Since the new league year began, Washington fans have been looking forward to building off their Wild Card loss to Tampa Bay. The offseason brought the additions of players like Ryan Fitzpatrick, Curtis Samuel, and William Jackson III. On Sunday, 52,00 fans – mostly Chargers fans who made the trek from Los Angeles, filed into FedEx Field to see their teams in action in the new year. For Washington, though, they never had a chance to get off the ground in this matchup. 

Washington lost a close game by a score of 20-16 on Sunday afternoon. Perhaps the most important storyline that can be taken from this game was a negative one for Washington, losing starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick due to injury in the 1st half. Last years (almost) hero, Taylor Heinicke, was forced into action after the injury. Heinicke started the Wild Card Game, and although he lost, he certainly was an inspiration as he played admirably. He brought some momentum off the bench, but it wasn’t enough to beat Los Angeles.

The injury is a hip subluxation, which is an injury with different levels of severities. If there are broken bones, he could miss the season. Lucky for Fitzpatick and Washington, it appears that it is a dislocated hip and he will miss around a month of action (via @DrJesseMorse, Twitter). There is no official timetable for Fitzpatrick’s injury, however, he is expected to miss at least three weeks since he was put on injured reserve. 

Coming into the year, the defense was always going to be the strong part of this team. They have arguably the best defensive line in the league and were taking on Chargers quarterback, Justin Herbert. Unfortunately, they didn’t do enough to make an impact. The Chargers had 424 total yards of offense, 334 of those passing yards. Justin Herbert was making quick decisions and the defensive line had no time to get there.