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The Washington Redskins, at 1-1, have a much brighter outlook three days after their Week 2 win against the St. Louis Rams than they did at this time last week. Both the offense and defense are top-ranked and the improved play in all phases of the game was evident in the 24-10 win Sunday. The most notable improvements on the team are in the trenches but it is better in every phase of the game. Even so, there are still questions about of the team’s secondary… not so much its talent, but in its overall effectiveness.
In their first two games of 2015, the offensive line faced two stout defensive fronts and surprised those outside of Redskins Park when they more than held their own. Against both the Miami Dolphins and the Rams, left tackle Trent Williams was his usual athletic Pro Bowl self. Rookie right guard Brandon Scherff and right tackle Morgan Moses played as tough as any experienced lineman and looked like guys beyond their experience. Center Kory Lichtensteiger and left guard Shawn Lauvao played in a way that made a lot of critics eat their words. This is all — in part — thanks to new offensive line coach Bill Callahan and a second year in the system for all but Scherff.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins and the offense converted almost 50% of their third-downs in two games whereas in 2014 in Week 2, only 25% had been converted. Recall that one of those games was even against the then-horrible Jacksonville Jaguars, against whom Washington had a good game. Cousins has been sacked only three times by two highly-touted defensive lines that have been projected to get to a lot of QBs this season. Washington’s running game — currently ranked No. 1 in the league — has amassed 343 yards on 74 attempts in two games; a 4.6 yards-per-carry average.
In both games, the defensive line, while not exactly racking up sacks, had enough quarterback hurries to cause Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill and Rams signal-caller Nick Foles to not play their best. Between defensive linemen Jason Hatcher, Stephen Paea and Chris Baker; linebackers Ryan Kerrigan and Perry Riley, Jr.; and defensive backs Trenton Robinson and Kyshoen Jarrett; there were 10 hurries and countless time spent disrupting these opponents’ backfields.
With all of this said, there are still questions looming about Washington’s secondary and this upcoming game against the New York Giants will answer many of them.
The Giants, at 0-2 this year, are not looking good but they are the Giants and they are better than their record. They have beaten the Redskins four years in a row on Thursday Night Football. That can be seen as a good or bad thing depending upon your point of view. The odds would have it that Washington is due but…
While the G-Men look like a team in disarray right now, they do have wide out Odell Beckham, Jr. on the roster and therefore this squad must be treated like the former Super Bowl champion that they are. Beckham, a Pro Bowler and 2014’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, is a freak-of-an-athlete that has the kind of body control that coaches salivate after. Simply put, he commands attention whenever he is on the field. For his career, Beckham has caught 103 balls for 1,495 yards and 13 touchdowns. That’s a 14.5 yards-per-catch average. So far in 2015, he has logged 190 yards on 12 catches, with a 15.8 yards-per-reception average (an improvement for his unfortunate opponents) and a touchdown. The Redskins defensive backfield is about to embark on a huge test.
“We’re going to have to play really good man-to-man coverage,” Robinson said in the locker room this week. “They go man-to-man with [the best of] them [so] each one of us, every single one of us… [Bashaud] Breeland, D. Hall and Cully [Chris Culliver]… we’ll definitely have to do that. And then, we just can’t give up any explosive plays for him. Because he’s a guy who can really ruin a football game. Last week he almost ruined that whole football game [for the Atlanta Falcons] so, we’ve just got to be all over him.”
The good news is that most of the starting secondary will be in attendance tomorrow night. Second-year man Bashaud Breeland, although listed on the official depth chart as Hall’s backup, will likely start as a slot corner. He will be on the field with Hall and fellow veteran CB Chris Culliver covering Beckham and fourth-year receiver Reuben Randle (four catches for 28 yards in 2015). With former starting safety Duke Ihenacho now on IR after breaking/dislocating his left wrist, starting safety duties will fall to fourth-year player Trenton Robinson, who will play opposite veteran Dashon Goldson. While not the tallest of cornerbacks, Robinson has continued to improve during his time in Washington and has proven he deserves to be a starter in the NFL. Coming from Michigan State and drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 2012, he can handle the big lights.
New York’s Victor Cruz is a perennial thorn in the Redskins’ side. He has become a bit injury prone but when healthy, he is a serious threat. Currently the veteran wide out is dealing with a calf issue and did not practice this week but over the years, he has caught 29 balls for 467 yards against Washington which is a 16.1 yards-per-catch average. Listed as the second No. 1 wide out on New York’s depth chart, he feels good according to reports but also only worked with trainers during this short week. Some predict that he will not be ready to take the field until their Week 4 game when the Giants play the Buffalo Bills but who knows? He is a veteran so it’s possible he could take the field tomorrow night. If he does not, the Redskins will be facing Beckham, the aforementioned Randle and Dwayne Harris (33 career receptions for 418 yards with 3 touchdowns and a 12.7 yards per catch average), who went to the Giants from the Dallas Cowboys after playing for them since 2011.
With New York a member of the NFC East and so a division rival, fans must look at this game differently than they would one against an out-of-division opponent. This is necessary despite the optimism surrounding the Redskins. Teams within the same division simply play each other differently than they do other teams. Just as the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens play each other with a different level of intensity… like the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers get as hyped up as possible for each other… so too do the Redskins and the Giants.
Washington’s secondary, along with the defensive line and linebackers, held Miami and St. Louis to 328 total passing yards. But they are about to go up against one of the most dangerous receivers in the National Football League in Beckham. The other units on the Redskins squad have been well-tested and so far, they have passed. Although not close to being consistent, even special teams did a better job against the Rams what with the addition of kicker Dustin Hopkins.
But this game on Thursday Night Football is a whole different animal given the opponent. It’s fortunate for the Redskins that, with the all the new faces on Washington’s coaching staff, the Giants might know a little less about what to expect from Washington than in the past.
As Trent Williams said yesterday, this is just going to be a ‘good old-fashioned NFC East battle.’ It will also be one in which we will find out just how good this Washington secondary is.
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