Coming into the Thursday night game, I saw Washington as the NFC’s version of Miami – a punching bag – but they’re not that bad. They were competitive in this game, and they were able to hang around against San Francisco on Sunday.
Especially on defense, with the two big Alabama guys on their defensive line. Three games in a row they’ve allowed under 20 points. Unlike Miami, Atlanta and Cincinnati, this isn’t a defense where everyone should be simply salivating to put any and all players in fantasy lineups against them.
A position-by-position look at last night’s game.
Kirk Cousins:
He was fine. He completed 23 of 26 passes, and one of the incompletions was a drop. But no touchdowns, and not a lot of downfield passes. He was throwing a lot of short, easy stuff, and he took 3 sacks. Only one true downfield strike that I recall. His string of three straight games with big numbers ended here because the team was able to successfully run it, limiting his workload.
Washington quarterbacks:
Case Keenum is a pro. Limited size and arm strength, but he knows what he’s doing. Right now, he’s better than Dwayne Haskins, which is how it played out for Keenum back in Los Angeles (where he was much better than Jared Goff in Goff’s rookie year). Keenum played the first half, and it was competitive when he left.
Haskins wore a weird facemask in this game. It’s one that I’ve never seen before (looking like he sawed off one of the bars – different than what he wore earlier in the year). He played the second half and doesn’t look ready to be on the field. He went 3 of 5, with no notable completions, and one wildly inaccurate ball that was intercepted in scoring territory, signaling the end of the game. When Washington puts Haskins into the starting lineup, I’m interested in whatever defense is playing against him.
Minnesota running backs:
I think there are five truly elite running backs in the league right now, and Dalvin Cook is definitely on that list. (I’ve got McCaffrey, Barkley, Elliott and Kamara as the four others). With all of those guys, they’d be good on any team and running behind any offensive line. Right now, Cook is probably playing the best of all of them.
If we toss out the 32 starters and look at the backup tailbacks, I think Minnesota is in the top 5 there, too. It’s putting Alexander Mattison on the field for some carries in each game, and he looks very capable of stepping in and being an above-average starter. He looked like Marshawn Lynch at the end of this game, consistently breaking tackles.
Washington running backs:
Adrian Peterson is 34, but he’s running like he’s 3-4 years younger. He doesn’t have the insane speed and power that he had way back when, but he’s still a capable running back. He can still make cuts and break tackles. He carried 14 times for 76 yards in this game. There’s been some talk about Derrius Guice coming back soon off injured reserve. As long as Peterson stays healthy, I don’t think Guice will be starting any games.
Minnesota wide receivers:
I bet big on Bisi Johnson in this game, and that fell flat. Sorry. He caught both of the balls thrown his way (for 27 yards) but they didn’t use all that much and didn’t have to pass enough (with their running game rolling – especially in the fourth quarter).
Stefon Diggs is a big-time receiver, and he’s got it dialed in pretty well right now, joining Randy Moss as the only players in team history to go over 125 receiving yards three games in a row. Diggs caught all 7 passes thrown his way, for 143 yards.
Minnesota doesn’t use many formations with three receivers (especially this week, with Adam Thielen sitting out.)
Washington wide receivers:
Terry McLaurin is for real; he’s a No. 1 receiver. Had Keenum not got hurt, maybe McLaurin goes over 100 yards and Washington wins the game. He caught 4 passes for 39 yards in the first half – 58 yards if we include a pass interference penalty he drew against Xavier Rhodes to set them up at the 2-yard line. But the entire offense died with Dwayne Haskins at quarterback in the second half. If Washington can cobble together a decent group around him in the offseason, McLaurin will be a top-20 receiver on my board next summer.
The other wide receivers are just ancillary parts. Paul Richardson caught 3 balls in this game. Trey Quinn looks like a nominal slot receiver. Kelvin Harmon rotated in some and has more size than their other guys.
Minnesota tight ends:
Second-rounder Irv Smith hardly got on the field in the first half, but they completed 3 balls to him after the break. He’s definitely got more speed and receiving ability than most tight ends. I expect that entering the 2020 season, Smith will be higher than Kyle Rudolph on my board (Vikings may move Rudolph in the offseason).
Washington tight ends:
Washington used lots of formations with two tight ends. It’s trying to run the ball a lot more now than it did under Jay Gruden. They used Jeremy Sprinkle and Hale Hentges as their tight ends in this one. And that’s probably a good place to end it.