Washington Falls to 2-4 After 31-13 Loss To Kansas City
Washington fell to Kansas City Sunday afternoon 31-13. The Chiefs turned the ball over three times and it kept Washington in the game until the middle of the 3rd quarter. Washington’s offense was only able to put together 276 total yards, which was the lowest since week one. It was just an ugly game on both sides of the ball.
Defense continues to struggle
Defensively they played KC the best they could in the first half. They forced three turnovers and held the Chiefs to only 10 first-half points. Unfortunately for Washington’s defense, the offense only scored seven points off of those turnovers. KC had 274 total yards in the first half but only scored 10 points.
Defensively they were playing a lot of bend don’t break. Unfortunately, they broke in the second half.
Mahomes wasn’t making as poor decisions in the second half. He threw his two touchdowns in this half and had no turnovers. The defensive front from Washington was able to pressure Mahomes most of the game but his ability to move out of the pocket was too much. It helps when the KC receivers had an average of 3.88 yards of separation from Washington defenders.
It was the first time in two weeks where the defense didn’t allow a touchdown of over 40 yards. That had a lot to do with KC throwing short and quick passes to counter Washington’s front.
KC finished the game with 499 total yards of offense and went 11-17 on 3rd down.
The offense looked out of sync
Offensively it looked like Scott Turner wanted to try and control the clock and keep the ball out of Mahome’s hands. In the first half, they had 13 rushing attempts and averaged 5.15 yards per rush. It was a recipe for success. Washington led 13-10 at the half despite only scoring one touchdown after the defense forced three turnovers.
The second half was a different story. Not only did they go away from the rush but they only rushed it six times in the second half for 27 yards. Even Heinicke was held in check by not having a single rush. That was the first time all year.
Speaking of Heinicke, he was not sharp at all. While he did complete 61% of his passes, he only averaged 4.7 yards per completion. His lowest of the year. He also threw for only 182 yards. His lowest while starting this season. He was consistently late on reads and just seemed lost out there at times.
It is possible that McLaurin’s hamstring was holding him back and that kept Heinicke from going to his favorite target. It was only the fourth time all season McLaurin was held to only four catches. Each of those games was a loss.
Gibson and McKissic continue to be the biggest threat coming out of the backfield. Combining for 99 rushing yards and McKissic had 65 receiving yards. Gibson did seem bothered by a shin injury that kept him out of practice this week. Gave McKissic more opportunities in the second half.
Takeaways
William Jackson seems like the second coming of Josh Norman. Between missed tackles and seeming uninterested at covering guys at times I don’t even know where to start. There was a play in the 4th where he waited for the receiver to get to him at the sticks instead of running after him. His lack of urgency is troubling.
They need to play Jamin Davis more. I’m not saying this because he is game-changing but he did have some flashes. He can’t be worse than the guys that are out there. He had a career day with 11 total tackles along with some QB rushes. The coaches just need to give him the playing time so he can grow.
The offense can’t work without McLaurin getting his catches. McLaurin has molded into a no doubt number one receiver in this offense but everyone else is far behind him. We saw what happens when defenses shut him down these last two weeks. It’s not pretty for the offense.
