DChotread.com: INSIDE THE NUMBERS – DOLPHINS @ REDSKINS

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http://www.dchotread.com/2015/09/10/inside-the-numbers-mia-wsh

INSIDE THE NUMBERS – DOLPHINS @ REDSKINS

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Chris Russell

The Washington Redskins open up their 2015 season at home on Sunday against a vicious defense and an intriguing offense of the Miami Dolphins.

Kickoff is set for 1 PM ET, and I invite you to tune in to 106.7 The FAN, beginning at 8:30 AM for “Washington Game Day Uncensored” with Bill Rohland and Earl Forcey, followed by the Junkies leading you right up to kickoff.

I’ll be taking your calls and getting the pulse of the FAN in our postgame show on 106.7 the FAN and the Radio.com app at around 5 PM on Sunday.

I – PRESEASON PROGRESS?

The Redskins were pretty good in the season before the season, for whatever that is worth. Sure, they finished (3-1) but perhaps more important, they were # 2 in total defense at 228.5 yards allowed per game.

The offense was 7th in the NFL, at 350.8 yards per game and they were # 1 in the NFL in yardage differential per game (+122.3), according to NFL GSIS and Redskins media relations.

A couple of things not to like about the preseason. In three-of-the-four games, Washington gave up the first score and overcame deficits of 10-0 against Detroit and 13-0 at Baltimore. Against Cleveland, the Redskins were down 14-3.

I can’t stress this enough, but if the Redskins are consistently playing from behind this year when it counts, they are in deep trouble. Not only do you lose confidence, but you can also lose sight of your game plan to run the ball consistently and not put Kirk Cousins in a situation where he has to pass the ball 35 times.

In a miserable 2014 season, the Redskins actually scored first nine times. Not bad, not great. If that number is 10 or 11 times in 2015 and especially if they score touchdowns first instead of field goals, that could be a huge key.

A couple of other trends for whatever they are worth. Over the four preseason games, the Redskins racked up 90 first downs on offense compared to allowing just 49 to their opponents.

Washington was also (30/56, 53.6%) on third down. The Redskins defense only allowed opponents to convert on third down, 31.9% of the time (15/47). The Redskins time of possession was 35:05 to 24:56 on average. They racked up 1,403 net yards of offense to 914 allowed and Redskins quarterbacks were accurate to the tune of 70.7% (87/123).

The Redskins tallied 13.0 sacks for their defense, while allowing only six.

That’s all good. What wasn’t good was only converting one time out of six chances on fourth down, including five straight failures. Washington also fumbled nine times in four games, while losing four of them.

Alfred Morris and the “first-team” offensive line were not very effective. Morris only had 56 yards on 18 carries for a 3.11 yard-per-attempt average. That doesn’t mean anything crazy, but considering the drop off year-over-year in yard-per-attempt average for Morris (4.8-2012, 4.6-2013, 4.1-2014), it has to be noted, especially with a young right side of the offensive line.

Another bad number? The Redskins missed thirty tackles in four games, according to ProFootballFocus.com.

II – LAST YEAR TELLS US WHAT??

Hit the link for the rest.