For a Washington Redskins defense that has actually found some success in the past few weeks, Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers looms large. It stands as quite possibly the toughest test they’ve faced in a while, and it’s all due to one player.
Christian McCaffrey, a powerful and shift running back who is running away with the fantasy football MVP award.
So far this season, McCaffrey has amassed 1,123 rushing yards and 586 receiving yards, making for a league-leading 1,709 total yards at an average of 155 yards from scrimmage per game. Week in and week out, he has gone up against defenses that are scheming to nullify is production, and the rest of the league is still waiting on a blueprint to stopping him.
So how will Washington attempt to slow him down? The same way they did in last year’s 20-17 victory over the Panthers — by stacking the box and blitzing the back.
In an impressive late-season victory a year ago, the Redskins were able to hold McCaffrey to 20 yards on eight rushes and 46 yards on seven receptions. They were able to be so successful because edge rusher Ryan Kerrigan was stout against the run, and Daron Payne muddled up rushing lanes in the middle. According to Mark Bullock at The Athletic, Washington also brought an extra man into the box to offer some run support and spy McCaffrey out of the backfield, a role that will likely be played by Landon Collins on Sunday.
Washington also routinely sent a blitzer on passing plays, causing McCaffrey to stay and help pick it up before releasing on his routes and putting a linebacker in a tough position to cover him out of the backfield.
Blitzing the back was successful for the Redskins against McCaffrey last year, limiting the number of times he was able to work out into a route or at the very least, delaying his release. Expect them to try some different blitzes with the same intent on Sunday.
Will it be just as effective this time around? Maybe, maybe not. McCaffrey is another year older and his level of play has gone up significantly since last season, but it’s worth a shot.
If the Redskins can slow down McCaffrey, then they have a chance to slow down the Panthers and pick up their third win of the season. If not…it could be an ugly afternoon.
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