 1982
One of the very few things these two teams have in common this week is that they both are coming off of losing games. That’s familiar territory for the WFT. Much like the Carthaginian General Hannibal, they will either find a way (to lose) or make a new one. Last weeks loss to the woebegone Jets was yet another example. It’s best if not re-lived. The 49ers simply got their fannies spanked by Baltimore. That crew should be pretty salty when it arrives in DC. This game means a lot to them. Winning their last two games gives them a bye week and home field advantage. On the other hand a loss is meaningful to Washington for draft position.
Joe Namath on the Shea Stadium dirt in a classic AFL game.
Last week’s game featured yet more injuries to an already poor Offensive Line. This is not a good idea when facing Aaron Donald. The Rams are surging towards an unforeseen playoff run. The WFT is limping towards the offseason. A losing result was expected and delivered. The good news is that this season is nearly over.
Roman Gabriel was the prototypical Quarterback type. At 6’5″ tall, 220 lbs. with a cannon for an arm he was the mold General Managers tried to find until the mobile QBs arrived on the scene.
Ron Rivera‘s first assignment as full-time Defensive Coordinator was to contain the Dolphins. That didn’t go particularly well, did it? Ron tried to cover Tyreek Hill with a rookie Safety one-on-one on two occasions. Two touchdowns later the experiment failed. Ironically, one week later the Tennessee Titans, another team with a poor record showed the League exactly how to beat the Dolphins. If Tua Tagovaiola is on his feet with the ball coming out headed towards Hill or Jaylen Waddle, you’re in trouble. The Titans put heavy pressure on Tua sacking him five times. When he has been sacked four or more times his record is 1-9. Early on they also showed Man coverage only to drop into a single-high zone. The Fins took the bait and ran Waddle over the middle on a crosser… straight at a waiting Safety. Old-Timers call that a “Hospital Throw.” Waddle got whacked. He returned, but was not the same. They roughed up Hill also. Suddenly Miami looked very ordinary. Getting physical on the Fins is the key. The week before Washington did none of that.
Earl Louis “Curly” Lambeau (center). the Green Bay icon finished his coaching career in Washington 1952-1953. Here he’s pictured with his coaching staff.
Washington’s change of ownership signals a beacon of hope for a fanbase long devoid of any. The assumption with such a change is that it will bring improvement. Often the improvement is oversold and under-delivered. The explosive growth in the valuations of professional sports franchises is unlike nearly any other investment. As with most investments, those who bought in early have reaped the largest reward. Those who buy in now, with the market at astronomical levels pay the dearest. The pool of possible buyers is quite small. Recent buyers offer a glimpse of what the new owner might bring to the table. Hint; it’s not particularly reassuring.
Jim Mandich catches a pass against Washington in the 1972 Super Bowl. During that perfect season the Dolphins threw for only 144 receptions, barely more than 10 per game. By comparison, this year’s squad has 235 receptions after 11 games (21.3 per game)
The last chance for relevance has slipped quietly by the stern. This version of the Burgundy and Gold is in a familiar situation; playing out the string. As hard as it has been to watch at least the ending of any hope was mercifully short. Two losses in five days, both to Division foes did the job. The Thanksgiving Day game to Dallas was predictable. Dallas feasts on lesser teams at home. That’s especially true on Thanksgiving when the audience is huge. Some 40.1 million viewers watched as Dak Prescott and his posse jumped into the Salvation Army bucket and ate turkey legs. It was all such fun…unless you were a Washington fan. Now where is this going?
Ken Stone looks to the heavens for Divine Intervention that would not be forthcoming. Luke Longley ruined many a Thanksgiving dinner for Washington fans November 28, 1974. Dallas 24, Wash. 23
That high-pitched screaming sound you heard last Sunday was probably the football players taking cold showers after the game. If you are a Washington fan you are used to losing to the Giants. It is now 9 losses out of the last 11 games. How bad is that Giants team? Well, given six turnovers the game was still in doubt within the final minute. Try that against Dallas this week and the score would be a stunning rout. It may well be anyhow. But, that loss to the Giants was just unpardonable. If the hot water failure had been confined to the Washington locker room it would have been just deserts. As it was it’s doubtful that the New Yorkers were complaining. They were leaving town surprisingly victorious.
Yelberton Abraham (YA) Tittle Jr (HOF) had his best years as a professional in his mid-thirties with the New York Giants. In 1963 during his penultimate season at age 36 he was the League’s MVP.
Last week was another one of those games labelled, “Good game, No Win.” This year’s version of the Burgundy and Gold is winless against teams with winning records. They have played all of those games well, except Buffalo when they were hot. The problem isn’t that as much as the two inexplicably poor performances against true bottom-dweller teams. Get that Bears and Giants fiascos as wins and this team is smack dab in the middle of the chase for the final playoff spot. Only historians years removed from events get to change facts to their liking. The facts are this team is two-games under .500. They will need to go 5-2 over these next 7 games to be in contention for that last spot. It has to start with a win this week against the broken Giants.
Lefty Jim Zorn was the first starting QB for the Seattle Seahawks. He would end his career with more interceptions than touchdowns. Later he would be the Washington Head Coach for two seasons 2008-2009.
The key word for this team is, “Growth.” Last week there were a collection of lessons-learned on full display. Whether that translates into more wins than losses is another thing altogether. But, it was fun to see this team apply those learnings in a game they won that could have gone south.
First of all was young QB Sam Howell displaying a few skills that were not there earlier in the year. Starting in the second half of the Giants game Howell began recognizing blitzes and subsequently calling protections. Don “Wink” Martindale threw the kitchen sink at him. It worked well enough that Howell was completely ineffective in the first half. But, to borrow an old duck-hunting phrase, Wink “Dumped the gun” on him in that half. By the second half Howell and Eric Bieniemy had seen the gauntlet. Two weeks later Howell was in full command of recognition and protection against Bill Belichick‘s defense. Not an easy task for young QBs to complete. Facing a “Cover Zero” (Both Safeties coming on the blitz) Howell called for maximum protection. He then heaved a beauty of a ball to Jahan Dotson for a 33-yard touchdown.
Gino Cappelletti was an AFL stalwart as a Wide Receiver and Place Kicker for the Boston Patriots. Note the square toed kicking shoe.
The week was the tale of opportunities lost, and fully taken. Philadelphia’s Eagles, for whatever reason bring out the best in this WFT crew. A unit that could not convert a third down the week before against the Giants until late in the game converted 7 of 12 against a superior unit on route to a 472 yard performance. In two games against the birds Eric Bieniemy‘s offense averaged more yards than the Eagles have allowed in any single game against anyone else. Still, the home team lost. Football turns on a dime. Twice Ron Rivera and crew had the opportunity in front of them to take control of the game. Both times were whiffs.
