Washington Football Team: Scoring Trends During Their Winning Streak

Winners of four straight games, the Washington Football Team will host the Dallas Cowboys this weekend in a pivotal NFC East matchup. Despite their winning streak, NFL betting lines have the WFT as a 4-point underdog against the Cowboys.

Sitting at 6-6 and just two games behind Dallas for the lead in the division, a win versus the Cowboys would inch Washington closer to a second straight NFC East crown. Please continue reading to explore the scoring trends by the Washington Football Team during their win streak.

New Washington Football Team Offense

After their Week 9 bye, Washington’s offense found success in the run game, led by Antonio Gibson.

The WFT averaged just over 118 yards per game on the ground during the first eight games of the season, which was just above league average. During their win streak, however, Washington averages 137 yards per contest.

This switch in offensive philosophy has taken some of the pressure off of young quarterback Taylor Heinicke.

After posting nine interceptions in his first seven starts this season, Heinicke has thrown just two in the past four games. The added emphasis placed on the run game has reduced Heinicke’s volume from just under 33 attempts per game down to just over 29 during the win streak.

Scoring Trends During the Win Streak

The Washington Football Team offense looked inconsistent early in the 2021 season. Before the four-game win streak, WFT was held under 16 points four times, all of which led to losses.

The WFT has scored 22.5 points per contest in the past four wins, though. Additionally, three of those four wins during the streak came against teams ranked in the top ten of total defense, further validating the improvement.

Despite the improved offensive performance the past four weeks, Washington still ranks 20th in total scoring this season. The defense, however, has shown massive improvement of late and has held four straight teams under 21 points. Even without an elite passing attack, the running game and defense have provided just enough of a spark to fuel the hot run.

Cowboys vs. WFT

In their biggest test since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10, I feel this Dallas Cowboys matchup presents several issues for the WFT.

First, the Cowboys are a rested unit coming into Week 14 off a Thursday game.

Second, outside of the Buccaneers, Washington has not yet played a team with a passing attack as dangerous as the Cowboys’. Currently ranking fourth in passing yards per game, Dallas poses a significant challenge to the Washington defense. Against the New Orleans Saints, Dak Prescott threw for 238 yards.

The Washington pass defense ranks 30th in the NFL, allowing an average of 263.9 yards per game. Dallas can exploit this favorable matchup. Washington only has 24 sacks on the year, which ranks 24th. They’re also 20th in QB hurry percentage. They only hurry the quarterback on 9.9% of dropbacks. If Washington can’t put pressure on Prescott, I believe Dallas will have a big game through the air.

If Washington wants to pull off the upset this weekend, it will need another stellar defensive performance and strong running attack to keep the Cowboys’ fast-paced offense off the field.

Is the Washington Football Team a Worthy King of the Weekend Pick?

I believe that the extra rest that the Cowboys got this week will help their offense this week. Despite Washington’s recent success, I believe Dallas will use their passing attack to take advantage of Washington’s secondary.

Do you believe the Washington Football Team can put up enough points to extend their winning streak? Then, sign up for a BetMGM account and participate in the King of the Weekend promotion. If you pick the six highest scoring teams of the weekend, you could win $50,000.