Why Washington's offensive line struggled to protect against Dallas
Taking a closer look at how the Cowboys were able to cause Washington issues in pass protection
Washington’s offensive line has been a unit of strength for the team so far this season. Despite various injuries across the line, the group has played well in both run blocking and pass protection. However, against the Cowboys on Sunday, the line struggled more than it typically has this season. Taylor Heinicke was sacked four times and pressured on numerous other occasions. So what went wrong up front for Washington? Let's take a closer look.
Slide vs Solid protections
There are multiple ways an offensive line can try to block any given pass play, but two of the most common are solid protections and slide protections. A solid protection is as basic as it comes as it’s essentially a man blocking scheme. The offense identifies five defenders it wants to block and assigns each offensive lineman with a defender to block. This makes things easy to understand as each blocker knows exactly who they are responsible for. Slide protections are slightly different, as either the entire offensive line, or more typically part of the line will slide to one side. The sliding part of the line won’t necessarily know exactly who they will be blocking, but it allows the offense to slide extra blockers towards an overload blitz or against a stunting front.
Here’s an example of a partial slide protection
On the opening third down of the game, Washington used a partial slide protection. The right side of the line and the center all slide to the right. On the left side, left guard Ereck Flowers is covered on his outside shoulder, so he doesn’t slide and stays left to block the defensive tackle. Similarly, Leno also has a threat to the outside and stays left. As the ball is snapped, we can see right guard Brandon Scherff sliding to his right but also picking up the defensive tackle. That defender then attempts to work inside, but instead of Scherff following him, he passes the defender off inside to center Tyler Larsen and then continues to work outside ot help right tackle Cornelius Lucas.
On the back side, Flowers and Leno initially block their defenders man-to-man, but then the defenders run a stunt, so the pair execute a pass off with Flowers handing the tackle off to Leno and then peeling off inside to pick up the looping defensive end. The protection works nicely overall and Taylor Heinicke has time to deliver his throw.
Washington uses partial slides a lot, like most teams. However, the Cowboys managed to get them out of their slide protections and force them to use more solid protections by adding a fifth rusher fairly regularly. In fact, on Washington’s first play of the game, the Cowboys did exactly that.
With the versatility of linebacker Micah Parsons, the Cowboys can move him around and have him join the rush from anywhere. On this play, they line him up on the edge, shifting defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, one of the Cowboys’ best pass rushers, inside to work against Brandon Scherff at right guard. This forces Washington into what’s often referred to as a 5-0 call, where the line switches to a solid protection with the five offensive lineman blocking five pre-designated defensive lineman. Now, this isn’t a true 5-0 call because tight end John Bates stays in to chip Parsons on the edge, but otherwise it’s effectively the same.
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