Washington Football Team: Dwayne Haskins continued the debate

Dwayne Haskins only furthered the heated conversation about him in Washington.

The Washington Football Team lost a hard-fought battle in Week 15 against the Seattle Seahawks. Down 20-3 heading into the fourth, they managed to score 12 unanswered and even get the ball back down 20-15 with a chance to take the lead. Even though they didn’t win, Dwayne Haskins, helped keep them in the game. Or did they lose because of him?

Depending on what fans you ask, you’ll hear a different side of the story. Here’s a helpful tip for you: Unless you love chaos, stay off of Twitter during the games. Fans love to argue, especially about the quarterback position. For as long as I can remember, fans have not been able to agree about a quarterback.

Haskins has definitely been one of the more polarizing instances in recent years, though. The quarterback began 2020 as the starter at the position. However, everyone knows the story at this point. After four games, Haskins was benched for Kyle Allen. No, Haskins was not terrible, but he was not all that great either.

With Washington at 1-3, and the offense stalling out quite often, it was clearly time for a change though. This led to the move to Allen. Allen was quickly replaced by veteran Alex Smith, however, after Allen suffered a nasty ankle injury.

Of course, Smith was coming back from his own gruesome injury. It’s likely you already know the story of his journey on that comeback. He was the Comeback Player of the Year before he even stepped on the field this season. That being said, it also made it pretty obvious that Smith was on borrowed time. His risk of being re-injured was clearly rather high and, in Week 14, that risk was realized.

Smith came into the week with a calf issue. He had to leave the game at halftime due to that issue. Haskins finished out the game. However, he did not have to do much as the defense took care of business against the San Francisco 49ers all game.

Washington still has a bit of a conundrum at hand with Dwayne Haskins.

Week 15 was different. Haskins was in from the start, and the Seahawks are a different beast. At 9-4 entering, they weren’t perfect but were a serious challenge. Washington came out pretty flat. The defense did not look bad but they were also not looking like the dominant group they were the last few weeks either.

Of course, you could argue that it was the offense not getting any traction that was the problem for everyone, and that was up to Haskins not moving the ball. Then came the turnovers. Haskins ended the game with two interceptions.

The first of those two interceptions was not bad. He definitely forced the ball. However, it looked like it was actually an on-the-money throw to Cam Sims. Receivers were bunched, though, and Isaiah Wright reached up and tipped the ball before it reached Sims, allowing Shaquill Griffin to dive for an incredible pick.

That being said, the second interception was 100 percent on Haskins. It was a serious underthrow and not a good idea. It was also the play that lit a fire under the quarterback though.

After the second interception, Washington had a three-and-out on the next possession. The following possession saw a 96-yard-touchdown drive though. Then a 64-yard-touchdown drive that ended with a Haskins touchdown to J.D. McKissic.

The final Washington drive of the game was 49 yards. It did not end in points but Haskins did get them into field goal range (which would have meant something had they made their extra points).

The final drive was hurt by the blocking. It seems like an excuse for the quarterback but Morgan Moses suffered an injury and the line suffered due to that. Then, when he returned, it was clear he was not healthy and he was absolutely bulldozed, Haskins had almost no time after the snap.

The quarterback was not perfect, but he had the offense moving for a good portion of the game. There were mistakes, but every quarterback has made mistakes this year, even Smith. The offense did not move at times, but that’s been the case with every quarterback this year, even Smith.

There are still plenty of questions surrounding Dwayne Haskins. And this is not to state that he has answered all the long-term ones and that he is now clearly the answer. However, he has certainly continued the conversation around him. He has given the believers reasons to keep fighting for him, while the doubters something to think about (but also some things to point to as things he did wrong).

The seemingly never-ending quarterback debate for the Washington Football Team fanbase is still going to go on for at least a few more months. Maybe they make a massive move in the offseason, but that’s unlikely. Even then, the fans will likely not agree, it just seems to be their nature.

For now, though, Dwayne Haskins has done enough to keep his name in the conversation.