3 keys to victory for Washington in wild-card game vs. Buccaneers
The Washington Football Team is a sizeable underdog to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Saturday night’s NFL wild-card game, and it’s going to take quite the effort to upset Tom Brady on his bid for a 7th Super Bowl ring.
Not many people are giving them a chance, but Washington just might have the formula to complete the upset. It’s going to need to rely on a herculean defensive effort, and just enough production from the offense to get the job done. Considering what we’ve seen over the past few weeks, that may seem like a big ask, but it’s absolutely not out of the question.
As coach Ron Rivera has been saying all week: ‘Why not us?’
Here are our biggest keys to the game for Washington:
Pressure up the middle
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
This game is going to start and end up front for Washington. If they can mount some pressure on Brady and keep him with unset feet in the pocket, then they might stand a chance. If not, then it's game over. With that being said, it's not going to be enough for both DE Chase Young and DE Montez Sweat to have success rushing on the outside; DT's Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen are going to need to create as much chaos as they can up the middle. The Bucs have a pair of really good offensive tackles in Donovan Smith and Tristan Wirfs, so while the edge rushers are occupied with them, the duo of Payne and Allen need to take advantage of the two guards, Ali Marpet and Alex Cappa. If the duo inside can get a push on the line of scrimmage and allow both Young and Sweat to come crashing around the edges, it will shrink the pocket on Brady, and constantly keep the thought of pressure in the back of his mind, hopefully giving him happy feet and not allowing him to get set and make his reads. Not often do you have a game hinge on one massive key, but it can't be overstated in this one. If Washington can't find a way to get after Brady and bring him to the ground at least a handful of times on Saturday night, they don't stand much of a chance.
Get the ball out quickly
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Much like Washington's goal is to get pressure on Tom Brady, the same thing can be said doubly for the Bucs when rushing QB Alex Smith. It's no secret that Smith is hobbled, and with a nagging calf injury holding him out of practice for most of the past few weeks, saying that he will be less than 100% on Saturday is an understatement, assuming he even plays. (Editor's Note: Smith is listed as questionable at the time this article is being written.) What we saw from Smith last week against the Philadelphia Eagles is about what we can expect this week as well; a few nice throws, maybe a drive down the field here or there, but mostly a number of check-downs and unsuccessful drives. However, if OC Scott Turner can draw up a handful of plays that allow Smith to quickly set his feet and get the ball out of his hands before pressure arrives, Washington's chances of success definitely increase. The Bucs have one of the best defenses in the league, though, so getting any type of production on that side of the ball is going to be a big ask.
Absolutely NO MISTAKES!
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
If you were to comb through all of our 'Keys to the Game' articles for the 2020 season, I can bet that this particular one would be on just about every edition. Washington is not a good enough team to be able to overcome mistakes, especially when they are self-imposed. Turnovers, penalties, blown coverages, missed opportunities, none of it. Especially when facing a team that is as good as the Bucs, a missed chance at putting points on the board could prove to be fatal. Washington needs to be perfect on Saturday night, and even then it may not be enough. That means no coverage mistakes that leave Rob Gronkowski running open down the field. That means no 25-yard runs from Antonio Gibson that end up getting called back because of a holding penalty. And for the love of God, that means no muffed or fumbled punts from Steven Sims Jr. We can't have it. If Washington is going to come up with an improbable upset and beat Tom Brady and the Bucs, they need to stay out of their own way and make Tampa Bay beat them instead of beating themselves.
