The Washington Football Team already has, arguably, the best pair of starting defensive ends in the NFL. Chase Young and Montez Sweat
The Washington Football Team already has, arguably, the best pair of starting defensive ends in the NFL. Chase Young and Montez Sweat, entering their second and third NFL seasons, respectively, combined for 16.5 sacks and 22 tackles for loss in 2020.
But, what happens if Young or Sweat are injured for any length of time?
James Smith-Williams, a second-year defensive end from N.C. State showed promise at times in 2020. As a seventh-round pick, he is also cheap. He’s certainly in the plans.
Also on the roster is another seventh-round pick from 2020 in Casey Toohill. Toohill was chosen by the Philadelphia Eagles last year and was claimed by Washington on waivers in October.
That’s it.
That’s why Washington’s all-time sack leader, Ryan Kerrigan, should be brought back.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Washington is certainly interested in bringing Kerrigan back.
Washington Football Team Pro Bowl DE Ryan Kerrigan will take a free agent visit to the #Bengals today, source said, another potential addition to Cincy's revamped defense. WFT also has interest in having Kerrigan, the team’s all-time sack leader, return.
The 32-year-old Kerrigan tested free agency as he felt he could still start somewhere. While interest in Kerrigan has been tepid, he recently visited the Cincinnati Bengals, who need pass-rush help.
The biggest reason Kerrigan hasn’t signed with anyone is money and age. Most teams needing pass-rush help will likely look at the top free agents coming off their first contract and, if they can’t land them, will look toward the NFL draft.
That’s why Kerrigan and Justin Houston are still on the market. Both players are still good and can help teams. Both will likely sign with someone after the NFL draft when teams reassess their needs.
Bringing back Kerrigan should be a no-brainer for head coach Ron Rivera and his team. He adds depth to an important unit and is considered a strong leader. Young is especially fond of Kerrigan.
“RK didn’t have to open his arms to me and help me throughout the whole season,” Young said, per Peter Hailey of NBC Sports Washington. “You hear them stories where that doesn’t happen all the time. I always thank RK for doing that and always thank him for the type of man that he is.”
That’s quite the endorsement.
Kerrigan returning to the franchise where he has spent all 10 years of his NFL career makes sense for everyone. Washington currently has over $18 million in remaining cap space for 2021, per Over the Cap, so money should not be the deciding factor in retaining Kerrigan as a backup.
Once the 2021 NFL draft concludes, Kerrigan and Washington should come together and strike a deal that ensures WFT’s all-time sack leader retires in the burgundy & gold.
In the end, Martin Mayhew notes that Washington’s young talent and a changing culture around Ron Rivera helped bring him to Washington.
For one of the first times since taking the role of general manager with the Washington Football Team, Martin Mayhew spoke on Wednesday, expressing some of the excitement that brought him to D.C. alongside Ron Rivera and Marty Hurney.
One of the main things that Mayhew mentioned was the young talent already on the roster, which led him to say he believes Washington is in a better situation than both the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers were when he joined their staffs.
“I look at this team as being better than both of those teams when I walked in,” Mayhew said. “Having won a division, having young talent like Terry McLaurin, Chase Young, Montez Sweat, so many talented young players.”
The job of a GM is usually to build a core of young talent to work with for the future, but a lot of that has already been done in D.C. On top of that, the culture change has already started under Rivera as well.
“I think Coach Rivera did a great job last year of sort of working on changing the culture and you can see that,” Mayhew said. “You can see that watching this team play. That final playoff game, when Heinicke was playing, the way the team rallied around him, it was really something special to watch.”
When you look at things that way, then the GM job in Washington was obviously pretty enticing. The number one thing to focus on now is getting a top quarterback in the building for Washington. There just so happens to be a guy in Detriot that Mayhew selected with the No. 1 overall pick when he was with the Lions as well…
Does that mean anything? Perhaps, but we’ll see if it’s enough in the end.
There’s a chance that Washington could have to part ways with a starter in any potential trade for Deshaun Watson, and these guys might make sense.
Whether you believe in Washington’s chances to potentially land superstar quarterback Deshaun Watson in a trade, the hypotheticals needs to be made. It would take an extraordinary amount of assets to get a deal done, but with a player of that magnitude, it can’t hurt to call and at the very least test the waters.
We’ve discussed a bit about what it might take to land Watson in a trade, and the most likely trade package would have Washington sending away multiple first-round picks, as well as some sweeteners, be that in the form of mid-round draft picks, or starting-caliber players.
If there are players that are entering the equation, it could absolutely make sense for Washington, seeing as it could lighten their load when mortgaging the future, and also benefit Houston right away. It would be hard to part with some of these guys, but if it helps land Watson, Washington needs to at least consider it. Here are five guys that could potentially benefit Houston in a trade.
If the Buccaneers can fend off Washington’s furious pass rush, Tom Brady could go off in an offense that finally fits his greatness.
When the Buccaneers face the Washington Football Team in the wild-card round on Saturday night, the obvious issue for the Bucs’ offense is a Washington defensive line stacked with five first-round picks (Chase Young, Montez Sweat, Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, and Ryan Kerrigan) and the interior pressure that front five can create.
Interior pressure has always been Brady’s Kryptonite (as one half-smart football scholar pointed out this week), and Brady has not been great at all under pressure this season — per Pro Football Focus, he’s faced pressure on 155 of his 636 dropbacks, and he’s completed 57 of 130 attempts for 675 yards, four touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 54.5 — the ninth-worst passer rating under pressure among quarterbacks who have taken at least 50% of their teams’ snaps.
But if Tampa Bay’s offensive line is able to mitigate that furious pass rush — and with guards Alex Cappa and Ali Marpet and center Ryan Jensen, they very well could — Washington could be in big trouble in a big hurry.
The relationship between Brady and Bucs head coach Bruce Arians and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich has taken a while to solidify, but it’s happened in the last month, for multiple reasons. After a first half of the season in which Brady and his receivers were rarely on the same page, leading to some embarrassing helium throws, everyone’s adhered themselves to the same playbook. Brady and his targets are in sync, and Arians and Leftwich have this offense humming with three things — play-action, pre-snaop motion, and ’12’ personnel — two tight ends, two receivers, and one running back.
Brady had just 67 play-action snaps from Weeks 1-9 — the third-fewest in the league behind Philip Rivers and Kirk Cousins — and he threw six touchdown passes to two interceptions. Without play-action, he threw 14 touchdowns and five picks. In Weeks 10-17, Brady dropped back on 58 snaps with play-action in Weeks 10-17 with seven touchdowns and one interception to show for it. Without play-action in the second half of the season, Brady threw 13 touchdown passes to four picks. So, maybe it’s time to dial that up a bit more.
Arians has been resistant to pre-snap motion this season, saying at one point that Peyton Manning didn’t need it when Arians was coaching Manning with the Colts from 1998 through 2000, but it’s a different league now, and Brady benefited greatly from motion during his time with the Patriots. Brady has utilized pre-snap motion for years to help discern coverage concepts, to isolate and remove specific defenders, and to give his receivers an advantage that their physical gifts don’t always present.
But it’s been a bigger part of Tampa Bay’s offense lately, and the results are obvious in a positive sense. From ESPN’s Seth Walder:
Hi, yes!
If we're looking at overall motion (motion at snap and motion and set) they've been higher than they normally are last three weeks! pic.twitter.com/D4G3yDDPM6
This touchdown from Brady to Chris Godwin last Sunday is a perfect example of how motioning a receiver across the formation not only gives Brady a zone indicator, but also creates an unfavorable matchup for the Falcons’ defense. Safety Keanu Neal checks linebacker Foyesade Oluokun to trail Godwin on the slot fade, and that’s… not the best call.
This 29-yard touchdown pass to Chris Godwin reflects everything going right with the Buccaneers' offense right now. PA flash-fake, 12 personnel, motion to create matchups, boom. Foyesade Oluokun is a good player, but I don't know why the check is for him to trail Godwin. pic.twitter.com/ZU5CKCCkyK
Add in the specter of ’12’ personnel, which is the personnel on this play, and another advantage becomes clear — with two tight ends in the formation, there are more blockers. This is especially true when one of those tight ends is Rob Gronkowski, the best blocking tight end of his era. It’s one reason Brady has been more willing to take deep shots out of ’12.’
With ’12’ personnel and play-action since Week 13, Brady completed 12 of 20 passes for 239 yards, 108 air yards, five touchdowns, one interception. On attempts of 20 or more air yards in those same circumstances, Brady had five attempts, four completions, two touchdowns, one interception. If you see the Bucs in ’12,’ the deep shot is coming.
Here’s another example against the Lions’ hapless pass defense in Week 16. The Bucs have Gronk and Cameron Brate aligned to the right side. Subtle pre-snap motion moving Brate inside tells Brady that Detroit is playing man coverage (which Detroit should never do), the stack creates coverage confusion off the snap, and then it’s yet another Brady-to-Gronk deep fade in which Gronk bodies the poor defender for the 33-yard touchdown.
It’s almost like those two guys have been there before.
Washington doesn’t play a ton of man coverage — they’re more conversant in two-deep stuff. One example: They have 124 pass-defense snaps in quarters, fourth-most in the league behind the Browns, 49ers, and Bills. Brady against quarters this season: 59 of 83 for 680 yards, 481 air yards, eight touchdowns, and two interceptions. So, if the Bucs can keep the pass rush at bay, Brady can hunt — and he’s clicking in this offense as never before.
“I’d say every week is getting a little bit better and a little bit more consistent [with] better communication,” Brady said of the structure this week. “We’re all understanding each other a little bit better each week. Football season is tough – there’s a lot of things to coordinate, there’s a lot of moving parts, different players and in and out, you’re running different schemes. But I think we’ve just tried to not take the foot off the gas pedal [and] tried to understand each other a little bit better each week and try to put ourselves in a decent position. Any time you make the playoffs, it’s a good feeling and it’s a great opportunity to be playing this weekend. A privilege, I think, for all of us. I think we want to go make the most of it. Playoff football is pretty special to be a part of, and I’ll be excited to be out there Saturday night.”
It’s going to take a near-perfect game for Washington to get their first playoff victory since 2005, but if they can take care of these keys, they might have a chance.
The Washington Football Team is a sizeable underdog to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Saturday night’s NFL wild-card game, and it’s going to take quite the effort to upset Tom Brady on his bid for a 7th Super Bowl ring.
Not many people are giving them a chance, but Washington just might have the formula to complete the upset. It’s going to need to rely on a herculean defensive effort, and just enough production from the offense to get the job done. Considering what we’ve seen over the past few weeks, that may seem like a big ask, but it’s absolutely not out of the question.
As coach Ron Rivera has been saying all week: ‘Why not us?’
Here are our biggest keys to the game for Washington:
Throughout his career, Tom Brady has always had a problem with interior pressure. Washington can provide it all day, from everywhere.
We’re not exactly breaking news here at Touchdown Wire when we say that Tom Brady is perhaps the greatest quarterback in NFL history. And in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he’s also become the greatest 43-year-old quarterback in NFL history — though that’s a lower bar, as only George Blanda, Doug Flutie, Vinny Testaverde, and Warren Moon have pass attempts at that age, and their attempts total 71 to Brady’s 610. In any event, while there were systemic issues in the schematic marriage between Brady and head coach Bruce Arians early on, Brady and the Bucs have certainly turned things around of late. Over his last four games, Brady has completed 69.1% of his passes for 1,333 yards, 9.8 yards per attempt, 12 touchdowns and one interception. At this age, to be playing as well as he ever has, is quite a statement.
But if there are two “failures” in Brady’s memory, those would be the first two Super Bowls he lost — Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, when the Giants and their NASCAR fronts and interior pressures did him in. In Super Bowl XLII, Brady was pressured on 23 of his 52 dropbacks, taking five sacks. Under pressure in that game, Brady completed 10 passes on 18 attempts for 91 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 69.4. In Super Bowl XLVI, Brady was pressured on 20 of his 43 dropbacks, taking two sacks, giving the Giants a safety when he was flagged for intentional grounding in his own end zone, and completing 11 of 18 passes for 94 yards, no touchdowns, one interceptions, and a passer rating of 51.6. In both games, defensive tackle Justin Tuck made Brady’s life absolutely miserable with interior pressure.
Feb 5, 2012; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) throws the ball away as he is hit by New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck (91) during the first half of Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium. Brady was called for intentional grounding in the end zone resulting in a safety. (Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)
Why is interior pressure such a problem for Brady? While he’s perhaps the best in-the-pocket mover in NFL history, and he’s great when he needs to bail against outside pressure, Brady is a step-to-throw passer who needs the ability to move up in the pocket to make big-time throws. You throw that out the window, and it’s one way to make him ordinary — or worse.
Now, Brady faces a Washington Football Team defense that ranks third in the league in defensive DVOA, second against the pass, and an opponent Positive Play Rate of 43% when providing pressure — only the Steelers and Rams have been more effective this season.
With the addition of Ohio State edge-rusher Chase Young as the second overall pick in the 2020 draft, Washington now had five first-round picks along its defensive line — Young, Ryan Kerrigan, Montez Sweat, Daron Payne, and Jonathan Allen. Washington can stunt pressure against your offensive line for days, and they’re happy to do so, but with that much talent, it’s not as if they’re required to scheme pressure by any means necessary.
In Week 15, it was Russell Wilson who experienced what this defensive line can do with straight four-man pressure. This caused Wilson to overthrow receiver David Moore in the end zone, and it was all about Allen (No. 93) blowing by left guard Jordan Simmons (No. 66), and preventing Wilson from making a clean throw to Moore, who had vaporized cornerback Ronald Darby on the way to what would have been an easy touchdown without that inside pressure.
If Brady wants more nightmare fuel, there’s this sack of 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens in Week 14. Here. Allen and Payne (No. 94) run an inside game, clogging up San Francisco’s interior offensive line, muddying the picture for Mullens, and allowing Young (No. 99) to blast in for the sack on delayed pressure. And with Kerrigan (no. 91) beating right tackle Mike McGlinchey to the offensive right side and compressing the pocket, Mullens has nowhere to go.
“They’re a really good defense and they’re playing really, really [well] right now,” Bucs receiver Chris Godwin said Tuesday. “They have a really talented front seven and they really get after the quarterback, so I think as an offense it’s going to be our job to make sure we control them. Make sure we’re on our Ps and Qs with protection and make sure our routes are on point. If you allow them to really get after your quarterback and disrupt the game, they’ll really do that.”
So Brady, who has completed 57 of 130 passes under pressure this season for 675 yards, four touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 54.5, must hope that his interior protectors can handle all of this. And in this regard, Brady does have able lieutenants. Neither of his primary guards, Alex Cappa and Ali Marpet, have allowed a sack this season, and while center Ryan Jensen has allowed four, Jensen’s most vulnerable games came against the Panthers in Week 10 and the Rams in Week 11, when he had to fill in for Marpet, who was dealing with concussion issues. Now that Marpet is back and healthy, he’s able to continue his preposterously positive effect on Brady’s protection and production.
Oct 25, 2020; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Ali Marpet (74) blocks for quarterback Tom Brady (12) against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
Per Sports Info Solutions, the Buccaneers’ EPA improves from -0.11 to +0.13 when Marpet is on the field. Also with Marpet on the field: Tampa Bay’s yards per attempt goes from 6.1 to 8.1, the yards per dropback shoots up from 5.5 to 7.6, the passing touchdown rate goes from 3.7 to 7.1, and the interception rate falls from 3.7% to 1.4%, the blown block pressure rate drops from 18.4% to 8.1%, and the blown block sack rate drops from 2.8% to 1.6%. If you think that makes Marpet look like one of the team’s most valuable players regardless of position, you’re on the right track.
So, that’s the matchup that could very well decide if Brady is able to advance in his first postseason with the Buccaneers, and whether he might become the first quarterback in NFL history to start a Super Bowl in his home stadium. If Marpet and his cohorts are able to give Brady a chance inside against this fearsome fivesome, there are opportunities to be had. But without that, Brady might be as one-and-done as he’s been throughout his career with the one element that has always upended him, both literally and figuratively.
While both DE Chase Young and RG Brandon Scherff were named to the 2021 NFL Pro Bowl from the Washington Football Team, there has to be a feeling among fans that a few players on the roster were snubbed as well.
[lawrence-related id=45336]
Among the people who deserved to get in, yet didn’t, were DE Montez Sweat, WR Terry McLaurin, P Tress Way, DT Jonathan Allen, and DT Daron Payne. All four players have had standout seasons, and are among the best at their position in the NFL.
Here are the players on the NFC Roster that got in ahead of those Washington players:
Wide Receiver:
Davante Adams (Packers)
DeAndre Hopkins (Cardinals)
DK Metcalf (Seahawks)
Justin Jefferson (Vikings)
Defensive End:
Cameron Jordan (Saints)
Brandon Graham (Eagles)
Chase Young (Washington)
Defensive Tackle
Aaron Donald (Rams)
Fletcher Cox (Eagles)
Grady Jarrett (Falcons)
Punter:
Jack Fox (Lions)
Both Scherff and Young are extremely deserving of the nomination, with Scherff making it to his fourth Pro Bowl team, and Young being named to his first in his rookie season. As more success comes to Washington down the road, we can expect more players to get the credit that they deserve.
While both DE Chase Young and RG Brandon Scherff were named to the 2021 NFL Pro Bowl from the Washington Football Team, there has to be a feeling among fans that a few players on the roster were snubbed as well.
[lawrence-related id=45336]
Among the people who deserved to get in, yet didn’t, were DE Montez Sweat, WR Terry McLaurin, P Tress Way, DT Jonathan Allen, and DT Daron Payne. All four players have had standout seasons, and are among the best at their position in the NFL.
Here are the players on the NFC Roster that got in ahead of those Washington players:
Wide Receiver:
Davante Adams (Packers)
DeAndre Hopkins (Cardinals)
DK Metcalf (Seahawks)
Justin Jefferson (Vikings)
Defensive End:
Cameron Jordan (Saints)
Brandon Graham (Eagles)
Chase Young (Washington)
Defensive Tackle
Aaron Donald (Rams)
Fletcher Cox (Eagles)
Grady Jarrett (Falcons)
Punter:
Jack Fox (Lions)
Both Scherff and Young are extremely deserving of the nomination, with Scherff making it to his fourth Pro Bowl team, and Young being named to his first in his rookie season. As more success comes to Washington down the road, we can expect more players to get the credit that they deserve.
The official 2021 NFL Pro Bowl rosters come out next week, but PFF predicts that three players in Washington will make the cut.
The NFL is set to announce the final Pro Bowl rosters for 2021 next week, and while there is a bunch of criteria and metrics that the league uses to determine who makes the cut, as well as a healthy weight on fan voting via social media, a lot of true football fans have a problem with how the players are decided.
Pro Football Focus has come out this week and developed their own way of creating the Pro Bowl rosters, using their own player grades for the season to determine who makes the cut. For Washington fans, this has resulted in three players from D.C. being named to the team, which is set to play a virtual Madden 21 game due to the coronavirus pandemic on January 31st. These are the guys who made it:
RG Brandon Scherff
DE Chase Young
DT Jonathan Allen
Those are all great nominations, and fans can be happy that they have some solid representation on the roster. However, it’s fair to feel like a number of players were snubbed, including the following:
WR Terry McLaurin
P Tress Way
C Chase Roullier
DE Montez Sweat
DT Daron Payne
CB Kendall Fuller
Of course, despite how much we would love to see it, you can’t stack the Pro Bowl roster with a bunch of players from what is at the moment a below-.500 team. What will be interesting to see is how much the actual Pro Bowl roster differs from what PFF put together based on their player grades. We will find out in a few day’s time.
Though the Baltimore Ravens didn’t beat the Steelers, they had a hand in their lone loss of the season according to Washington’s players.
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The Baltimore Ravens nearly beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 12 despite everything that could possibly go wrong, going wrong. Yet, the win/loss column doesn’t reflect “nearly,” so Baltimore moved down to 6-5 after getting swept by Pittsburgh this season. But what the Ravens couldn’t do, the Washington Football Team could, beating the Steelers Monday night.
After the 23-17 win, Washington defensive ends Montez Sweat and Chase Young gave a little credit to Baltimore, according to NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala. Young said the Ravens exposed some of the flaws they used to beat Pittsburgh.
But what did Baltimore actually expose? Young further explained following the game, pointing toward some offensive tendencies.
“Really a lot. Schemes, certain guy’s tendencies,” Young said, per NBC Sports’ Ethan Cadeaux. “I would say tendencies of the offense and certain things they like to do out of different looks Baltimore executed on. I feel like we did too.”
Young’s assertion is backed up by some compelling evidence. Against the Ravens, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had one of his worst games of this season, throwing one touchdown and one interception for an 81 passer rating despite not sacking him once. Baltimore also did a good job holding Pittsburgh’s rushing attack in check as well, keeping them out of the end zone on the ground and finishing with a pretty pedestrian 3.4 yards-per-carry average.
Had the Ravens’ offense been able to muster just a little more production, they could have found enough to get over the hump and bring the Steelers their first loss of the 2020 season. But without quarterback Lamar Jackson, wide receiver Willie Snead, tight end Mark Andrews, fullback Patrick Ricard, and running backs Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins, Baltimore just couldn’t get enough going offensively in time.
While Pittsburgh’s loss doesn’t really impact Baltimore much in the standings — either in the division or in the AFC playoff picture — it’s still nice to see a division rival lose a game, especially if the Ravens had a hand in it.
