What We Learned » The Redskins haven’t generated much pressure from four-man rushes out of their base defense. But they are creating pressure by using various looks — and by using only four rushers out of their nickel defense. Of their seven sacks Sunday, five came from four-man rushes, and four of those were out of their nickel package. On one they showed eight at the line and dropped four. Another time Brian Orakpo stood up over the middle and rushed to his right. The other two sacks came from five-man rushes out of their nickel set. It also helps when the opposition can’t pass protect or tries to have receivers block linebackers, as the Rams did once vs. Ryan Kerrigan on a sack.
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Of Brandon Banks’ first six punt returns this season, three gained between 25 and 35 yards. But since Banks’ 35-yard punt return vs. Arizona, here’s what he’s done in this area: 5 yards, 6, 10, fair catch, 5, 1, 2 (fumbled), minus-5 and fair catch. Also, of his last seven kickoff returns, none has been for more than 23 yards. He has had two kickoff returns longer than 25 yards this season and none more than 31.
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The Redskins sometimes seem caught between the offense they want to be and the one they actually are. They want to be aggressive throwing the ball, and eventually that will yield high-level results. But they don’t have the passing attack to sustain that desire. Quarterback Rex Grossman has turned the ball over 14 times in his seven starts and had two other interceptions that were dropped Sunday. The problem is they can’t just run the ball if they want to beat good teams. With this defense playing at a high level, they need stronger decisions by the quarterback and improved game management under duress.
» Maybe the Redskins aren’t a strong 3-1. After all, two of their three wins have come against subpar teams from the NFC West. But they’ve done what they should so far. And with the way preseason favorite Philadelphia is struggling (1-3 entering a game against Buffalo) and with how Dallas quarterback Tony Romo is throwing games away, the Redskins can hang around just by playing smart football with good defense — and staying healthy. But their offense must improve for the Redskins truly to contend.
– John Keim
