If you’re the kind of football fan who enjoys breaking down the stats from games, then here’s a number for you to mull over; the Washington Redskins just put up 526 yards of offense against the New Orleans Saints on their way to an absolute demolishing 47-14 victory.
Kirk Cousins was practically perfect, and on the other side of the ball the Redskins defense forced Drew Brees in to his worst performance of the year with two interceptions and only 209 yards in the air.
This was truly a team effort from Washington today, which makes for a fascinating edition of What worked, what didn’t, what sucked.
What worked
- Simply put; a lot. A lot worked well for the Redskins today, but the biggest story of the day was Kirk Cousins, who finished the day on the bench with a perfect 158.3 passer rating, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, 20/25 passing for 324 yards.
- Cousins had a lot of help today, with excellent Offensive Line blocking setting up great runs from both Alfred Morris and Matt Jones who both contributed significantly, racking up a combined 160 yards on the ground. Jones also added 131 yards worth of receiving yards today just for good measure.
- The Offensive Line had an interesting day today. Before kickoff today the Redskins were first in the NFL in sack percentage, only allowing sacks on 2.8% of Quarterback drop backs. Today, Cousins was sacked three times, which normally would be a cause for concern. However, the open field blocking was so good from guys like Brandon Scherff and Trent Williams today that the sacks can almost be forgiven.
- The best open field blocking of the day came on a gorgeous 78 yard screen pass touchdown from Matt Jones, who followed big blocks laid by Scherff, Williams, and Josh LeRibius to open the lane.
- Although Cousins spread the ball around a lot, Jamison Crowder once again led the Redskins in receptions today with 4 catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. Crowder has led the Redskins in receptions four times in the last six games.
- Jordan Reed continues to show why he’s one of the most dangerous weapons in the NFL when he’s healthy, racking up another two touchdowns today. His first touchdown today was the first score of the game, with Cousins finding Reed for the 16 yard completion on a bootleg that fooled the entire Saints Defensive Line.
- The Redskins defense got some huge plays today from unlikely players, but none more so than Perry Riley Jr. Famous for his struggles in pass coverage, Riley had 1 pass defended and 1 interception today. The interception was a thing of beauty as well; a one handed fadeaway pick against a Tight End who was interfering with him. Ridiculous.
- Around the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys both suffered losses, and later this evening the New England Patriots are going up against the New York Giants. The NFC East remains wide open.
What didn’t
- In a win like this, there wasn’t a huge amount of things that went wrong for the Redskins. It was a solid team effort across the board. However there were a few isolated plays where things didn’t go well for Washington, and none more so than Mark Ingram’s huge run in the 1st quarter that was only saved from being a touchdown by a great Will Blackmon chase down.
- Saints Wide Receiver Brandin Cooks got behind the Redskins secondary too easily for a 60 yard touchdown in the second quarter. From the video it appears that Bashaud Breeland looked to pass him off to a high safety who simply wasn’t there. That sort of thing needs to be cleaned up by the Redskins defense if they are to continue winning games.
- The first play of the game saw Rashad Ross run about 90 yards on the opening kick off return. Unfortunately, those 90 yards were completely lateral yards, and the Redskins began their first drive inside their own 10 yard line. Ross needs to simply burst out of the endzone and look for a hole to hit in future.
What sucked
- Nothing. For the first time this year, nothing went catastrophically wrong for the Redskins. Enjoy this win, folks.
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