Week 3 Halftime Report - Washington Football Team at Cleveland Browns
Washington was wanting to see more of a fast start by their offense coming into Week 3. We certainly saw that.
Offensive coordinator Scott Turner was pulling everything out of the playbook. We saw screens, play action, jet sweeps, end arounds.
Rookie wide receiver Isaiah Wright was getting into the mix with his first action of the year. Wright had 3 receptions for 18 yards on 4 targets. He also made a big play knocking the ball away from Denzel Ward intercepting it.
Terry McLaurin also saw the most action he's seen in the first half this season. McLaurin had a 3 yard jet sweep that went for a first down and has 3 receptions for 68 yards on 5 targets.
Dwayne Haskins had a good first couple of drives. He found Dontrelle Inman for Washington's first points of a first quarter this year. Haskins was 6 for 9 for 71 yards passing and 1 touchdown with a 127.5 rating.
However, Haskins began to struggled to find his footing. Dwayne threw his first interception of the year which led to a Nick Chub 15 yard rushing touchdown that gave the Cleveland Browns a 10-7 lead.
Dwayne then starred down Dontrell Inman inside the 2 minute warning which allowed Malcolm Smith to intercept him again. This led to a 9 yard reception by Kareem Hunt.
The defense has been pretty good despite the score. Jon Bostic has stood out with some key tackles and coverage throughout the first half. Troy Apke has had a mixed first half that ended with two key missed tackles on Nick Chubb's touchdown run.
Tackling continued to be an issue when Cleveland got the ball back with a short field as Chubb continues to make Washington defenders miss.
Washington will be missing rookie defensive end Chase Young and defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis for the rest of the game. Young with a groin injury and Ioannidis with an arm injury. Both game designations came down very quickly which is extremely concerning.
Washington will need to continue to mix it up on offense and getting both McLaurin and Wright involved. Antonio Gandy-Golden was used on an end around for 22 yards and could see him more in that position. Dwayne will also need to clean-up his looks and trust his progressions along with not throwing from his back foot. If he continues to star receivers down, he will end the game with 5 interceptions. It will also lead to continuous short fields and not helping his defense.
17 unanswered points by Cleveland isn't the end of the game. However, it is a hole that Washington shouldn't be in.
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Alan Lepore joins "Washington Football" on SI.com, while still doing outstanding work as an editor/writer at FullPressCoverage.com or @FPC_Redskins. You can follow him on Twitter @AlanLepore or on instagram @leporealan. Alan is a Villanova University MPA Nonprofit Management candidate and is a fundraising/development professional.
