The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Hail or Fail: Washington slips below .500 all-time for first time since 1975 with loss to Browns

Analysis by
Staff writer
September 28, 2020 at 9:57 a.m. EDT
Dwayne Haskins struggled Sunday. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)

A look at the good (Hail!) and bad (Fail!) from the Washington Football Team’s Week 3 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

Hail: History

“As I am doing my final pregame prep, a sense of pride has come to me,” Washington Coach Ron Rivera tweeted a few hours before kickoff. “I can’t help but think of the historic significance of today.”

Rivera was referring to the fact that Sunday marked the first time that an NFL regular season game featured a female assistant coach on both sidelines (Washington’s Jennifer King and Cleveland’s Callie Brownson) and a female official (Sarah Thomas). The groundbreaking women gathered before the game for a photo. Brownson told Fox sideline reporter Laura Okmin that she dreamed of coaching in the NFL as a kid but didn’t know if it could happen because she never saw people like her in the league.

“This is why representation matters,” King, whom Rivera added to his staff in February, told Okmin. “It’s hard to fathom when you’ve never seen it. Today, girls are seeing it all over the field.”

Fail: Opposite sides of .500

Washington and Cleveland both came into the game 1-1. The Browns ended the day 2-1, putting them above .500 in a season for the first time since 2014. Washington fell to 1-2, and while Daniel Snyder’s franchise is no stranger to being below .500 in recent years, the defeat carried added significance. Washington has now lost more games than it has won in its regular season history for the first time since Oct. 19, 1975. Washington was a franchise-best 76 games over .500 after beating the Cowboys on Dec. 13, 1992. Since then it has been a long slide back to mediocrity — and now a 604-605-28 all-time record.

Hail: Charles Barkley

“I can’t wait to call my bookie in the morning,” analyst Charles Barkley said on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” on Saturday. “… Cleveland Browns [are] a lock tomorrow.”

Barkley has made plenty of turrible predictions before, including some about the Washington Wizards, but he nailed this one. Washington failed to cover the seven-point spread for a second straight week.

Fail: Dwayne Haskins

For a change, Haskins started hot, completing 6 of 9 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter. But his first regular season game in the Buckeye State since he threw six touchdowns against rival Michigan for Ohio State in November 2018 was a disaster from that point forward. The second-year quarterback tossed three interceptions, all of which led to Cleveland touchdowns, and he lost a fumble on a sack in the fourth quarter. He underthrew and overthrew receivers, completing only 21 of 37 attempts. It was one of his worst games as a pro, with his three interceptions matching the number he threw in his first NFL game. Washington committed at least five turnovers without recording a takeaway for only the ninth time in franchise history. Not surprisingly, Washington is 0-9 in those games.

Chase Young and Dwayne Haskins had a day to forget, but Ron Rivera will remember how they handled it

Hail: Isaiah Wright

Haskins would have finished with four interceptions if not for a heads-up play by Wright, an undrafted rookie wide receiver out of Temple who made the team after an impressive training camp. On Washington’s first touchdown drive, Haskins threw an errant pass along the right sideline. As Browns cornerback Denzel Ward went up to make a play on the ball, Wright turned into a defender. He leveled Ward with a textbook hit, knocking the ball loose in the process, resulting in a harmless incompletion. Washington scored five plays later to take a 7-0 lead. Wright also had four catches for 24 yards and one carry for six yards.

Fail: Offensive pass interference

After committing 13 penalties in its first two games, Washington was flagged only four times Sunday. But the final call against Washington was a costly one and left the visitors’ sideline frustrated. With Cleveland leading 24-20 early in the fourth quarter, an offensive pass interference call on Terry McLaurin negated a nine-yard gain on first and 10 from the Washington 25, bringing up first and 20. McLaurin didn’t appear to push off on the play; Cleveland cornerback Terrance Mitchell was just as guilty of hand fighting on the comeback route. Three plays later, Haskins threw his third interception, which led to the Browns touchdown that all but iced the game.

Hail: Dontrelle Inman

The wide receiver, who had 38 yards in Washington’s first two games, matched that total on three catches against the Browns. His first-quarter touchdown grab was his first since Week 16 of the 2018 season. Inman added a second touchdown in the third quarter, giving him his first two-score game since September 2010, his senior year at Virginia, when he hauled in a pair of touchdown catches against Virginia Military Institute.

“It always feels good to score, but we didn’t get the win, so I don’t feel too good right now,” Inman said on the NBC Sports Washington postgame show.

Fail: Injuries

It was a brutal day for Washington’s vaunted defensive line. Matt Ioannidis left in the first half with an arm injury. Rookie Chase Young soon followed him to the locker room with a groin injury, with his mother and sister looking on from the stands. Neither returned to action. Second-year defensive end Montez Sweat played especially well for Washington, with a sack, 2.5 tackles for losses and four hits on Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. But coordinator Jack Del Rio’s shorthanded defense was worn down by the fourth quarter, and Cleveland took control.

Read more from The Post:

Four takeaways from Washington’s 34-20 loss to the Browns

Young and Haskins had a day to forget, but Rivera will remember how they handled it

What is it like to watch your son play an NFL game in 2020? ‘It’s surreal.’

Washington falls to Cleveland after committing five turnovers

Jerry Brewer: There’s a lot to like in Haskins’s fight. But there’s reason to worry about his ceiling.