The Washington Redskins on both sides of the ball struggled mightily against the Atlanta Falcons, simply unable to establish any level of consistency. Jay Gruden’s offense was 40% on third down conversions in the first half but once again untimely penalties stifled any positive momentum and putting Alex Smith and the offense in third and long situations with regularity.
Despite all the miscues, the Redskins finally had some consistent production from the wide receiver position in a big way. Maurice Harris has always proven to have the potential to be a reliable target for his quarterback when given the opportunity. The third-year pro out of California wasn’t just making wide open catches but also gave Smith the confidence to throw some 50/50 balls in his direction.
Harris made a spectacular one-handed grab that is sure to heap more confidence from Smith to come his way in the future.
“We had some verticals going deep and Alex [Smith] liked the matchup so he threw me an opportunity ball and we had to take advantage of that, so I tried to make the best of that catch,” Harris said about the catch.
Overall, Harris hauled in 10 of 12 targets for 124 yards against Atlanta on Sunday. Some may consider this as an unusual development considering his place on the depth chart. Some have concluded that he hasn’t made the most out of his opportunities since the injuries to Jamison Crowder and Paul Richardson but honestly, that simply isn’t true.
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In his last three games, Harris was targeted three times or less and only had one drop. The Northern Guilford High School standout in the week five blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints was targeted eight times and only came away with three catches for 47 yards. He still showed big-play capabilities that led some to want to see more playing time and opportunities thrown his way.
Many will look at his performance Sunday’s as an anomaly and not something to expect going forward. But Harris when given the chance to make plays has caught 83 percent or higher of his passes when targeted. The Redskins desperately needs somebody in the passing game to step up for some time now, and Harris rose to the occasion on Sunday. Testing the waters by feeding him in a consistent fashion could open the door for others to have success in a Redskins passing game that has been anemic at best.
Smith knows what he has in Harris and was very complimentary of his receiver.
“He’s a guy that I think everyone on offense has a lot of confidence in, certainly I do,” Smith said. “He’s a guy that can move around and we can put in a lot of positions and he can do a lot. We ask a lot of him, but obviously getting to play inside here with Jamison [Crowder] out he’s done a heck of a job. I think he’s a young player, I think he’s got a bright future, but I thought today making some big, big plays, playing fast. It was good to see.”