Skip to main content
Commander Country

'We're Relevant': 10 Takes on First-Place Washington Win

Three games remain and the Washington Football Team now controls its own destiny to the playoffs & the NFC East after beating the San Fransisco 49ers
Chris Russell|
'We're Relevant': 10 Takes on First-Place Washington Win
'We're Relevant': 10 Takes on First-Place Washington Win

The Washington Football Team has won four in a row after sweeping a three-game road trip and is in first place all alone in the NFC East after beating the San Francisco 49ers 23-15 to improve to 6-7 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. 

Meanwhile, the New York Giants were blasted in New Jersey by the team that normally plays in Glendale - the Arizona Cardinals.

“We’re relevant,” WFT coach Ron Rivera said. “We’re in the conversation. People are talking about us.”

READ MORE: Washington Takes Down Kyle & Niners

Here are our 10 Takes leading to a Victory Monday in Washington:

1. Chase Young was beyond dominant. He had an early sack of Nick Mullens, as he initially drop-stepped into coverage, then recognized Mullens pump-fake and then attacked the quarterback with a clean hit.

He also had a 47-yard touchdown return off of a Daron Payne forced fumble, a huge pass knockdown on third down, a couple of big run stops, and was harassing Mullens all game.

His only mistake was jumping offsides on one snap from the left side and he did hit the San Francisco quarterback late but got away with that call after they flagged Young only for the offsides.

Young finished with six tackles as well. He was asked after the game how his Mom would grade his touchdown and performance to which he said "You want to ask her? 

Young mentioned he was talking to her as he went to the podium and that "she's definitely happy ... Good things happened for me today."

The WFT stud defensive end turned around the camera and indeed his Mom was on the phone. Carla Young was asked about her son and said in part, "Oh my gosh, I am so worn out ...He got it and kept trucking."

2. Kam Curl, the rookie seventh-round selection out of Arkansas who was drafted as a safety/corner hybrid, has been playing largely at strong safety since the injury to Deshazor Everett. Curl said he recognized what the 49ers were doing with their route concept and jumped it for the pick-six.      

"I seen green grass and I had to go," Curl told reporters via Zoom when asked by Washington Football on SI.com about the interception.

3. Alex Smith was injured before halftime and did not return. It was a strained calf, but he was just sore and tight, according to head coach Ron Rivera. He could have returned but they kept him out of the game out of an "abundance of caution."  

Rivera said Smith would be evaluated throughout the week, but he did not name him the starter for next week against Seattle.

4. Dwayne Haskins replaced him for the final play before halftime, a kneel down, and then for the entire second half.  

It wasn't a good performance by Haskins, but it still managed to be enough with the help they got on defense. A very tough situation for any quarterback to enter, as Smith knows from twice earlier this year.

It seems like Haskins is more mature and humbled. We'll see.

5. Terry McLaurin went over 1,000 yards on the season in his 13th game. He only had two catches on six targets for 24 yards, with both coming on the same series.  

READ MORE: Terry Hits 1,000

Haskins missed an easy pitch and catch to McLaurin over the middle for one of the targets.

6. Washington has won back-to-back games with McLaurin only snaring four total catches and 40 yards. It speaks to great defense but also an ability to run the ball. 

Washington had 98 net yards rushing to 95 net yards passing and won. Obviously, it pays to have a dominant defense.

READ/WATCH: Logan (Paulsen) Breaks Down Logan (Thomas) & WFT

7. After struggling to contain Raheem Mostert early on, Washington's defense held him to 65 yards on 14 attempts and Jeff Wilson, who got banged up midway through the game, to 11 attempts for 31 yards and a score. Deebo Samuel was hurt on the first play of the game, a nine-yard run. He never returned. 

Overall, San Francisco had 108 yards rushing on the day, but while the WFT had been dominant during the winning streak (allowing 50 yards-per-game rushing), they'll take this result.

8. Jon Bostic had a team-high ten tackles and also had an enormous third-down stop that forced a punt late in the fourth quarter. He also appeared to have a part in the Daron Payne-Chase Young fumble touchdown return.  

9. The grass at State Farm Stadium was in bad shape. Everyone was slipping, including Alex Smith, Trent Williams, and several others. The 49ers played last Monday night, a day after the Rams beat the Cardinals. Three games in seven days on any real surface is way too much.  

10. Dustin Hopkins missed a long field goal but also nailed three others from 51, 31, and 21 on the day - so he's now made eight-of-his-last-nine. Tress Way had eight (!) punts for an average of 49.8 and a long of 58, plus a tackle.  

The Washington Football Team is in first place and controls its own destiny with three games left, two of which are at home. They've not only won four in a row, but three of those were consecutive wins on the road with long travel and odd scheduling.   

Washington's resurgence over the last few weeks has been impressive, and there are more challenges to come. However, if they can keep it up, they just might be on their way to their first division title since the 2015 season.  

“We’re trying to talk about where we’re headed, not where we’ve been,'' Rivera said. "That is the message that I’m hoping to get across as we go forward as a football team. We’re going to be a different team. We’re going to play differently. We’re going to try and create a culture, a sustainable winning culture, we can all feel good about, be proud about.”

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Chris Russell
CHRIS RUSSELL

Share on XFollow russellmania621
Home/News