Washington Football Team: Alex Smith isn’t perfect but getting it done

Alex Smith is far from perfect but he’s getting the job done for the Washington Football Team.

The Washington Football Team has had three different starting quarterbacks this season. They started with Dwayne Haskins at the helm but struggles led to his benching in favor of Kyle Allen to start Week 5.

Allen had his ups-and-downs but it seemed as if the team liked the direction they were headed in. That is until a nasty leg injury took him out of action for the year. Instead of going back to Haskins, Washington turned to veteran Alex Smith.

At this point, everyone knows Smith’s story. To be honest, his injury had me doubting him heavily. Not that I thought he was bad or didn’t have the will to accomplish anything, just that it was hard to watch.

At first, Smith looked slow and scared. It also doesn’t help that every time he got touched everyone cringed expecting a bad injury. Since then, Smith doesn’t look as slow and he certainly doesn’t look scared or skittish. Admittedly, everyone is still cringing when he takes a hit though.

The play hasn’t been perfect but Smith is doing some things right. A major issue (surprisingly) has been interceptions. Smith has five in four major appearances (we aren’t looking at his first appearance when he played just one half). Meanwhile, he only has three touchdowns.

In those same four games, the quarterback has a fantastic completion percentage though (71) for 1,030 yards. So clearly, you’re taking the good with the bad. That being said, while many people are on board, others are not convinced. There’s a solid reason for it too: the competition.

Smith and the Washington Football Team have faced an easy schedule.

Not to get too into defending Haskins here, but look at the competition. In his four starts, Haskins had the Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens (combined record of 22-17-1 and the Eagles were the only team under .500 in that group). Haskins picked up one win in those games.

Meanwhile, Allen got the New York Giants (twice), Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams (combined record of 13-18 with the Rams being the lone team over .500). If you want to count the Giants’ record twice, their opponents are 16-25 on the year. Allen picked up one win in those games.

Finally, Smith got the Giants (counting him for the one game as well as both he and Allen played a role), Detroit Lions, Cincinnati Bengals and Cowboys (combined record of 12-29-1 with no teams over .500). Smith picked up two wins in those games (current two-game winning streak).

There’s a pretty massive disparity there. And due to that, you could argue that Smith might just be winning games he should win, and Washington could have done this with any QB at the helm.

So far Smith hasn’t looked bad. What happens when he has to face off with the rest of the schedule? The Pittsburgh Steelers are next and they’re currently 10-0 (kind of wild that even after that game Smith’s opponents will be under .500).

He also has the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Carolina Panthers and Eagles. Not a fun schedule the rest of the way. Could that be the proof that he is being shielded by a weak schedule? Or will it be exactly what Smith needs to prove he is the right man to lead Washington?

The truth is, no matter who is at quarterback, Washington would struggle. Terry McLaurin is their only true receiving weapon. Steven Sims is interesting but dealing with injuries. Antonio Gibson is a star rookie running back as well. That’s it though. It’s McLaurin and Gibson. Not many quarterbacks are going to go nuts with this unit.

Smith is 36 years old with a miserable leg injury hanging over him. He’s also prone to going for the check down too often and is having uncommon turnover problems. At the same time though, he’s the obvious Comeback Player of the Year winner. He is a fantastic leader and he’s helping the young talent get better. And right now, Washington is winning.

The veteran starter in Washington is far from perfect but he’s getting the job done — at least right now. It’s frustrating for some fans to watch but let’s not pretend like any quarterback was knocking it out of the park in 2020. Oh, and Washington has won two games in a row and is now in first place in the NFC East (albeit at 4-7 but still).

Give the veteran a chance in these upcoming challenging games. Who knows, maybe he’ll collapse under the pressure and show that there isn’t much left in the tank. He could also make his amazing comeback that much more of a storybook with some vintage games though.

Washington needs to find a way to win a few more games in 2020 if they want to make it to the playoffs. Alex Smith is not perfect, but neither is this team. Let’s see what he’s got.