Commander Country

Ousted QB Haskins 'Done Messed Up' - But He Has Many WFT Accomplices

WFT coach Ron Rivera started Dwayne Haskins in NFL Week 16 out of pure necessity, and Haskins ruined the game after spoiling the week. Now the QB's been released - and it's all too late.

Chris Russell

ASHBURN Va. - The Washington Football Team put forth a disastrous performance in Sunday's NFL Week 16 that was led - in all the wrong directions and in all the wrong ways - by Dwayne Haskins. 

It turns out that was Haskins' final time in a Washington Football uniform. Haskins was released - and while we say "good riddance,'' we also say the move was executed by coach Ron Rivera a week too late.

READ MORE: Haskins Released by WFT

A week too late on this season. A quarter too late in that game, an outing that was all about winning a division

READ MORE: Heinicke to Start if Smith Can't Go

The release caps a week in which Haskins was also fined and stripped of his captaincy. 

He was allowed to practice last week, which we labeled a mistake at the time, and worse .... he was allowed by the WFT and by the NFL because Washington was desperate and because the NFL is a league that values revenue over sense.

Think about this: Sunday evening, Haskins played and played. He struggled and killed his team. He missed opportunity after opportunity but he was left in until the 10:50 mark of the fourth quarter.

READ MORE: Haskins Practicing, But He Shouldn't Be 

This was after ruining the feel-good vibe of the week (in tandem with fellow bad-news-maker) Dan Snyder and his alleged shenanigans and blood war with his ownership group).

Rivera said he kept Haskins in to start the third quarter despite three turnovers in the first half and three points because of the way he started the third quarter the previous week against Seattle. 

READ MORE: Philly & Primetime Bound! 

“I did [think about benching Haskins earlier],'' Ron said, "but as I was thinking about it, the one thing I thought was as we came out last week, we were able to move the ball and put points on the board. I was hoping for the same thing."

What's that old saying? "Hope is not a plan.''

The only problem with that explanation is that in that game, Washington and Haskins threw a terrible interception on the first drive of the second half, and then, on the next possession, went three-and-out. It wasn't until the five-minute mark of the third quarter and then into the fourth on a long drive that Washington finally showed a pulse on offense. 

They didn't have that long to wait on Sunday against a Carolina team that they were supposed to beat - needed to beat.

Seattle? Fine. We never would have played him to begin with but we understood that Rivera was in a difficult spot. 

If the "league done messed up'' when Haskins dropped to the No. 15 slot, as the former Ohio State product said on his NFL Draft night ... it's fair to say that Rivera and the Washington Football Team "done messed up'' in too many ways trying to milk something out of Haskins.

The real problem, as everyone now knows: Rivera, upon his arrival in DC wanted nothing to do with Haskins. The coach couldn't exactly say that, but trust us, as we noted in this space and on the radio many times, it is a fact.

Dan Snyder drafted Haskins. Not Jay Gruden. Not Kyle Smith. Certainly not Rivera or his staff. Not anyone with any legitimate football knowledge. 

The owner Snyder should never, ever be making football decisions. He can be kept informed. He can have an opinion. He can't issue an edict, which is what happened on Draft night.

It's over now. And while Dwayne Haskins, most of all, is the one who "done messed up,'' the Washington Football Team's work here provides him with lots of accomplices.

Published
Chris Russell
CHRIS RUSSELL

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