Washington Football Team: Defense has arrived too late

The defense for the Washington Football Team is finally starting to pick it up, but it’s far too late.

All offseason one of the biggest storylines surrounding the Washington Football Team was that defense. They were set to be the elite of the elite (superkick party anyone? Omega? Jackson? Jackson?) It was a perfect infusion of talent, young and hungry players, and veterans.

The only real weakness seemed to be the defensive backs – and even they made major improvements before the season.

How couldn’t they be great? Washington was trotting out a ridiculously stacked offensive line headlined by Chase Young. William Jackson III and Bobby McCain were joining the secondary, and Jamin Davis was adding on to the linebackers.

Washington Football Team: Defense has arrived too late

Instead what we got was a major disappointment. Washington started off the year by not being able to get their opponents off the field on third downs. Then we started to notice a troubling trend when it came to the sack numbers – they weren’t there. A few injuries were thrown in, and players simply weren’t playing to their level.

The defense showed a little bit of life against the Kansas City Chiefs back in Week 6 though. They forced a few turnovers and got to Patrick Mahomes a couple of times.

Week 7 was even better against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Washington held Green Bay to just 304 total yards of offense (the least amount of yards the defense had given up all year). They managed three sacks and one more turnover.

They set another new mark in Week 8 then – giving up just 273 total yards of offense to the Denver Broncos. This time Washington recorded four sacks and forced one turnover.

So rejoice, the defense has finally awoken and maybe we’ll start seeing those dominant performances that we’ve been expecting all year. The problem though? It’s a little bit too late.

Heading into their Bye Week, the Washington Football Team is 2-6. Those last three games where the defense has played better? They’ve managed just 33 points combined. With the Dallas Cowboys sitting atop the NFC East with a 6-1 record, it’s not impossible – but it’s really hard to imagine – Washington getting back into the playoff race.

At this point, it feels like it’s already time to start looking ahead to the NFL Draft. That’s a shame, but it’s the truth. This could make watching this team even more frustrating. If Washington’s defense really has decided to finally come out to play, we could start seeing much more entertaining games and a few more wins. It will only make everyone wonder, what could’ve been if they played to this level all year like we know they could have?

Montez Sweat is out now, he was one of the few that seemed to play really well all year long. Hopefully, he’s back soon, hoping he recovers well and everything works out for him. A broken jaw can’t be fun. The defensive line is deep enough to keep it from crippling the defense though.

We’ve seen the defensive line start to dominate. The secondary and linebackers are playing much better too. This defense is talented enough to win games. And anything can happen in professional sports. So never say never. But it just feels like it’s way too late.

Who knows, maybe the Washington Football Team can find a way to be playing meaningful games in December and January. That extra game on the schedule now could help a little bit. But it’s frustrating to think where Washington could be right now if things played out the way they were supposed to with this defense.