There has been a lot of talk this week about quarterback Robert Griffin III as the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare to host the Washington Redskins on Sunday. The talk is indeed warranted as the rookie is off to a great start. Instead of focusing on the Redskins offense today, I want to bring a couple of things to light about their defense, especially their pass defense.
Heading into this weekend the Redskins defense ranks last in the league in passing yards allowed a game with an average of 328.4. They also rank 27th overall in passing yards allowed per play with an average of 7.71.
Where offenses have been able to victimize the Redskins the most is to the short right, deep middle, and deep right areas of the field as you can see in the chart below.
| Redskins Pass Defense By Direction | |||||
| Short Left | Short Middle | Short Right | Deep Left | Deep Middle | Deep Right |
| Plays: 84 | Plays: 68 | Plays: 89 | Plays: 14 | Plays: 21 | Plays: 21 |
| NFL Rank: 2 | NFL Rank: 2 | NFL Rank: 4 | NFL Rank: 14 | NFL Rank: 1 | NFL Rank: 4 |
| Avg Gain: 4.93 | Avg Gain: 5.63 | Avg Gain: 7.09 | Avg Gain: 10.93 | Avg Gain: 21.62 | Avg Gain: 16.10 |
| NFL Rank: 1 | NFL Rank: 3 | NFL Rank: 29 | NFL Rank: 15 | NFL Rank: 30 | NFL Rank: 28 |
| Comp %: 58.33 | Comp %: 61.76 | Comp %: 76.40 | Comp %: 35.71 | Comp %: 61.90 | Comp %: 57.14 |
| NFL Rank: 2 | NFL Rank: 8 | NFL Rank: 31 | NFL Rank: 12 | NFL Rank: 26 | NFL Rank: 27 |
To make matters worse, the Redskins defense has allowed 29 explosive plays so far this season through the air and that number jumps to 30 when you add in the play that included a penalty to exceed the 20 yard barrier.
Opposing quarterbacks are completing 72.7% of their passes on third downs against the Redskins defense and 30 of 66 pass attempts on third downs have resulted in the chains moving.
Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall is primed to be picked Sunday at Heinz Field as he has allowed a completion rate of over 71% when thrown at and just over 14 yards per reception.
This game sets up beautifully for the Steelers talented group of wide receivers and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who is probably just itching to wing it deeper a bit more than he has so far this season.
So while RG3 is the acronym that everyone will be using this week, make sure not to forget about BR7.
