Kyle Shanahan loves to stick it to the team he was once a part of – and one who he feels did him and his dad dirty. On Saturday evening, he played the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, out-coaching and out-scheming an unprepared Commanders squad fighting for their playoff lives. We often talk about how coaching matters. Well, this was a prime example of that!
This was a 7-7 game at halftime – then thigs fell apart for Washington…
This team was both outmatched and outcoached… BIG SURPRISE!
Below are my Studs and Duds of the game.
Studs:
Jahan Dotson – The rookie has been on a tear lately! He even blocked better than some of our offensive linemen. He caught six passes for 76 yards and a touchdown.
Terry McLaurin – Terry stepped up big in the second half with a great catch on an underthrown deep ball where he was also interfered with. He then caught a touchdown two plays later to help pull Washington withing a score. He finished the game with four catches for 77 yards and a touchdown.
Daron Payne – Payne had four tackles, all solo, and a sack.
Duds:
Cornelius Lucas/Charles Leno – This duo is horrible and has played worse as the season has progressed. It’s time to move on from both! The strip-sacks allowed. The blown blocks. I’ve seen enough. I blame Ron!
Trai Turner – Turner played about as poorly as you can play on the interior. He had multiple blown blocks, and penalties to boot. I blame Rivera…
Logan Thomas – Thomas blocked poorly, looked lazy in his route-running and seems like he didn’t even want to be on the field. It’s time to move on to younger options at TE.
Darrick Forrest – Forrest, who has been playing very well lately, fell back down to earth against San Fran. He did have an interception, but that didn’t come close to outweighing his poor tackling, angles and coverage.
David Mayo – Mayo looked like he was running in quick-sand out there…maybe he actually was. He’s worse than Bostic – and I didn’t think that was possible.
– Taylor Heinicke played poorly again, and was benched in favor of Carson Wenz in the fourth quarter. He made some nice plays, but the mistakes and missed opportunities continue to haunt him.
– Jamin Davis did not make many splash plays, but he showed he’s continuing to progress. If we JUST had a decent option alongside him…
– Chase Young played a bit more than I expected him to. He had a few nice moments, but there was also some rust that will need to be shaken off.
– It would be really nice if the other two tight ends started to contribute in the passing game.