The Redskins Defense Is Going To Need A Litttttle Bit Of Help From The Offense

This Redskins defense is no joke. Besides that Monday night New Orleans game where Drew Brees shredded them, the Skins have shut down every other team and have the 5th best defense in terms of yards allowed/game, including the number 2 rush defense in all of the NFL. The Skins are also only allowing 19.1 points per game, also good for 5th. Needless to say, this defense is the real deal. Nobody can run on them, and the pass defense, despite injuries and lots of fill ins at CB, for the most part has been not too shabby either.DJ Swearinger is a monster at safety. Our best safety since Sean Taylor, and plays with similar tenacity and football IQ.

But the offense?

Woof.

25th in yards per game, 26th in pass yards per game, and 25th in points scored per game. Thank baby Jesus for Adrian Peterson, because without him, this offense is a scary, scary though. And the Oline too, obviously. You could drive a 747 through the holes they have been opening up. But Alex Smith has not been anything special. He is doing normal Alex Smith things- good completion % and not turning the ball over, but the offense has no rhythm or downfield attack. It has relied so much on the running game, which usually isn’t the best way to score points in this league. Look at the Colts game for example- Jamison Crowder was the leading rusher with 29 yards, and despite Alex Smith going 33/46, the Skins could only muster 9 points. And it sucked because the defense was once again awesome that game and it was such a winnable game, but the offense sputtered.

Jay Gruden has to figure out how to get this offense to do…literally anything. He started the game by feeding Jordan Reed, which is necessary. Paul Richardson has shown he is a downfield threat, but hasn’t gotten on the same wavelength as Alex yet. And Josh Doctson…well….the fact we were happy about 5 receptions for 49 yards speaks volumes about how low we have set the bar for him.

The Giants gave up 33 to the Saints, 33 to the Panthers, and 34 to the Eagles, but the Skins could only put a 20 piece on them. It’s not encouraging.

Look at this upcoming schedule:

I see 6 winnable games. Sure some (Falcons, Bucs if they have Fitzmagic doing Fitzmagic things) are tougher than others (Bucs without Fitzmagic, Cowboys are still trash, Giants might be starting me at QB by early December). If the Skins win 4 of the next 6, that’s already 9 wins with 3 left on the schedule- Jags, Titans, and Eagles. We’re staring down the barrel of a 10 win season and an NFC East crown. Just have to stay healthy (knock on all the wood) and find some glimmer of offense outside of the running game. I don’t care if it’s flashy, I don’t care if Doctson isn’t putting up 100 yard games, but we can’t be going 3 and out on every possession and continuing to give teams chances to win games. The defense has stood on it’s head all season, time for the offense to make it a little easier on them.