Airing out issues of Washington Football passing game

Washington Football team injury list kept growing

The Washington receiving corps was particularly decimated with injuries in 2017. First, wide receiver Chico McClatcher dropped out on September 25 due to an ankle injury.  In total, he missed ten weeks and never hauled in a score.  Tight end Drew Sample lost eight weeks total, and never recorded a touchdown.

The challenge with the loss of Chico McClatcher and Drew Sample was one of continuity.  After losing wide receiver John Ross, that touchdown machine, to the NFL, the plan was that everyone would pick up a little of the overall load.  But after the loss of McClatcher and Sample, newcomers to the offense had to pick up that heavy load while playing for their first time (or nearly so).

Narrow at wide receiver

Wide receiver Andre Baccellia benched for five weeks, and recorded 0 TDs as well. So too, wide receiver Quiten Pounds was out for six weeks and pulled down just one touchdown. Finally, tight end Hunter Bryant missed the last five games of the season, and pulled in just one touchdown for the year.

The Arizona State game was simply the tip of an iceberg to a passing attack that was hobbled, in disarray, and too many occasions where the “Next Man Up” mantra was too often the solution and too seldom just the philosophy.  When the prime targets in games become a questionmark to the fanbase, you can bet those same questions form in the mind of the quarterback. Those questions derailed the passing attack of Browning.  In the first six games, Browning hurled 14 TDs  in the season’s first six games.  He tossed just five touchdowns in the season’s last seven games, including that Fiesta bowl game.