Studs
RB Roy Helu. Sort of easy to pick him this week. When he had the big number game vs. San Francisco, I wasn’t all that wowed. It was more a function of John Beck dumping off passes all day and those 105 receiving yards led to very little production that mattered and never threatened the Niners. But Sunday Helu was fantastic. In previous games many of his runs did not come out of the base offense; rather, they often came from three-receiver sets or run-friendly downs (second and extra long; six defenders in the box; that sort of thing). But he handled everything Sunday and he did what he had done in the preseason: he got extra yards. I have him unofficially with 73 yards after contact of his 162 yards. He touched the ball 30 times; he got extra yards on 21 of those plays. His 28-yard hurdle and broken tackle run for a touchdown will be replayed often. It’s a classic example of a play that should have been stopped for a yard or two that resulted in points because a guy made a big play. The Redskins have lacked one guy who can consistently do that. Can Helu become that guy? He was quicker to the hole than Ryan Torain and seems to fit better what this offense wants to do. When Helu is in the game the opposition has to honor more than just the run. Some of his best work resulted in short gains. In the fourth quarter he was first hit two yards deep in the backfield, then again at the line of scrimmage. He managed three yards – five after contact. He had an eight-yard run on a zone outside to the right in the first quarter that highlighted his quickness. It leads to broken arm tackle attempts. The play-calling really helped Helu and the entire offense, but he produced. Don’t know yet that he can be an every-down back for 16 games, but I do know that for one game he had more rushing yards after contact (63) than any Redskins back had gained total since Oct. 2.
WR Anthony Armstrong. OK, last week he was a Dud because of his lack of production. This time, though he didn’t play a whole lot, he came through with the game winning play. All he did was run a simple go route, but he made a terrific adjustment on the ball while the cornerback, Richard Browner, did not. In fact, Browner did a terrible job on that play and showed no awareness of the ball. But Armstrong made the sort of catch that got him noticed last season. But it’s amazing the difference one play can make. And it shows the difference between being an average offense and a good one. The good ones make those plays all the time (they have players who can make them consistently, of course).
LT Trent Williams. This is the best he’s played in consecutive games perhaps since he’s joined the Redskins. A week ago LB DeMarcus Ware managed just one holding penalty against him (on 12 one-on-one rush attempts). Sunday, Williams shut down rush end Chris Clemons. At least Ware threatened occasionally vs. Williams; can’t say the same about Clemons. Williams faced Clemons in 14 solo situations and Clemons really only got close to QB Rex Grossman once. And he needed to line up about five yards outside the tackle to get there, but Williams still was able to bump him off his path. There was a different demeanor in Williams’ body when he faced Clemons. The other rushers did not provide him much of a challenge and on a couple occasions he got a little lazy with his feet, relying on a big shove to end the rush threat. But he also did a nice job in the ground game. On one 11-yard Helu run, Williams did an excellent job of sealing Clemons, who had been lined up wide expecting a pass.
QB Rex Grossman. I have plenty of reasons why I should not put him on this list. He made two horrendous decisions that resulted in interceptions. Neither ball should have been thrown. He made a bad decision on the pass that was batted in his face (not just in trying to throw it again, but his target, Fred Davis, was covered with a double team). Another pass was nearly intercepted as well. But after his last interception, Grossman completed 10 of 14 passes for 139 yards and a 50-yard touchdown pass. Yes, he had ugly moments but if this were another QB, people would talk about what a gutsy effort it was to come back from some tough moments and still rally his team. Well, that’s what he did. Had the Redskins lost, he would not be here. Those mistakes have hurt Washington more than they’ve helped during his tenure. But part of being a Stud is making plays in crucial moments and Grossman did. That 50-yard pass was aided by a DB who struggles to play the ball in the air and a clean pocket by the line. But he made a good, aggressive heave. Also liked the touch on the pass to Mike Sellers, softly dumping it over the linebacker after sliding to his left. The play designs helped him, but he executed them well. He showed poise much – definitely not all – of the time. Grossman was accurate and was patient on the screen passes, giving them a better chance for success. Heck, one of his better throws came inside the 30 in the fourth quarter when he threw the ball away rather than force it somewhere. Next play: Helu’s touchdown.
Duds
Erik Cook. On field goal protection, he replaced Trent Williams on the left side for the first attempt. Though the block was not by his man, he allowed way too much penetration. On the extra point, Cook, who replaced Chris Neild on the right side, blocked down for some reason. A Seahawk lined up over him tried to shoot a gap to the left of snapper Nick Sundberg. When Cook blocked down it gave Will Montgomery two guys to block with no help. Couldn’t do it. Blocked kick.
LG Maurice Hurt. There’s some improvement, but he’s still getting beat too often. Again: he’s not yet ready for this role so take that into consideration. He had some nice blocks: shoving a blitzing linebacker to the ground in pass protection. Had a good block on pull. And he’s doing a better job of staying balanced than in his first starts. It’s a start. But he also loses too many blocks and allows too much pressure. He allowed the lone sack on Grossman as well as at least two other hits on him. Hurt gets beat to his outside shoulder a bit too much. He often allows defenders to get their hands into him too fast (that happened on one pressure). That’s when he gets knocked off balance and has issues.
Notes
…Kudos to offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and the offensive staff for the game plan and the play calling. They really took advantage of Seattle’s aggressive linebackers. The first drive set a tone.
…Grossman’s numbers were pretty good when using play-action. He completed 13 of 17 passes for 179 yards. Ah, but he also threw both interceptions after a fake handoff. Still, it was a wise strategy and in most cases Grossman had plenty of time because of the deception.
…The Redskins used 10 play-action passes in the first half, accounting for 115 yards. It would have been 11 for 119, but the Jabar Gaffney touchdown was nullified because he had stepped out of bounds before catching the ball.
They threw only six play-action passes in the second half for 64 yards.
… Here’s one play in which it really helped. On the 31-yard toss to tight end Fred Davis on the opening series, Grossman faked a handoff, then faked an end around to Gaffney. Blitzing safety Earl Thomas ran right at Gaffney. That bought Grossman time to hit a wide-open Davis. With no fake end around, Thomas runs right at Grossman and either forces a hurried throw or sacks him.
…They established the strategy on the first series with six play-action passes for 59 yards. In some ways you can argue that they used the play-action pass to open up the run game. How? Because the linebackers had to honor the crossing routes out of play-action and did not want to get fooled any more. This wasn’t true all the time, but it did happen.
On a second and 7 in the second quarter, Helu picked up 11 yards running an outside zone to the left. Seattle clearly expected a pass and middle linebacker David Hawthorne did not react at all to the run action while the strongside linebacker ran right at Grossman. Hawthorne played for a bootleg and there was no linebacker to come down the line to stop Helu. He ran untouched for 11 yards. On the next play the linebackers did not sell out to stop the run, all three were blocked and Helu managed another four. Had Hurt held his block it would have been more. Not a huge run, but an example of how perhaps their aggressiveness had changed on some plays.
…This is where Grossman nearly cost them more yards. On a third and 9 late in the third quarter, he was pressured on an inside rush (a stunt through Chris Chester). Grossman heaved a ball to a covered Santana Moss downfield, overthrowing him. The ball was nearly intercepted and would have given Seattle possession at its own 40 (leading 10-7). What Grossman missed: Roy Helu slipping out of the backfield uncovered to the right. He would have easily made the first down. Grossman was under duress as he started to throw, but he made a wrong decision. Also, Grossman really never looked at anyone else on the play.
…Tough to measure Evan Royster with only one carry. He didn’t look like he had any sort of rhythm and who can blame him? In the preseason his best runs came on his later carries.
…Chester did a nice job getting out on some screens, rolling up the linebacker on an 11-yard screen in the second quarter. Looked like there were a couple times when, had he gotten out a little faster, a big play was possible. But Chester had a key pickup of Clemons on the 50-yard touchdown pass. Clemons looped from right end and Chester picked him up and drove him wide. That opened a lane for Grossman to step into for the pass.
…Right tackle Jammal Brown was solid. The Seahawks did put Clemons on a handful of occasions. The one time Clemons got inside him, Chester helped out.
…Half of the Redskins runs were for three yards or less, a better percentage than what they’ve had lately. In the last four games 35 of their 57 runs were for three yards or less (vs. Dallas it was 12 out of 20). The real difference Sunday was a passing game that sustained drives, giving them more chances to run. And the 28-yarder, the sort of run they haven’t had in a long time.
In the last three games the Redskins have eight runs of 10 yards or more — all by Helu. The 28-yarder was only the second run of 20 yards or more in the past seven games. The other one, a 21-yarder by Helu, came against a three-man front with eight defenders far off the ball on the final play vs. Miami.
…Tight end Fred Davis got the Redskins going with two catches on the first drive, but that 15-yard penalty could have killed a good drive. Very unnecessary. He had a nice run on the 31-yard play in which he spun off and was tackled at the 2-yard line. He missed a block on Helu’s first down run, however.
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