2026 Season | Week 2 | Gameday Chatter Thread | Redskins @ Cowboys | 09/20/2026

Cujo said:
If Daniels hadn't been injured, the game would have been a lot closer, IMO. He could take off whenever he wanted and get 12-15 yards. The spread for the Baltimore game is -3, which seems ridiculously low. I think Henry will run for 150 easily considering we can't tackle worth a fucking shit and our line was getting pushed back by a below average O line.
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Yeah I think we're going to get blown out by Baltimore. Henry and Jackson might both run for 150+.
 
Simpleton said:
The defense still looked mostly like shit today but I think based on the eye test there's definitely more reason for optimism than last year. The main reason is that they seem to be flying around and playing with more aggression than last year, even if they're still busting coverages.

Most of what the Shitskins did today were basically just Daniels scrambles on broken plays, many of which we actually got good pressure on. Compare that to week 2 last year where a completely cooked Russell Wilson was dropping 400+ yards on 50 yard bombs to Nabers and a bunch of nobody's.

My biggest cause for concern is that Ezeiruaku and especially Revel are disappointing and look to be sort of flatlining and not ascending. I don't think Ezeiruaku will be a bust, he just looks like an average starter, but Revel looks like he could be a straight up bust. I'm not declaring that or completely writing him off, but he doesn't look good. I also think Clark might just be a JAG, average type starter now.

Optimistically, Downs is as good as advertised, Barham had the best game I've seen out of an LB since Overshown in 2024 before the ACL, Quinnen gets disruption pretty consistently and I think there's some upside with Lawrence if he can improve as the year goes on. The roleplayer interior DL in Ogbonnia and Bullard seem capable enough too.

The biggest question as you say, is how much do they improve? Right now I think they're a bottom 10ish defense, can they improve to "average" (14-17ish) or will they only marginally improve and kind of hover around the 20-24 range?
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Yeah I’m already out on Ezeiruaku. He’s a second year player and should be showing something; instead he looks either too slow or too small/weak to do anything in the pass rush. Gary and Miller looked washed. Lawrence too green, if ever.

Downs, I dunno. I’m not shitting on him as a hater. I feel like I expected more though.
 
Simpleton said:
Offensively, they need to lean into the talent in the passing game like they did today. You have the best WR duo in the league, a top 7ish QB and a shitty defense, fuck establishing the run. That's how you get into situations like last week where the offense struggles to play ahead of the sticks and stalls for a half.

They went heavy, heavy play action today to protect the OT's and I don't even care if defenses don't respect the run because you don't really need to fool them to pop big plays when you have Lamb and Pickens. If we had a bunch of JAG's at WR, sure, you need defenses to crash down against the run to open up space in the passing game. Even if we had one elite WR and JAG's you'd still need that to an extent, but with both Lamb/Pickens it doesn't matter, the play action is just a way to make sure the pass protection is solid by slowing down the DL for a second.

Obviously running the ball is important and they'll need to be better against better teams, but lean in to where your talent is and hope this dumbass defense can make a few plays here and there.
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We were able to run last year. What happened??
 
Simpleton said:
I'm ok with how the defense played yesterday, it wasn't great but it's about what I was expecting early in the year with a new scheme. Lots of uneven play where they look solid at times, but give up some big plays and sustained drives on soft mistakes.

The real key is that they keep showing incremental improvement throughout the season, start limiting those soft mistakes (leaky QB scrambles, poor zone spacing on 3rd and 18, etc.) and eventually work their way up to being an average group. If they can do that I think you can live with it and still make the playoffs and maybe even win a game.

What you don't want to see are long stretches of play like the Giants game where they just have no idea what's going on, are giving up massive chunk plays on the most basic of concepts, and can't make a play to save their lives. There will be games like that again this year but the key is only having one here and there, not having it for 2-3+ games in a row.

If the defense steadily ascends throughout the year I think you could justify giving Schottenheimer another year even if they don't make the playoffs in the name of continuity on the coaching staff/defense. It'd obviously be a "one last chance" situation based on the defense showing signs of life and the offense still looking good for the most part, but the flip side of that is if we win 7 games and the defense is still looking as dysfunctional as it did against the Giants, it's time to cut bait with the whole group.
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Run defense was really poor
 
Genghis Khan said:
I disagree. I think you have to cut bait if it doesn't look appreciably better by the end of the year. I think continuity is going overrated if things aren't working.
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Depends on who is available but I’d be hard pressed to justify “there is no one better” after a losing season following up 7-9-1 on a team that is NOT rebuilding.
 
Smitty said:
Booth Romo > Booth Brady.
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Of course.

The Ticket guys were saying this morning how much they liked Brady. I couldn't even believe my ears. He's as spare as it gets.
 
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