Brian Robinson stands out in Commanders loss to Seahawks
Highlighting the positive performance from running back Brian Robinson
Commanders running back Brian Robinson has flown under the radar this season due to the lack of runs called in this offense this season. Despite that though, he’s quietly having a strong season. Despite averaging just 12 carries a game, he’s finding ways to have an impact. He’s ripped off a couple of long runs, most recently against the Eagles he had a 29-yard carry, but even in the passing game he’s becoming more impactful.
This week against the Seahawks, Robinson had a career best game as a receiver. He caught six passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. Now it’s worth pointing out that a good chunk of that yardage came on two off-script passes that weren’t designed to go to him, but he deserves a lot of credit for keeping the play alive and giving quarterback Sam Howell an option.
Robinson’s big game started on the fourth play of the game.
On this play, Robinson lines up in the backfield to the left of Sam Howell in the shotgun. Robinson is part of a three-man route combination commonly known as spacing. The two receivers to the left of the formation both run quick hook routes designed to spot up in between zone defenders. Robinson then swings out to the flat more as a distraction than anything else. The idea is that Robinson in the flat will force a flat defender to widen out to him, creating space inside for the other receivers.
The Seahawks actually have a bit of a coverage bust because tight end John Bates is left wide open in the middle of the field, but Sam Howell opted to work to his right side inside of his left and never saw him. The Seahawks also brought safety Jamal Adams on a blitz from the slot. Howell does extremely well to avoid a sack but is forced into scrambling to his left to try and keep the play alive. As he does this, Robinson gets to the sideline and looks back to Howell, recognizing his quarterback is in trouble. Robinson can see he’s not helping by staying in the flat, so he instead works up the sideline.
That move from Robinson is key because either the defenders nearby sink back with him and that gives Howell space to keep the ball and run himself, or they bite up to stop Howell scrambling and he runs open down the sideline. The latter is exactly what happens and Howell does a great job flicking the ball out to Robinson down the sideline. From there, Robinson has nothing but open field in front of him as he sprints down the sideline for a 51-yard touchdown.
It was an incredible play by both Howell and Robinson that wasn’t at all what was designed but they just made it work when the designed play broke down. It wasn’t the only time that happened in the game either. Later in the game on an entirely different concept, a very similar thing happened.
This time, the Commanders are looking to take a shot further down the field. The two receivers to the left both run vertical routes to occupy defenders and clear out the space underneath. Curtis Samuel is the real intended target of this play as he runs a deep over route from the other side of the formation. The hope is that the two receivers to the left vacate a ton of space behind them for Samuel to run into. Robinson, for his part, is again just swinging out to the flat as a checkdown option but primarily is just there to occupy any zone defender in the flat and keep that space open for Samuel to run into.
Unfortunately, Samuel gets jammed pretty heavily at the snap and then stumbles out of it, which effectively takes him out of the play. That means the primary option for this play never really became a viable option, forcing Sam Howell to again think about going off-script. The Seahawks also get some pressure off the right side of the line, which Howell feels and begins to scramble away from. Once again, Robinson gets out to the sideline and looks back to Howell, noticing he’s scrambling. He simply makes the exact same decision as we saw on the touchdown play, taking off down the sideline knowing he’ll either make space for Howell to run into or give him a throwing option.
Just like before, the defender in the flat bites up to Howell to stop him running and Howell does a great job making the throw over the top of him to find Robinson. Robinson again begins to sprint down the sideline but this time the Seahawks have defenders back deep to prevent him from taking it all the way for a touchdown. Still though, Robinson picks up 48 yards before being forced out of bounds.
Those two off-script plays accounted for 99 of Robinson’s 119 receiving yards. The first one resulted in a touchdown and the second set the team up for a field goal, so a big chunk of Washington’s total points were down to these two explosive plays. That’s something we’ve seen glimpses of from Robinson this year. When he was drafted, he wasn’t really considered a receiving back because at Alabama, he primarily played as the workhorse back while other running backs were more shifty receiving types. But this year we’re seeing Robinson get a little more of an opportunity in the passing game, particularly in the screen game, and he’s making the most of it.
While a lot of his production in the passing game has come on screens, he’s also shown he’s a capable receiver out of the backfield. He has some good hands that can make adjustments to off target throws, which we saw in this game.
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