[skinsfaninok]

ATLANTA — The honeymoon is over. The bloom is off the rose.

That was certainly the sentiment deep into the fourth quarter while watching the Washington Football Team struggle at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Trailing the Falcons by eight points as the clock ticked under four minutes, Washington faced the real possibility of tacking on another loss with its (over-)hyped defense looking lost yet again.

To localize an idiom in Chase Young’s parlance, the dudes were in trouble. No BSing.

Truth be told, they arguably still are, even after a miraculous comeback led by Taylor Heinicke. Washington scored two touchdowns in the final 3:52, including J.D. McKissic’s 30-yard catch, sprint and dive, for a 34-30 win.

“I’m more pleased with the win,” coach Ron Rivera said as Washington moved to 2-2, “but at the same time, I told the guys, ‘Let’s be realistic and be honest about the things we have to correct.'”

There’s so much to correct, starting with the third-down defense that remains preposterously brutal. Washington had been allowing opponents to convert on 58.7 percent of third downs before Atlanta went 10-for-16, or 62.5 percent. Three of the Falcons’ four touchdowns were scored on third down.

Sunday marked Washington’s 20th regular-season game coached by Rivera. Four games in Year 2, we don’t have enough to definitively state much. Yet for the first time in that 20-game stretch, there are real questions to ask about where Washington is headed.

That’s even without considering a fresh batch of injuries to All-Pro right guard Brandon Scherff, tight end Logan Thomas and others, plus an upcoming schedule that’s capable of scaring Jason Voorhees.

But yes, those worries exist, too.

When anyone considered Washington’s upside this season, the defense took center stage. Last year’s statistics, even if inflated by varying circumstances, reflected progress and upside. Countless discussions praised the unit.

Lately, the words and chatter have told a different tale. Any honest account noted the defense was flailing. That won’t change after Sunday.

As Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan and playmaker Cordarrelle Patterson, who scored three touchdowns, rolled up production, several defensive players held a meeting on the sideline.

Free safety Bobby McCain, the admitted wrongdoer on Patterson’s 42-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter, declined to share what was discussed. He didn’t stop there.

“Yeah, I know exactly what it was about, but I’m not going to tell you guys because you guys aren’t on my side,” said McCain, who was released by the Dolphins in the offseason and joined Washington in May. “I respect what you do … but defensively, we’ll get it together. We meet and we’re going to figure out details, and when we start balling and we start playing our asses off, I want y’all to write the same shit that y’all write.”

It’s unclear why McCain chose to vent in the media’s direction after a win or to act like the truth shouldn’t be told. He must grasp the nature of criticism considering that by allowing 374 yards, Washington’s average dropped to 417.5 per game, right?

“Yeah, I completely understand that,” McCain said while responding to a follow-up question. “We’re 2-2. It’s early in the season. I understand you guys have a job to do. Like I said, no disrespect to you guys, but we couldn’t honestly care about your opinions or anybody else’s opinions outside of the building because we know what we have to do.”

Cool. Ignore the chattering class or the long-suffering fans who choose to skip attending home games because their frustration is off the charts. It’s true, what observers say or think means squat.

But there’s no dismissing the head coach.

Rivera called last week’s game against Buffalo, a Super Bowl contender, a measuring stick. Washington fell wildly short. It rebounded for a victory on Sunday, yet it again didn’t meet expectations — or, as defensive tackle Jonathan Allen preferred, the team’s “standards.”

“We’ve been talking about this for four weeks,” Allen said. “There’s really not much left for me to say besides, ‘We’ve just got to do better.'”

Ryan, the NFL MVP in 2016, is a false front for anyone thinking the Falcons are decent. They are rebuilding, which is why multiple people around the league who have watched both teams believed Washington would roll.

Instead, it came perilously close to falling to 1-3 after having already escaped with a 30-29 victory in Week 2 when the Giants were whistled for a last-second penalty.

Rivera loved the resiliency but said of the various issues, “They need to be worked on, to be very honest. They really do. We have to be honest with ourselves, because if not, we’ll run into a wall very quickly.”

Doubts with Dustin Hopkins resurfaced after the kicker missed two extra points. Washington ruled out five players after in-game injuries, including Scherff (knee) and Thomas (hamstring). But Heinicke’s heroics in his hometown, McKissic’s magic and “Touchdown” Terry McLaurin saved Washington. Return specialist DeAndre Carter returned a kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown.

Let’s also note for McCain and others that the defense stymied Atlanta on its final drives, including Ryan’s desperate heave on the final play.

“When (our) defense needed a stop, it got a stop. Were they perfect? No,” McLaurin said. “When the offense needed to make a play, we made a play. Were we perfect? No. … Those are the team wins that give you confidence going forward.”

McLaurin, who had six catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns, is part of a .500 team after four games for the first time in his three seasons.

“We understand we’re not where we need to be yet, but we’re not where we used to be,” McLaurin said. “I feel like we did a great job of finishing and we’re just gonna try to build off this momentum.”

Momentum swings happen, and ideally, Washington would turn a needed road triumph into good play next week at home against the Saints. The NFL is mostly made up of middling teams careening into each other weekly, as evidenced by the Saints tumbling to the winless Giants in overtime Sunday.

Regardless, the Week 5 matchup signals the stepped-up part of the schedule that, over the next five games, includes meetings with the Chiefs and Buccaneers — the two teams that met in last season’s Super Bowl. In between, there are road games against the Packers and the Broncos, who fell to 3-1 on Sunday. The challenges don’t stop there.

If Washington needs 30 or more points from its offense to win games, it is doomed. All the praise goes to the gritty Heinicke, Washington’s starter at least until Ryan Fitzpatrick returns from a right hip injury and possibly beyond. His arm strength and limited experience make each possession and many throws angst-riddled affairs.

Falcons coach Arthur Smith credited Heinicke and Washington’s receivers, but said, “We have to make the plays. They throw you the ball, you have to come down with it. The history of the NFL, you drop sure interceptions, you’ve seen a lot of the outcomes.”

Here’s more history: Good teams usually win more games and struggling teams do not. Washington is even after four games, but after victories over teams that are a combined 2-6 (and the Falcons beat the Giants last week), we’re far from anyone thinking the team is good.

“We know we have to have a commitment to detail. We know what to do to win ball games,” McCain said. “At the end of the day, we came out of here with the W, so make sure you write that down. We came out of here with the W.”

Done. Now, before that wall comes any closer, let us write about one where you win — and play up to outside expectations or internal standards.

By Ben Standig