The questions started about five seconds after the draft ended. Maybe sooner. And they haven’t stopped. Not when it comes to the Redskins’ pass rush, anemic last year and not addressed this offseason.
Ahem. Listen to this: the Redskins now have 12 sacks — seven shy of last year’s total — thanks to Sunday’s five quarterback takedowns in the 34-3 win over Detroit. Four players recorded sacks, led by Andre Carter’s two.
They did it, too, without blitzing. Not once. It helped that Detroit, for all but two times, used only five blockers to stop the rush.
“You saw what we could do when that happens,” Redskins end Phillip Daniels said. “People talk about our pass rush, but we have a good pass rush here.”
Whether or not it continues is another matter. The Lions have now allowed 27 sacks; clearly they’ve had issues blocking every team. The Redskins next three opponents — Green Bay, Arizona and New England — have allowed a combined 17.
However, the Redskins did more than just apply pressure. They overwhelmed an offense that had averaged 387.3 yards per game.
» The front four. Washington capitalized on its quickness up front. The Redskins often had their tackles widen their split, lining up on the outside shoulder of the guards rather than inside. Daniels made a handful of plays from this formation when he lined up as a left tackle; once a tackle on a second-and-7 one-yard loss and another time he collapsed the pocket and forced Lions quarterback Jon Kitna to hurry a throw. Daniels would start upfield, then cut back inside to a crease.
They were also savvy.On the one time Detroit used seven blockers — the Lions used six once, also — the Redskins still managed a sack.
Demetric Evans, playing right tackle, started off on the same side as the tight end and back. But rather than rush that side, he looped all the way around the opposite end — and sacked Kitna from behind.
“We wanted to use our quickness,” Evans said.
» The back seven. The linebackers often lined up a step deeper than normal, taking away intermediate routes and crashing down on ones underneath. Linebacker Marcus Washington credited middle linebacker London Fletcher.
“He can look and see it’ll be a pass,” Washington said. “He’s really good at pointing those things out.”
And the secondary played a disciplined game, staying in their coverage areas and disrupting the timing of the receivers.
With good coverage came extra time to rush.
“It all goes hand in hand,” Washington said.
