NFL 2021 Day 19 of the Preview MARCA Claro for the 2021 season
Geoff burkeUSA TODAY
Lto 2021 NFL Preview of MARCA Claro It begins to get older: the 18 teams that did not reach the Playoffs have already been analyzed, it’s the turn of the 14 that yes, starting with one of the worst division champions in history.
The Washington Football Team will look for the unseen on NFC East since 2003 and 2004: repeat as division champions. They have the most talented team, though Ryan Fitzpatrick won’t be the franchise quarterback they’ve been hoping for since maybe Joe Theismann. Yes, be it Fitzmagic, even with the sporadic appearances of Pickspatrick, the offense will be better than what they had last year and it will definitely be more entertaining.
Ryan fitzpatrick It’s a viral sensation, but we can’t forget that eight teams had it, in seven he had at least nine titles and none wanted to retain it longer.
Yes, es MUCH better than what the WFT had in 2020, but it is not the franchise quarterback they have been waiting for since they won their last Super Bowl in January 1992. It will be just one more, like another 30 that have passed since they won their third ring.
Could there be some Fitzmagic, although his success in pitching under pressure in his senior year in Miami is unsustainable. The truth is that the team looked for other quarterback options but didn’t come to the price or were not considered by Stafford, Watson, Wilson and even DarnoldPlus, Philly wasn’t going to pass Wentz in his division.
They opted for a cheap option that might work, but the Harvard graduate is 38 years old and it is unlikely that he will make a Brady and play five more years. Signed for a year, so we will surely see Washington in the 2022 market looking for a quarterback to round out the team, like Denver after 2010. If they manage to get rid of the bad image of all the sexual harassment scandals and the subject of the racist nickname, and if they play like 2020 on the field, maybe someone will be encouraged to arrive and now they will seek to contend, because this campaign paints to navigate the waters of .500 that crossed last year.
From 2017 to 2019, Washington had five first-round picks. Excluding Dwayne Haskins, they were all defensive linemen: the tackles. Jonathan Allen and Da’Ron Payne, defensive ends Montez Sweat and Chase Young. They were all 25 or younger in 2020 and led a defense that went from # 27 in efficiency to # 3. They rarely sent charges, so this allowed for seven of them to focus on caring behind.
Now, they had a ridiculous schedule of quarterbacks facing each other that helped them achieve this improvement and despite all the talent on the line, Tom Brady was not touched in the playoffs, proving once again the Belichick precept that the perimeter matters more than the fronts, because you can have the ‘Purple People Eaters’ in front, but they won’t come if you get rid of the ball too quickly.
Washington didn’t have a bad perimeter in 2020 and is aiming for better. Ronald Darby left, but one of the best corners in the league arrives, William jackson, who does not have the numbers (3 interceptions in four years of career) because nobody was throwing in his direction … and that was in the bad defense of Cincinnati. You now have a line that can help you. Kendall fuller had a solid year leaving the slot and going abroad. They chose Benjamin St-Juste in the third round, a corner with size that could help them. Returns Landon collins after breaking the Achilles tendon, who could play more in the box because Kam curl It was a revelation and they signed Bobby McCain. They will have more versatility and depth.
They attacked in the Draft one of their greatest weaknesses, that of linebacker, with the ultra-athletic Jamin Davis. With those fronts, you can just run and make plays, without taking too much responsibility. Coach Rivera and coordinator Jack Del Rio have had success developing linebackers. The less Jon Bostic, the better for the unit overall.
Scott turner He’s not mentioned among the head coach candidates, but from what he’s done the last two years, with the substitute’s substitute’s backup at quarterback, he should.
In 2019, he was the offensive coordinator at Carolina. It featured Cam Newton two games, Kyle Allen 12 and Will Grier another pair. It was nothing short of a miracle that they will go 5-3 and finish # 19 in yards and # 20 in points, making Christian McCaffrey a superstar. He was fired along with coach Rivera and landed in Washington, where he had to use an unenviable quarterback poker: Dwayne Haskins (four at the beginning, two at the end), Kyle allen (4), Alex smith (His return to the field after the injury that almost caused him to lose his leg was in itself heroic and then he goes 5-1 as a starter) and Taylor heinicke (playoffs). They found a way to win their division and match the eventual champion with their fourth quarterback.
One key was that Turner quickly realized that Haskins was not serving as the starter of an NFL team. and that Alex Smith wasn’t comfortable pitching long plays, so changed everything and instead of ‘protecting the running quarterback’, he had Smith throw 72% on first or second down in the first three quarters after losing in the first two games the veteran played. He also got rid of plays of 5 or more steps to throw, something that Smith was never comfortable with, especially with his rebuilt leg. ‘Captain Exhaust Valve’ at its finest, but they won 5 of 6 Smith starts and all with 20 points or more. Enough to charge their defense.
Turner has designed offenses that produce even with such poor talent. Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t Brady or Mahomes, but he’s definitely better than the seven Turner worked with in the last two years. It may also have a better group of weapons with the arrival of Curtis Samuel, Dyami Brown and Adam Humphries, along with Antonio Gibson, Logan Thomas and Terry McLaurin. They sound like better weapons than Fitz had in Miami in 2020. It could be enough to compensate even if the defense takes a step back.
Winning the division, even one as bad as the 2020 NFC East, is a positive thing, especially in the first year of a new coach, still considering that the pandemic complicated the preparation. And that they had a horrendous offensive, with Haskins and Smith were the worst two in DVOA efficiency and were the least deep throwing quarterbacks. Fitzpatrick is an improvement. There will also be more weapons.
They had a delivery differential of -4. They were 0-3 in one-possession games. They had four quarterbacks. That should improve and just by going to league average (0, .500, no QB injuries), the team should improve. The defense is by far the best in the NFC East and his attack will hardly be the worst this year.
Fitzpatrick is 59-86-1 as a starter and the 2020 pressurized production will hardly be sustained. The offensive line brings in two veterans, Charles Leno and Ereck Flowers, who are perhaps no better than Morgan Moses and Geron Christian.
The organization still has its problems. They had the sexual harassment scandal with their cheerleaders and other women within the organization. Haskins at the time went to a strip club after a game in the middle of a pandemic, showing not the best group control, although the QB no longer returns this year. They are consistently among the most injured teams because the surface of their field is among the worst, although now they have changed it.
The defense was second best in the red zone in 2020 and seventh in third down. The defenses, year after year, do not usually stay because they depend much more on the quality of opposing offenses. Washington goes from a laughing calendar (His wins: against Wentz’s Eagles twice, the Cowboys with Dalton and DiNucci, the Bengals against Burrow’s injury game, again the Dalton Cowboys, the Steelers from the statue formerly known as Big Ben, the 49ers from Nick Mullens homeless from Santa Clara, and Jalen Hurts’ Eagles who threw the game in the fourth quarter) one of the most complicated: they are the only team that faces the four that were in the conference final, in addition to that winning the division collides with the rest of the NFC leaders.
And they didn’t do them favors since they play several games with less rest that the rival and his rest week is nullified because the rival also had a bye. As complicated as its beginning may seem, Their last five games are within the division, so they won’t really be out of contention no matter what, coming into December. Thinking beyond a divisional title is tough this year, but it can be built for something big in the medium term.