Hail or Fail: Washington played to win but made enough mistakes to lose to the Giants

Fail: Turnovers

Kyle Allen threw 16 interceptions and lost seven fumbles in 13 games for the Carolina Panthers last season. His first two turnovers of 2020 in his second start with Washington spoiled an otherwise solid performance. Allen threw a first-quarter interception to former Panthers teammate James Bradberry, and the Giants capitalized on the short field by scoring a touchdown that gave them a 10-0 lead. With the score tied at 13 late in the fourth quarter, Allen fumbled after a hit by Kyler Fackrell. Fellow linebacker Tae Crowder, Mr. Irrelevant as the final pick of this year’s draft, picked up the ball and returned it 43 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

Hail: Ron Rivera’s decision to go for two

A year ago, Washington, led by interim coach Bill Callahan, earned its first win of the season in Week 6 when the winless Miami Dolphins elected to go for two rather than kick the extra point after scoring a touchdown in the final minute and the conversion failed. On Sunday, Washington gave Giants first-year coach Joe Judge his first win and fell to 1-5 after Rivera elected to go for two in a similar situation.

“I’m playing to win,” Rivera said after the game. “I’m trying to get our players to understand this is how we’re going to do things. We’re going to do things to the max. We’re going to play to win football games.”

Washington had just marched 75 yards for a touchdown on 10 plays, and its offense had controlled the ball for more than 12 minutes of the fourth quarter. It was a fine decision to go for two, despite the result. No one, except those who bet the Giants to cover the three-point spread, wanted to see these teams go to overtime.

Fail: Dustin Hopkins

Washington went 39 yards on 12 plays on its opening drive, which culminated in a 47-yard field goal attempt by Hopkins. The wind was a factor at MetLife Stadium, but Hopkins’s kick was off the mark when it left his foot and sailed wide right. Hopkins made his other two field goal attempts Sunday, but his third miss of the season in 10 tries denied Washington its first points on an opening drive this season and proved to be the difference in the game. Former Washington kicker Graham Gano made both of his field goal attempts for the Giants.

Hail: Fox’s foreshadowing

As the Giants began their third drive, the Fox broadcast showed a graphic that highlighted both teams’ struggles in the big-play department. The graphic noted that the Giants’ offense had just one play of at least 40 yards through five games, the fewest in the NFL, while Washington’s defense had allowed eight such plays, the most in the league. Seconds later, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones took the snap, kept the ball on a read-option play, got to the edge and sprinted 49 yards into Washington territory before cornerback Jimmy Moreland pushed him out of bounds.

Fail: Containing ‘Daniel Jackson’

“I knew he could run, but I thought it was Daniel Jackson there for a second,” Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton joked after the game, likening Jones to Baltimore Ravens dual-threat quarterback Lamar Jackson, who had a 50-yard touchdown run against Washington earlier this season.

Jones finished with a game-high 74 yards on seven carries.

Hail: Cam Sims

Washington wide receiver Steven Sims Jr. missed his third straight game with a toe injury. Rookie Antonio Gandy-Golden injured his hamstring on Washington’s opening series and was ruled out for the remainder of the game. Isaiah Wright was hobbled on Washington’s final drive. That’s how Cam Sims, an undrafted third-year pro out of Alabama who entered the game with four career receptions, came to be on the receiving end of Allen’s touchdown throw in the final minute. It was the first score of Sims’s young career, and it was made possible by his out-and-move up on Giants cornerback Logan Ryan.

Washington is 1-5 for the second straight season and for the fourth time since 2001. Rivera is no stranger to slow starts. He started 1-5 three times with the Carolina Panthers — in 2011, 2012 and 2016 — and finished those seasons 6-10, 7-9 and 6-10. Entering Sunday’s games, 176 teams since the merger had started the season 1-5. Only three of them made the playoffs, but none of them had the luxury of playing in the 2020 NFC East. If the Cowboys lose to the Cardinals on “Monday Night Football,” Washington’s home game against Dallas on Sunday will be for a share of the division lead. That’s gross.

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