Mark Solway Despite losing a tough one to the Chiefs on Monday Night, the Redskins have seen a marked improvement on the defensive side of the ball under new Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky. Before the injuries piled up against Kansas City, Washington’s defense was playing with the same tenacity that it did against the Raiders.
It isn’t even tenacity, there’s an actual air of nastiness to it.
Teams are going to start fearing a Capital Punishment…
The Redskins suffered a tough loss to the Chiefs on Monday Night, and given the ridiculous injuries that piled up, it isn’t that hard to understand why a Washington defense that was stuffing Kansas City – suddenly couldn’t.
While there have been mentions of the injuries in many articles, few seem to talk about the collective effect that these injuries had. There were so many that it was hard to follow. Several players went down – only to return; making it even harder to follow.
I have to admit, even though I am used to the fickle nature of NFL fandom, I was quite surprised at the number of people in the twitterverse that were throwing the Redskins under the bus for losing the Monday night game. Not because they lost to a good NFL team – but for failing to recognize some very glaring NFL game facts. Like the injuries the Redskins had to contend with.
I’m just going to take a quick look at the defense and point a few things out. I grabbed the Redskins depth chart from ESPN, and then started making a few annotations. Here is what I came up with.
As huge fans of the mighty Redskins, we are always interested in learning more about our favourite team and its players. For example, did you know that the Washington Redskins were not always known as the mighty Washington Redskins? In fact, they were originally known as the Boston Braves, but changed their name after just one year!
Only 5 years after the name change in 1938, halfback Andy Farkas ran the wrong way and was tackled for a safety. Farkas, however, went from goat to hero when he led the Redskins to a 7-5 comeback win over the Detroit Lions.
Did you know that legendary defensive back Darrell Green won the title of ‘fastest man in the NFL’ four times in a row?
Can you name the Washington Redskins quarterback who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983?
On Sunday night, the Redskins put on a dominant performance against one of 2017’s most revered teams in the NFL. The Washington Redskins made the Oakland Raiders look overrated if nothing else; and a game many people unexpected to be a one-sided affair in Oakland’s favour, actually turned into a very lopsided 27-10 Redskins victory. Washington’s schedule doesn’t get any easier either, as this week they draw the undefeated Chiefs. Did last week’s improvement and performance translate in the online odds for the next Redskins game?
The win has forced many pundits to start re-examining the Redskins potential. They have shown tremendous improvement over the first three games and have shown that they can play with even the stiffest of competition. Washington stunned a prime time audience by limiting the “mighty” Raiders offense to just 128 total yards. They managed exactly zero third down conversions – 0 for 11.
The Redskins offense also spanked the Raiders – tallying up 472 yards – that’s a 344 yard difference in net offenses. Not only that, Washington crushed Oakland in time of possession – holding the ball for 38 minutes, compared to just 22.
Here is a collection of tweets with videos to summarize the Redskins 27-10 destruction of the Raiders on Sunday Night.
DJ Swearinger getting the boys fired up before the game:
Sunday night under the lights! #HTTR #OAKvsWAS pic.twitter.com/7mZgo0kE4k
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 24, 2017
Montae Nicholson interception less than a minute into the game:
A Nicholson INT to kick things off. #HTTR #OAKvsWAS pic.twitter.com/jwQNnPYozF
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 25, 2017
The Washington Redskins have at least a .500 all-time record against all but 12 current franchises in the NFL. Their worst winning percentage against any active team is .111 (1-8) against the Kansas City Chiefs. On Monday night, the Redskins visit the AFC’s lone unbeaten team looking for their first-ever win at Arrowhead Stadium, one of the toughest places to play in the league. Make sure you check 5Dimes before wagering on the game, and that sportsbook has the Chiefs as 7-point betting favorites.
The Skins don’t play the Chiefs very often so that winning percentage is a tad misleading, but Washington’s lone victory was at home on Sept. 18, 1983, by a 27-12 score. Kansas City has won the past six since then, last 45-10 at FedEx Field on Dec. 8, 2013. That was part of a season-ending eight-game losing streak for Washington. Jamaal Charles rushed for 150 yards and a TD on 19 carries. The Redskins won’t have to worry about Charles this time as he’s now in Denver, but they will have to worry about current running back Kareem Hunt.
Given his performance on Sunday, and his ever increasing love affair with Redskins Nation, it seemed only appropriate to make DJ Swearinger the subject this week’s Wallpaper.
The young safety is the talk of the town. For his play, for his colorful off field antics, and for his constantly referencing Redskins great Sean Taylor.
Back in the day, THN did a Sean Taylor Reaper wallpaper. We took it down out of respect when he passed, as it somehow just seemed too macabre. So in the spirit of that, I offer you DJ Swearinger as The Grim Reaper.
DJ Swearinger is all over the place, or at least his name seems to be. In no small part due to the lick he put on Marshawn Lynch in the Redskins dismantling of the Raiders. The Redskins odds for the next game aren’t going to change just because everyone of Swearinger’s hit, but maybe they should, given what Washington’s defense did to Oakland on Sunday night.
Just a year ago, the Redskins were ranked 28th in terms of defense. Washington Senior Vice President of player personnel Doug Williams, believes that the rest of the NFL has a good reason to now fear the Redskins’ defense. And after three games, the Redskins have climbed to an impressive 5th in net yards allowed, 4th in rushing yards, and 9th in points per game.
New additions have made an impact, but none more than Swearinger – literally and figuratively.
The numbers and statistics from the Redskins 27-10 win over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday were gobsmacking. Sometimes you can’t get a feel for a game just by looking at the numbers. Sometimes, you can tell everything you could possibly hope to know.
There were a lot of great individual performances to choose from in the Redskins dominant 27-10 win over the Oakland Raiders. It would be easier to list the players that didn’t play well, than the players who did. Why not just ask Redskins Nation, and see what they had to say?
I know it's hard, but tweet me your ONE player on both the offense and defense that get your game ball. #Redskins #crowdsourcing #HTTR
— TheHogs.net (@TheHogsdotNet) September 25, 2017