Kyle Allen is still Washington’s starting quarterback if healthy, Ron Rivera says
That evening, Rivera didn’t hesitate to tell reporters that Allen will start again this Sunday against the Giants, health permitting. And Monday morning, he told Allen the same.
“I told him, ‘As long as you’re feeling well’ — I know he was pretty sore; he’ll be even more sore today — but, ‘As long as you’re feeling well and ready to roll on Wednesday,’ he’s our starter,” Rivera said during a video conference call with reporters.
After watching the game film from the loss to the Rams, Rivera said he believed both Allen and Smith showed positives, but the offensive issues up front were glaring, and the defense’s miscues only made matters worse. Playing from behind against a tough defense, in a rainstorm no less, placed a heavy burden on Washington’s quarterbacks.
“It’s difficult when you, again, get behind,” Rivera said. “We had some struggles on the defensive side. If you look at the flow of the game and look at the way the game was, it’s hard to establish the run when you can’t get a foothold going when you’re behind. It’s difficult, and that’s exactly what happened in my opinion. I don’t disagree with the way the game was called for us. We struggled because of the situation.”
Smith, perhaps, felt it more than anyone. In his first game back, he played under a steady stream of rain, took six sacks and struggled to produce much of anything on offense. In the second half, Washington had net losses in total yards (minus-six) and passing yards (minus-25), failed to score and had six three-and-outs.
So far this season, exactly half of the team’s drives have ended in punts (31).
“[It was] tough once we were behind and one-dimensional,” Smith said after the game Sunday. “In that sense, I felt like they were kind of keeping everything in front of them, trying to drive on everything and certainly not letting you hold on to the ball back there.”
Washington trailed 20-10 to start the second half, which forced its offense to essentially play catch-up until the final whistle. Minimal protection from the line not only left the quarterbacks vulnerable to the Rams’ tenacious defensive line but also stymied the running game, placing an even greater burden on the passing game.
Allen felt the pressure, often operating behind a collapsing pocket and taking two sacks and the hit from Jalen Ramsey in the first half that knocked him out of the game.
But his decision-making under pressure impressed Rivera, who mentioned two plays by Allen that stood out on video.
“I’m trying to remember exactly the play — he stood tall in the pocket and delivered a really good throw through the middle for a conversion,” Rivera said. “That’s what you’re looking for. That’s what you want. He did a good job with that.
“Again, to me, you could say the scramble for the touchdown because he saw man coverage, he saw the defenders had their backs turned, and he knew it was an opportunity to tuck the ball and run. That was a good decision on his part.”
Rivera said last week that the impetus for making a change at quarterback was partly to jump-start Washington’s offense and to have someone more experienced in coordinator Scott Turner’s system run the show. Allen played 15 games (13 starts) in the same system with Carolina, and although his time was limited Sunday, Rivera felt he did enough to improve the offense.
“I thought he made good decisions,” Rivera said. “He delivered a good ball for the most part. Unfortunately, the next time we got another drive going, he got knocked out of the game. But, again, it’s what we’re looking for. He managed it well.”
The key now is consistency — and better play up front.
Washington’s offensive line has been without starting right guard Brandon Scherff since Week 2 because of a knee injury. He’s eligible to return to practice this week and, once he does, the team has 21 days to activate him or leave him on injured reserve.
Asked whether Scherff will be back on the field this week, Rivera hedged. “We’ll see,” he said.
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