Why is Washington suddenly allowing more sacks?
Taking a closer look at why Washington is suddenly allowing far more sacks over the past few weeks.
An interesting trend with Washington’s offense in recent weeks has been the uptick in sacks. Washington has allowed 15 sacks this season, which ranks joint 13th least in the league. However, nine of those sacks have come in the last two games, meaning in Washington’s first six games, the team averaged just one sack allowed per game, which would currently rank joint top of the NFL with the Rams.
Now, sacks can be misleading statistics because they don’t give full context to the pressure a quarterback may or may not be under throughout the game. A sack can come from a variety of different reasons: a good rush from a pass rusher, a bad rep from the offensive line, a good blitz against a particular protection scheme, blanket coverage from the secondary, receivers not running routes correctly, quarterbacks holding onto the ball too long, quarterbacks managing the pocket poorly and many other reasons. Sacks can also be avoided despite good pressure with quickly thrown balls or quarterbacks extending plays with their movement within the pocket or ability to scramble.
So sack totals aren’t a statistic that should be used on it’s own to just how good a pass rush is or how bad an offensive line is. However, Washington jumping from a sack allowed per game through the first six games to nine sacks allowed in the last two is a significant enough jump to take a closer look at.
Now, it’s worth noting Washington has had its share of injuries to the offensive line in recent weeks. Starting right guard Brandon Scherff hasn’t played since Week 4, though Wes Schweitzer has done a good job standing in for him. Starting right tackle Sam Cosmi went down in Week 5 and his replacement, Cornelius Lucas only lasted two weeks before missing the Broncos game. Center Chase Roullier, who had been playing at a very high level, was lost for the season in the Broncos game too, so Washington’s offensive line has been heavily depleted. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the uptick in sacks is all because of that.
Packers Sack 1
Situation: 2nd and 2
On this play, Washington looks to take a shot down the field on the back of play-action. DeAndre Carter is sent in motion across the formation before running a wheel-stop, breaking outside from the slot like he’s running a wheel route before stopping and breaking off his route. Outside of him, Terry McLaurin runs a deep corner route, initially releasing inside to give himself space to break outside later on. Taylor Heinicke feels like he might be able to hit McLaurin as he breaks outside with the corner too shallow and the safety still inside. I like the aggression, but the route takes a little too long to develop and Heinicke gets sacked just before he makes the throw.
Left tackle Charles Leno uses a quick set against Packers edge rusher Rashan Gary. Gary is initially caught by surprise, but makes a good adjustment and is able to eventually get around Leno to the edge to close on Heinicke.
Verdict: This one is probably on Leno. It’s a long developing play and I don’t hate the aggressive intent from Heinicke to try and fit that ball in there to McLaurin. There was a window there and although Heinicke has typically missed those throws this season, that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t take the shot if it’s on. But it’s a slightly harsh one on Leno too because Heinicke has the time to get to the top of his drop and make two significant hitch steps up in the pocket before getting hit. So it’s not like Leno was beat straight away either.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Bullock's Film Room to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.