The Redskins have shown they can win big games on the road. They’ve also shown they can blow big leads at home.
After three games, that’s not all they’ve shown.
Among the early trends/developments:
» Safety play. Redskins safety LaRon Landry certainly has made some mistakes. Every rookie does. But Landry has served notice with his hits and his ability to play all over. Landry covers in the slot; drops to the deep third and plays in the box, often lining up in a linebacker’s spot.
Meanwhile, veteran Sean Taylor still has his sins, but has covered a lot of ground deep, one reason why the Redskins have allowed one pass play of more than 27 yards. The defense has allowed seven plays of 20 yards or more; four fewer than after Week 3 a year ago.
» Running left. The numbers are skewed because of the Giants’ game, but, so far, opponents have run to their left side 27 times for 120 yards, a 4.4 yard average. However, that’s mostly due to New York rushing 15 times for 60 yards. Seven of those 15 carries gained at least five yards against the right side of Washington’s defensive line.
» Big plays. The Redskins wanted more plays of 20 yards or more. After three games, they’re not doing well in this department. Washington has 10 such plays — or one less than after three games last season en route to 50.
However, the Redskins do have four plays of 45 yards or more; they had six such plays last season.
» Sacks. The Redskins have applied better pressure than at this time last season. They now have seven sacks — four more than after three games in 2006. The line has 3 1/2 of those sacks, 2 1/2 more than a year ago at a similar point.
» Chris Cooley’s inaction. The tight end only has six catches for 54 yards (and has been thrown to only 13 times). Of those six grabs, two have gone for scores and the other four, three have gone for first downs.
The problem is, Washington has kept him in to block quite a bit; both Miami and Philadelphia were aggressive. And when he is running a route, Cooley — who lines up all over and often goes in motion to help free him up — typically draws extra attention; that should be good for other receivers, and it’s why Antwaan Randle El has had his downfield moments.
Cooley had just seven catches after three games last year and finished with 57. It’ll help facing other teams that won’t pressure as much as the Eagles and Dolphins. Or if Reche Caldwell can give the Redskins another receiver threat aside from Santana Moss and Randle El.
