Alex Smith makes a miraculous return to NFL, Washington falls short to Rams 30-10 (10-11-20)

By: James Brown

Headline Photo Credit: Elijah Griffin Sr-Washington Football Team

Week 5 of the NFL season saw the Los Angeles Rams visiting the Washington Football Team. Washington decided earlier in the week to make a change at the Quarterback position, benching Dwayne Haskins for Kyle Allen. The change was made hoping to provide some semblance of a spark to a team that was tired of losing. At this point, it’s safe to say that Washington is still searching for the spark. The Rams pummeled the Washington Football Team 30 to 10 dropping Washington to a 1-4 record.

Kyle Allen looked decent in his first start posting a rating of 83.5 and 74 yards on 9 of 13 pass attempts. Allen also scored Washington’s lone touchdown on a 7-yard scamper into the endzone. Ultimately Allen exited the game before the half after a nasty head to head collision with the Rams’ Jalen Ramsey. Allen’s exit meant the long-awaited return of former team starter Alex Smith. Smith hadn’t played in an NFL game since his gruesome leg injury back in 2018. Despite the feel-good sensation of Smith’s return, he didn’t fare much better than Allen. If anything, the team seemed to collapse more around Smith. Smith went 9 of 17 for only 37 yards with a rating of only 58.7 and was sacked a whopping 6 times.

Washington’s front seven seemed to be the early bright spot for the 2020 season but they were unable to muster much against Sean McVay’s offensive scheme. Washington’s defense gave up 300 passing yards and allowed 129 yards on the ground. Montez Sweat was able to get to Jared Goff once for a sack and Kendall Fuller was able to intercept Goff. The defenses’ poor performance could be linked to the offense’s inability to sustain drives.

Offensively Washington punted on 10 of 13 and turned the ball over on downs once on Sunday. With Kyle Allen possibly being in concussion protocol Alex Smith could be looking at making his first start since 2018 as the Washington Football Team will travel to MetLife Stadium to play the New York Giants in week 6. Head Coach Ron Rivera was hoping that benching Haskins would be a turning point in the season. After the team’s Week 5 showing, it looks like it may be a turn for the worse. With the atmosphere around the team and Haskins looking bleaker and bleaker, Rivera must find another way to motivate his team to play winning football.