Washington Football Team vs. Rams preview: Matchups, score prediction
By Ian Cummings
Washington Football Team defense vs. Rams offense
As much as the defense is a source for vitriol in Washington, the Washington Football Team’s defense has been one of the league’s better units in 2020, even with injuries hampering the team’s depth through four weeks.
According to Football Outsiders, Washington’s defense is fourth overall in DVOA (Defense-adjust Value Over Average), behind only the Colts, Steelers, and Buccaneers, and Washington’s pass defense is third overall in DVOA. Where Washington gets brought down is their run defense, where they’re 18th in that same metric.
There are some causal circumstances that cloud these figures. Washington’s offense has been so unproductive that its given opponents safe leads to work with. Opponents haven’t been pressed to pass particularly often against Washington, because they haven’t had to.
If the offense starts to produce more, we may get a better idea of how good Washington’s defense actually is. The Rams provide a good test here; Sean McVay is a brilliant play caller, who has a stacked offensive unit. Jared Goff has several dynamic weapons such as Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, and Tyler Higbee, and breakout running back Darrell Henderson, a thick, explosive runner, profiles as Washington’s kryptonite on defense.
Washington needs better play from their linebackers and safeties in run defense if they want to limit Los Angeles’ ability to take control. Troy Apke has had his moments as a coverage defender, but he’s missing over 17 percent of his tackles, and Landon Collins, one of the league’s highest-paid safeties, has missed a whopping 29 percent of his tackles. His 2020 cap hit is $14.2 million, and he already has nine missed tackles.
That’s a stat that can’t remain if Washington’s defense wants to play up to its potential.