Things are starting to go awry in the nation’s capital, and we’re not talking about politics.
The Washington Redskins dropped to 0-4 in a 24-3 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday. Case Keenum was benched in favor of rookie Dwayne Haskins mid-way through the second quarter, and the rookie did not fare much better in his NFL debut.
Haskins completed just 9 of 17 passes for 107 yards, and his first touchdown pass was to the wrong team — a pick-six by Giants safety Jabrill Peppers.
The 15th overall pick out of Ohio State failed to find the end zone at all and threw a total of three interceptions in a disappointing debut.
Of course, the Redskins did not intend to play Haskins this early. The plan in the preseason was to have Haskins spend the year learning and developing until he was ready to take over the starting job, which would likely not have been until next season.
Yet head coach Jay Gruden said afterwards that Keenum, who was 6 of 11 for 37 yards and an interception, was removed from the game because he appeared to be bothered by a foot injury that was hindering his throws.
Haskins appeared to give the team a spark when he first entered, completing his first two passes and running for 14 yards to get the offense inside the 5-yard line. But that’s where the offense became stagnant. Haskins missed two throws and Washington had to settle for a field goal.
Gruden, who did not commit to Haskins for next week, is now firmly on the hot seat as the Redskins continue to play uninspired football through the first four games of the season.
Prior to the game, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Gruden’s job would be safe, for now, regardless of Sunday’s result.
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