Washington’s CBs showing signs of improvement
Taking a closer look at the improved play from Washington’s starting cornerbacks
An underrated aspect of Washington’s defensive performance against the Seahawks was the play of its cornerbacks. Kendall Fuller and William Jackson have come under fire a lot this season for mistakes, and certainly deserved some criticism for their play earlier in the year. Since the bye week, however, Washington has reverted to more zone coverages and playing more simple assignment football, which has enabled both Fuller and Jackson to play better.
The Seahawks boast a strong set of receivers, with D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett leading the group as two of the league's best receivers. Lockett was held to just three catches, though he did rack up 97 yards largely thanks to his one 55-yard play where free safety Bobby McCain failed to pick him up as Jackson passed him off. Outside of Lockett though, no other receiver picked up more than 37 yards and Metcalf managed just one catch for 14 yards in the entire game.
Now, part of this was down to Russell Wilson struggling after coming back from his injury and Washington’s defensive line was able to generate some pressure too, but Fuller and Jackson both stood out when watching the All-22. Fuller’s highlight play obviously came at the end of the game when he intercepted Wilson’s pass on the Seahawks’ two-point conversion attempt.
On this play, the Seahawks aligned Metcalf tight to the left side of the formation with Freddie Swain just inside of him. Fuller almost always plays that side, so he takes his position opposite Metcalf. Metcalf runs a crossing route while Swain releases outside of him and then follows behind him across the field. Fuller initially runs with Metcalf, but he knows he has safety help with Kam Curl playing inside. With Curl taking over the route, Fuller knows he can look back towards the quarterback and try to find where he’s going with the ball. As he does that, Wilson progresses his read to Swain’s route, thinking Fuller and Curl were doubling Metcalf. However, Fuller peels off Metcalf’s route and works back inside, where he’s in the perfect position to defend Swain’s route. Wilson delivers the throw not expecting Fuller to be there, but Fuller manages to jump in front of Swain to intercept the pass and seal the game for Washington.
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