Redskins Roundup: Rise of the East Coast Offense

Written by Thomas Threlkeld on Friday, 19 October 2012 11:42. Posted in Washington Redskins

INJURY UPDATE: Somehow, punter Sav Rocca injured himself and the Redskins are working out former Eagles punter Chas Henry today. Rocca is also a former Eagles punter so it appears the Redskins like former Eagles punters.

I strongly recommend all Redskins fans watch this video from NFL Films to understand how the Redskins offense works with RG3 at quarterback, why it is unlike any other offense in the NFL and why it is working so well right now.

The Redskins have the most fascinating offenses in the NFL right now. It is also one of the most explosive and productive. For lack of a better name, Mike Shanahan calls it the East Coast Offense.

The Redskins, led by rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, at times have run zone-read option plays with high frequency, and then have broken out the triple-option. The Redskins have lined up in the pistol. Other games they have sported the traditional offensive attack that Mike Shanahan drew up on Super Bowl winning teams in San Francisco and Denver. Then last week, the Redskins added some wishbone formations to the mix.

Despite the every-changing looks, the Redskins have remained effective, racking up the third-highest total of yards and second-most points in the league through six weeks.

Writing in Grantland, Charles Pierce examines RG3 and decides it is his brain, more than his arm or his legs, that will lead him to dominate the NFL in years to come.

The way that Griffin came to control the game — careful, but not cautious — was clear from the second quarter, when on one drive he and the Washington offense went 91 yards in 11 plays, eating up 6:36 on the clock in doing so, to go up 10-9 and take the lead for good. Griffin chopped up the middle of the Minnesota defense, mixing inside runs by Alfred Morris with his passes, until he found Santana Moss loose on a seam pattern down the middle for 30 yards to the Vikings' 20-yard line. Five plays (and a relatively dubious roughing-the-passer call on Minnesota linebacker Erin Henderson, about which more anon) later, Morris went in standing up over the left side for the touchdown. On the drive, you could see Griffin taking care of the ball and taking care of himself at the same time, without ever losing the kind of edge he needed to play well.

"Like I told people, you stay aggressive but you just try to be smart," he said. "I felt like I got out of bounds a couple times when I should have. I threw the ball away one time and got a penalty because the guy came and hit me. You try to play smart but stay aggressive. One time, I ran up the middle and I slid for seven yards. You got to live with that and not worry about the eight or nine yards you could have got taking the hit. I told the team I wasn't going to leave them hanging, and I tried to make sure I did that today."

This is a remarkably sophisticated answer for a rookie. In fact, it's a remarkably sophisticated answer for anyone.

Former Redskins replacement player Tony Robinson is out of jail and trying to lead a clean life 25 years after he made history by leading the Skins over the Cowboys on Monday Night Football -- a feat which inspired the awful movie "The Replacements."

The Redskins defense has had more than its share of troubles this year, but it has scored four touchdowns in six games.

Jason Reid skewers injured WR Pierre Garcon as "the incredible disappearing wide receiver" for his lack of production on the field and avoidance of the media off the field.

Speaking of Garcon, don't expect him to suit up for Washington's first division fight -- he's a "long shot" to play on Sunday against the Giants.

The guy who would be throwing passes to Garcon if Garcon was playing is Robert Griffin III and he's doing pretty well, as you may have noticed. What you may not have noticed is how well he is playing against the blitz:

Opposing defenses have given RGIII all kinds of different looks, attacking him with multiple approaches. The quarterback has been effective regardless of the pressure he has faced. According to STATS LLC, Griffin has completed at least 60 percent of his passes against four splits of oncoming pass-rushers, but he is at his best when facing intense pressure.

When facing three pass-rushers or fewer, Griffin has completed six of nine passes (66.7 percent), but hasn’t thrown a touchdown or an interception. Most of his attempts have come against four rushers. Griffin has completed 88 of 126 passes (69.8 percent) and has two touchdowns and two interceptions against four-man fronts.

STATS’ data also shows that when faced with five pass rushers, Griffin has completed 12 of 16 passes (75 percent) with two touchdowns and no interceptions. When attacked by six or more pass-rushers, Griffin has completed five of eight passes (62 percent) for a touchdown and no interceptions.

The Redskins jumped out to an early 17-0 lead against the Giants the last time the teams played, back in December and Rich Tandler thinks it would be a good idea for the Skins to do something like that again.

The Giants have outscored the opposition in every quarter this year but their margin is most decisive in the fourth quarter. They have 59 fourth-quarter points this year and have given up 27. A quick calculation tells you that’s better than a two to one margin in the final 15 minutes.

The Redskins have struggled in the final period, especially on defense. They have given up 77 points in the fourth, an average of nearly two touchdowns per game. They have scored 41 in the fourth.

It would be nice if the Redskisn could get some pressure on Giants QB Eli Manning, but that won't be easy:

Manning has been sacked only four times – and three of them came in the season-opening loss to the Cowboys. In the past three games, in fact, the Giants’ quarterback hasn’t been sacked once.

Manning’s sack total ranks fewer than 31 other quarterbacks and is the lowest among signal callers with at least 100-pass attempts.

Fox Sports pulling some RG3 shenanigans around town. Doesn't seem funny to me, but judge for yourselves.

Injured Redskins DE Adam Carriker is a strange dude with a sense of humor.