Washington’s passing charts show just how dominant Rams DBs were Sunday

Neither Alex Smith nor Kyle Allen completed a pass more than 6 yards downfield on Sunday.

By now you probably know the Rams crushed the Washington Football Team in Week 5, winning 30-10. You may have also heard that they limited Washington to only 108 total yards on 52 plays, an average of 2.1 yards per play.

Washington’s aerial attack was especially inept as Kyle Allen and Alex Smith completed just 18 passes for 111 combined yards, with 11 of those passes being caught by running backs. The Rams defensive backs were outstanding in coverage, which combined with L.A.’s relentless pass rush – led by Aaron Donald and his four sacks – made for a nightmare performance by Washington’s quarterbacks.

To put into perspective just how good the Rams’ coverage was, take a look at the passing charts of Allen and Smith from Next Gen Stats. Neither Smith nor Allen completed a single pass more than 6 yards downfield and they only attempted four throws at least 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

Without a doubt, this was one of the worst quarterback performances of the season. That’s not to take away from the remarkable comeback of Smith to even play another snap in the NFL, but there’s no getting around how poorly both quarterbacks played.

According to Next Gen Stats, Smith’s completed air yards – which measures the average depth of completion beyond the line of scrimmage – was -0.3. He was the only quarterback in the NFL this season whose average completion was behind the line of scrimmage.

The Rams’ defensive backs gave Washington’s wideouts no room to breathe, and with Smith (and Allen) under constant pressure, they had few options downfield.

Just look at these coverage numbers from PFF.

It won’t be this easy for the Rams secondary every week, especially given the rainy weather that they played in, but this was as dominant a performance as you’ll see in the NFL.

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