It may come as a surprise to some, but the Washington Redskins defense is ranked 10th in the NFL in overall yards, giving up 333.3 yards per game. The team is actually pretty good against the pass only surrendering 222.9 yards a game, which is 7th in the NFL.
One of the things that has hurt the Redskins this season is average drive started by the opposition. Opposing teams have started 69.8 yards from the end-zone on average, that’s 4th worst in the NFL.
Even though the defense sits 12th in NFL at 5.33 yards per play allowed, only two teams allow more points per game (9.1), and only three teams are worse on third downs (45.5%) in the fourth quarter.
Truth is the Redskins could avoid all of the above issues by just simply creating more turnovers on defense. The team is currently -9 in turnover differential, which is 4th worst in the NFL. More turnovers means less time on the field for the defense, which essentially means less fatigue in the fourth quarter.
More turnovers would also lead to more offensive opportunities, with those opportunities likely coming from good field position, or at least better than what the Redskins have had thus far this season. Not to mention they’re tied with Oakland for the worst differential when it comes to points off turnovers.
Adding more opportunities to an offense that ranks seventh overall in the league would easily add to the Redskins average point per game, currently at 21.9 which is tied for 18th in the league. It would also lower the points per game given up by the defense. Currently, the Redskins give up the tenth most points in the NFL at 25.4 per game.
In their last 25 games, Washington has forced just 34 turnovers (ranking 24th in the NFL over that time). In contrast, the 2014 Redskins only have three interceptions all year, 20 players in the NFL currently have at least 3 interceptions so far this season.
Redskins head coach Jay Gruden and defensive coordinator Jim Haslett both made points about needing more turnovers this week.
“It’s got to translate to the field,” Gruden said. “We have to do a good job of forcing the ball out. We’ve had a couple opportunities this year. We haven’t got it done.”
“As coaches we have to preach it more and get after them and emphasize it more,” Haslett said. “Those things will come.”
One thing is for certain, if the turnovers don’t come soon, neither will the wins.
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