Redskins Halftime Takeaways: Defense dominating, offense can do better

It was a decent half for the Redskins. They’ve controlled the game, as was expected. But nonetheless, they can improve in a number of ways, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.

After two quarters of football, the Redskins lead 17-7. The defense has been solid, but on the offensive side of the ball, there’s still some room for improvement. The team has a sizable lead, but with a few negated bad plays, the lead could be even bigger. Let’s get right into the takeaways below.

The Redskins started out strong with a quick touchdown from Kirk Cousins to Josh Doctson on the first drive, but after that, they were largely stagnant. They followed up that score with two three and outs and a terrible interception by Kirk Cousins. Consistency is still being sought for, and although the Redskins piled on some more points later, with Samaje Perine getting his first career touchdown, they could have gotten more.

Speaking of Perine, let’s talk about him for a minute. The trio of Perine, Thompson, and Brown isn’t one that’s widely-heralded throughout the league, but against the 49ers, the commitment to the run has continued to work wonders. The play of the run game dipped a bit in the first half against San Francisco, but it’s still been solid, with all backs able to fire off decent gains and keep the offense moving.

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One player who has been underrated in the ground game thus far is rookie tight end Jeremy Sprinkle. Inactive for the first time due to injuries across the team, Sprinkle’s absence has been noticed. Jordan Reed may be a matchup nightmare, but for opposing defenders in the run game, he’s a match made in heaven. He just can’t block consistently, and while he had a lot of big catches in the first half, he was solely responsible for a couple backwards plays. This team loves to use two tight end and three tight end sets. But when they don’t have their best young blocker on the field, it shows.

Luckily for the inconsistent offense, the Redskins’ defense came to play today. The pass rush has been spectacular, generating consistent pressure on Brian Hoyer. Preston Smith was the man who logged the sack, but not to be understated is the impact of the interior defensive line. Jonathan Allen is one of the team’s best defensive players, but even better than him is second-year man out of Temple, Matt Ioannidis. Ioannidis seems to get a good push on every other play, and his presence is always felt. Overall, the Redskins’ front seven is playing much better from an ill-fated 2016 campaign. And it showed in a first half where they didn’t give the 49ers any breathing room.

The secondary came into the game banged up and bruised, and it didn’t get any better at the beginning. D.J. Swearinger got injured on the 49ers first drive, and when Stefan McClure came to replace him, he followed suit just a couple plays later, going down with an injury. Swearinger ended up returning, however, and since that shaky start, there’s plenty to like from the Redskins’ secondary. Bashaud Breeland and Fabian Moreau both did a nice job locking down Pierre Garcon when given the chance, and Montae Nicholson and D.J. Swearinger both had big plays, each narrowly missing interceptions.

One thing the Redskins need to watch out for, however, is opening up the middle of the field. The 49ers engineered a late scoring drive by firing down a wide open middle. The tight end had one long completion, while Marquise Goodwin also snuck in front of the safeties on multiple occasions. They need to do a better job locking down that area if they want to hold the 49ers to a low score.

Next: Redskins Game Thread: Week 6 vs. San Francisco 49ers

Overall, it’s been a decent half. But on offense, the Redskins need to produce more, and not for the other team. Kirk Cousins has been particularly bad when going deep today, going 0-4 with an interception in the first half. With improved play from him, the team can start to pull away against the 49ers. They have the lead. Now it’s time to put the cap on the bottle. Be sure to stop by our discussion board and provide your thoughts on the game thus far! The 49ers start the second half with the ball. We’ll be back to the action after the intermission.

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Redskins Halftime Takeaways: Defense holding on, offense can do better

By Ian Cummings | Oct 15, 2017

It was a decent half for the Redskins. They’ve controlled the game, as was expected. But nonetheless, they can improve in a number of ways, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.

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