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4 takeaways from Washington Football Team’s loss to Seattle Seahawks

The Washington Football Team’s four-game winning streak came to an end Sunday with a 20-15 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Washington found themselves down 20-3 before mounting a comeback, but came up short.

Here are four takeaways from the loss.

Haskins’ early troubles hurt late rally

Quarterback Dwayne Haskins, making his first start since Week Four, threw for only 8 yards in the first quarter. He was rusty, to say the least, and didn’t look that confident in the pocket.  After his first interception, Russell Wilson took the Seahawks 96 yards for a touchdown and a 13-0 lead.  Things began to change after that.

“I got mad,” Haskins said.

He led an 11-play drive before the half, resulting in a Dustin Hopkins 48-yard field goal.

Haskins seemed to be a lot more comfortable in the fourth quarter after his team was down 20-3, leading two touchdown drives of 96 and 64 yards, respectively.

On the final drive, trailing by five, he led Washington to Seattle’s 23-yard line before taking two sacks and having to throw a fourth-down desperation ball into the end zone.

Haskins finished with 295 yards on 55 attempts and did some good things but couldn’t take advantage of a Seattle team that came into the game with the league’s worst passing defense.

Head coach Ron Rivera made it clear after the game that if Alex Smith is healthy, he will start again over Haskins.

Offense misses running game but Thomas shines

Running back Antonio Gibson missed his second straight game with turf toe, and it showed. Who knows if the outcome would have been different with Gibson, but the threat would have been.

J.D. McKissic got the start and ran for 51 yards on 13 carries. He also had a touchdown reception, but the team ran for only 84 yards.

Tight End Logan Thomas had a career day and became Haskins’ favorite target. He finished with a career-high 13 receptions for 101 yards on 15 targets.

Defense also experiences slow start

Rivera said all week it was going to be important to contain Wilson, and the defense did that to an extent. They held the All-Pro quarterback to just 121 yards through the air but allowed him to gain 52 yards on the ground.

Jack Del Rio’s unit also didn’t record a sack on Wilson, who engineered three scoring drives to start the game, giving Seattle a 13-0 lead.

Washington’s defense didn’t settle down until after Carlos Hyde’s 50-yard touchdown run just four plays into the second half.

One of the bright spots on Sunday was Daron Payne, who recorded his first career interception to give Washington the ball back and a chance to win the game.

Plenty to play for in the final two weeks

All is not lost with the loss to the Seahawks.

With the Giants’ loss on Sunday night, Washington remains in first place in the NFC East by heading into Sunday’s game against the 4-10 Carolina Panthers.

That’s also the team that fired Rivera a year ago. Do you think Rivera and Washington want to win that one?

It could come down to the last two weeks and needing to win both games to lock up the division. The finale will be in Philadelphia against the 4-9-1 Eagles.

It’s never fun to lose, but Washington still finds itself in a pretty good position with two weeks left in the regular season.

Here are the important 2023 NFL offseason dates fans should know

Important 2023 NFL offseason dates fans should know originally appeared on NBC Sports WashingtonThe NFL is currently in the thick of its offseason, but there are still plenty of key dates to circle before the 2023 season kicks off on September 7.Here are important offseason dates to know...2023 NFL Offseason Key DatesMarch 13-15: NFL teams are permitted to begin negotiating with prospective free agents, but no deals can be signed just yet.March 15: New league year begins at 4 p.m. Free agents are now permitted to sign contracts with clubs.March 26-29: Annual league meetings in PhoenixApril 3: Teams with new head coaches (Carolina, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis and Arizona) can begin offseason workout programsApril 17: Teams with returning head coaches can begin offseason workout programsApril 26-29: 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City May 2: Deadline to exercise fifth-year options on first-round picks from the 2020 NFL DraftMay 5-8 or May 12-15: Teams can hold three-day rookie camps for draft picks and undrafted free agentsMay 22: First day of OTAs for select teams. Clubs are allowed to hold 10 total on-field practices, but no live contact is allowed.May 22-24: NFL spring league meetingsJune 6: Start of mandatory minicamp for select teams. Clubs are allowed to have three mandatory practices.July 17: Deadline for teams with franchise-tagged players to sign a long-term contract extension. Teams are not allowed to re-engage in negotiations with a franchise player after this date until the conclusion of the 2023 season.August 3-6: NFL kickoff weekend in Canton, OhioSeptember 7: Opening game of the 2023 NFL regular season
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