Redskins Roundup: RG3 is even better than you think
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INJURY UPDATE: The secondary continues to be banged up, with SS Brandon Meriweather [knee] and CB Cedric Griffin [hamstring] both skipped Wednesday practice. Limited in practice were WR/RS Brandon Banks [hip], TB Evan Royster [knee] and WR Aldrick Robinson [concussion]. Robinson will get a concussion test today to determine if he can further. The good news is that WR Pierre Garcon and LT Trent Williams both practiced fully.
Briane Burke has stats that confirm what our eyes are telling us about RG3:
Seven point one. That’s Robert Griffin's net adjusted yards per pass attempt, which accounts for sack yardage and docks 45 yards for each interception. That number by itself may not mean much, but it’s the very best in the league so far—better than the total compiled by Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and everyone else. Griffin hasn’t faced the toughest defenses by any stretch, but it’s obviously a very good sign. ;;;
He’s only bound to improve throughout the season, but it might not show up in the numbers as he faces tougher opponents in coming weeks. Even rookie quarterbacks who turn out to be franchise-level players don’t rarely have the kind of early success that Griffin has enjoyed. If one thing is certain, it’s that, for now, the Redskins have found the right formula for their rookie superstar.
Read the whole thing because the are some VERY encouraging numbers about Griffin.
Want to learn something disgraceful? Well, too bad 'cause I'm going to tell you anyway. The Redskins have a 7-game losing streak at home. All those Skins fans paying a ton of money to go to games are being treated like dirt by the home team. It's been more than a calendar year since the Redskins won at FedEx Field.
Something not disgraceful at all is the play of LT Trent Williams, who played through the pain of a serious knee injury last Sunday and had an excellent game, though not as good as he's capable of when healthy. Williams is the second best player on the offense and that's only because RG3 is just a budding superstar. Williams says last season's inglorious drug suspension is what motivates him to prove himself now:
That’s a driving force behind a lot of things that I do now,” Williams said. “I made a mistake and I kind of use it as a learning experience. Of course, I alienated my team for four games and wasn’t able to be there. I was a captain at the time, and that made me feel even worse. This year, I’m just trying to prove to them that I’ve grown up a lot and that’s not me anymore.”
John Keim makes an obvious but important point about Washington's lack of a pass rush:
Add it up and in the last two games, covering 66 pass attempts, the Redskins have three sacks and have made contact on the QB only 10 times. It’ll be difficult to survive against the pass with this sort of production.
Remember that the next time you're knocking the secondary. Sure, the secondary has played poorly this year, no doubt about it. But the pass rush -- or lack of it -- isn't helping the situation. The Skins need Brian Orakpo back, but they're not getting him until next year.
CB DeAngelo Hall says the defense needs to get better with the super-talented Atlanta Falcons coming to town on Sunday.
The consensus in the Redskins’ locker room is that the defense took a small step forward in Tampa. But there's clearly still much room for improvement from a unit that's yielded 11 passing touchdowns (32nd), 8.8 yards per pass attempt (30th) and 30.8 points per game (27th).
“We have to be better,” Hall said. “We all know that.”
We'll see how that goes.
The Redskins support the expansion of legalized gambling in Maryland, a question coming up before state voters next month. It's called Question 7 and it appears to be trailing in the polls, but Dan Snyder is putting his team behind the pro-gambling forces. Not sure why the NFL is okay with that.
