Initial observations from Washington’s win over Tampa Bay
Some initial notes and observations from Washingtons 29-19 victory over the Bucs
The Washington Football team pulled off a surprise 29-19 upset victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Washington got off to an early lead and managed to hold on late as the Bucs made a comeback charge in the second half. Here are some initial notes and observations.
Early turnovers set defensive tone
Washington’s defense finally played a game that lived up to the expectations placed on this unit before the start of the season. They faced Tom Brady and the Bucs without Montez Sweat, while Chase Young went down injured with a suspected torn ACL midway through the game. And yet, Washington’s defense looked strong throughout the game.
It was the start that really set the tone though. The Bucs went three and out on their opening drive after some nice pressure by Jonathan Allen on the third down, which I’ll get to shortly. But after that drive, Washington managed to create two turnovers on back-to-back drives from the Bucs. The first interception was by William Jackson in his first game back from injury.
On this play, Washington dropped into zone coverage on second and long and forced Brady to check the ball down underneath. He does so and Kam Curl quickly bursts up to the receiver to make a tackle. That tackle forces the ball to come loose and fly up into the air. Jackson shows great awareness and desire for the ball, quickly acting to make up ground and pull in the interception to take the ball away and give Washington great field position.
Washington’s offense could only manage a field goal from the resulting position, but the defense came up big again on the next drive.
This time, Brady looks to hit Mike Evans over the middle on a basic cross. Bobby McCain is the single deep safety and spots the route, driving down on it to match it. Brady’s throw is a little too far out in front of Evans and also a little too high, causing it to sail straight to McCain, who gladly accepts the gift of an interception for Washington’s second turnover of the game.
Washington managed to go and score a touchdown off the second turnover, giving the team an early 13-point lead. It was a strong start from the defense that played solid throughout, even missing it’s best edge rushers.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Bullock's Film Room to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.