The (7-7) Washington Redskins will look to put together back to back wins for the first time since Week 6 as they travel to Nashville to take on the (8-6) Tennessee Titans. This is the 12th meeting between the two teams with the season series tied at six.
The Redskins have shown resilience despite all the injuries and off the field issues. The Burgundy and Gold secured its first come from behind win of the season last weekend by beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 16-13. Washington is 4-3 in road games this season and will look for another big victory to put themselves a game over .500 along with staying in playoff contention.
The Titans are also in a fight for their playoff lives as they are involved in a three-way race for the final wild-card spot in the AFC. The Titans are on a three-game winning streak and have been strong at home posting a 5-1 record at Nissan Stadium.
Now let’s take a look at four keys that could lead to another victory that keeps the Redskins playoff hopes alive for another week.
1. Stopping The Run
Tennessee offensively has been playing a physical brand of football averaging 33 rushing attempts per game. Titans RB Derrick Henry has played a huge roll in their second place ranking in the National Football League in rushing yards per game over the past three weeks averaging 203 yards per game.
Washington has been the second worst defense in the NFL giving up 176.3 yards per game over its last three games and gave up 172 combined rushing yards to the Jaguars last week. Greg Manusky’s unit will need to continue to improve in their attention to detail as tackling will need to be at its best against the physical running style of Henry.
2. Maintain Offensive Balance
Redskins head coach Jay Gruden made a concerted effort to run the football in last weeks win over the Jaguars. Gruden stuck with the run even though it didn’t always yield positive results. Washington ran the ball a combined 33 times and only had 25 passing attempts for the game. With the new bodies that are being rotated along the offensive line, the run game will allow those players in the trenches a chance to get into a rhythm as a unit.
Making Tennessee respect the run will enable the Redskins to use Josh Johnson’s mobility to open up the passing game. The Titans sixth-ranked defense has only allowed 265 yards per game over their last three, so a balanced offensive attack forces Titans defensive coordinator Dean Pees to keep his unit honest in their approach.
3. Limit offensive penalties
The Redskins in their past three games are second worst in the National Football League averaging 10.3 penalties per game and averaging 84 penalty yards in that span (3rd worst in the NFL). Washington’s defense has had an issue with critical drive-sustaining penalties. These issues have assisted their opponents in extending stalled drives often ending in points scored. It will be important for Greg Manusky’s unit to prevent giving a Titans offense that is ranked fifth best in total yards per game over their past three weeks extra opportunities to put points on the board.
However, it is understandable with the number of different quarterbacks the Redskins have had under center that false starters are possible due to the change in voice inflection with another new cadence. With that being said, holding penalties have been at a premium this season. The offensive errors have killed drives and consistently contributing to Washington being in long down and distance situations on third downs.
The Redskins offense thrives when they are able to be in third and manageable and showed in last weeks victory as they were 46.67% on third down. Washington will need to continue that upward trend against a Tennessee defense that has averaged 4.4 third-down conversions per game.
4. Limit Turnovers
During Washington’s four-game losing streak the offense had nine turnovers. The Redskins had just seven turnovers through the first nine games of the season. One important factor in their week 14 victory in Jacksonville was the lack of turnovers by the offense. Josh Johnson did a great job of not forcing the ball into traffic but instead made plays with his legs or threw the ball away.
It will be important for the Redskins to protect the football and not give Marcus Mariota and company extra opportunities to score points. This should be fairly easy as the Titans are 30th in the NFL in takeaways per game (0.9).