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It’s been a long time since Redskins Nation has had the pleasure of watching its Washington Redskins team play meaningful football in December and as such, would be doing itself a favor to simply sit back and enjoy it. While there is the tendency to want to temper expectations in order to reduce the sting of the Redskins blowing this chance to win the NFC East Division, because it’s been so long, fans might want to just bite the bullet and get excited.
There are three games left in the schedule and the next one up is against the Buffalo Bills. While this game is winnable, the Redskins defense is going to have its hands full against the Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor and running back LeSean McCoy.
Even though this is Taylor’s first year as a starter and it would be easy to see him as a rookie… that would be a mistake. The 2011 sixth-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens was back up to a really good player in quarterback Joe Flacco, who has always thrown a really nice deep ball. This is also one of the skills Taylor has developed probably in part, because of working with the Ravens’ signal-caller. As well, the young QB is careful, having thrown 18 touchdowns this season and only five interceptions.
But probably biggest issue for Washington is going to be the fifth-year quarterback’s elusiveness and athleticism. In the 11 games that he has started, he has become the team’s third leading rusher, going for 371 yards and averaging 5.2 yards-per-carry. This season, the Redskins defense hasn’t played many duel-threat quarterbacks. There was the Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton and it’s not a bad thing that he was held to just 16 yards on four carries. But running QB’s aren’t something Redskins defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s squad has much experience with this season. Fortunately, with third-string quarterback Robert Griffin, III running the scout team these days, he will give his defensive teammates some good looks with which to work.
The Burgundy and Gold linebackers will be huge in this game during the times Taylor runs the ball. While MLBs Will Compton and Mason Foster have done really well since Keenan Robinson and Perry Riley, Jr. have been out, this is a game where Robinson and his speed would be helpful.
Fortunately, Taylor isn’t huge (somewhere between 6’0” and 6’1”) and he’s fairly inexperienced. Barry’s group should take advantage of both of those things by putting a lot of pressure on the Virginia Tech alum and getting in his way — a lot. Between keeping him in the pocket where he can be made to feel uncomfortable to getting their hands up to tip (or intercept) passes when they don’t get to him, they could force him to beat them in the air rather than the ground.
Hats should be tipped to Barry so far this season anyway. Given the injuries in his units and the challenges they have faced this season, it’s likely he’ll figure out a way to, at least, contain Taylor without underestimating him.
“Shoot, No. 5 [Taylor] is their third-leading rusher,” the DC said to reporters yesterday. “I don’t mean to be sarcastic or joke when I’m up here, it’s a true fact in the National Football League you’ve got challenges every single week. It doesn’t matter who you play. Every single week that other team’s got guys. They’ve got No. 14 [Sammy Watkins]. They’ve got No. 25 [LeSean McCoy]. They’ve got No. 85 [Charles Clay]. They’ve got No. 5, who I think he’s thrown two picks since Week 2 or 3. So he’s been really smart with the ball. When things do breakdown around him— when the coverage is great and things break down around him — he can stick his foot in the ground and run. Absolutely, something from day one that we talk about and we’ve got to be conscious of because they’ve got weapons all over the place but especially the guy that handles the ball on every play. He’s playing really good football for them right now.”
(One has to love the way Barry refers to players by their numbers and not their names…)
Speaking of a running QB, one of the guys he’s going to be feeding the ball to is his running back, LeSean McCoy and this player is a problem unto itself. While Barry’s group has gotten better at stopping the run in recent games, McCoy is special. He is elusive and agile and makes tacklers miss. As well he has the ability to get huge yards from scrimmage after just one cut. The former Philadelphia Eagle is on a roll, having rushed or received over 100 yards in seven straight games. Between his talent and that of his duel-threat quarterback, the defense will need to stop that ground game.
There is, of course, wide out Sammy Watkins for the Redskins secondary to deal with and this player should not be underestimated (fortunately for the Redskins, TE Charles Clay is out). But the guys in Joe Barry’s secondary — guys like Bashaud Breeland, Will Blackmon, Quinton Dunbar, Dashon Goldson and DeAngelo Hall — have pretty much held their own against some really good receivers this season. They’ve been torched a few times to be sure. But they’ve also held guys like Dez Bryant (Dallas Cowboys) and Julio Jones (Atlanta Falcons) in check. It’s the run game that could get out of hand if Washington’s defense isn’t ready for it.
Bills left guard Richie Incognito had some things to say about the Redskins defense this week.
“They’re big. They’re massive,” he said. “Pot Roast [Terrance Knighton] is a big, talented, athletic guy. [Jason] Hatcher… good ballplayer — he’s been playing at a very high level for a very long time and this year. [There’s] the two talented guys on the outside… [Trent] Murphy and [Ryan] Kerrigan. They’re a good group. They’re your typical NFC East defensive line — big… tall… physical. We know going into this game we’re going to have to out-physical them.”
If the Redskins can continue to improve their run game defense and can handle Taylor and McCoy, they should be able to accomplish that elusive win streak that has eluded them all year by getting a second victory in a row. That would put Washington in great shape to take on the Eagles and Dallas Cowboys in the final two contests of the season and therefore the Division title.
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