Washington Football Team: Key numbers from shocking victory over PIT

Key Numbers from Washington Football Team’s win

78-2-1: With the Washington Football Team down 14-0 in the second quarter and the offense looking stagnant, this game looked to be all but over. But like they’ve grown accustomed to doing, Washington made halftime adjustments and came out with some momentum in the second half.  Washington gave the Steelers only their second loss in 80-plus games when the team had a 14-point lead at home.

2018 Weeks 6-8: The last time the Washington Football Team won three games in a row was more than two years ago during the 2018 season.

57-6: Washington has always picked up the pace after halftime, and this stat proves that. During their three-game winning streak, they have outscored their opponents 57-6 in the second half. This is after being outscored 27-36 in the first half in those games.

9-98-1: Logan Thomas finished the game as the leading receiver, with nine receptions on nine targets, 98 yards, and the tying touchdown. Not only did he make clutch catches when it counted, but he also recovered a J.D. McKissic fumble in Washington territory with Washington down 17-10, which could have changed the trajectory of the game.

31: The longest play for Washington was a 31-yard completion to Cam Sims on third-and-14 from Washington’s 14, where Sims did most of the work after the catch. Not only did this play keep the drive alive, but it gave the offense some much-needed momentum, which the team utilized to score its first touchdown of the game.

Sims had another big catch on third down late in the fourth quarter, when he pulled down a 29-yard one-handed reception to keep the drive alive. Washington would go on to take the lead on this drive.

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7-for-8: After some early struggles, Dustin Hopkins is proving that the coaching staff made the right call in maintaining their faith in him. Over the three-game winning streak, he has gone 7-for-8 on field goals and 9-for-9 on PATs. He made some huge kicks at the end of the Steelers game to put the team up and then added to their lead, hitting from 45 yards out twice. He also hit from 49 yards out right before the half.

+1: The way to win football games when you have a talent gap is to limit mistakes, and Washington did just that. Coming into the game, Washington had the seventh-worst turnover differential in the NFL, while Pittsburgh had the best (+12). Washington had a +1 turnover differential against Pittsburgh, getting a late interception to seal the victory.

296: Say what you will about Alex Smith, but he knows how to will his team to victory. This man deserves all the respect, going blow-for-blow with Roethlisberger in what could be called The Battle for Comeback Player of the Year.

Not only did Smith play through what looked to be a disgusting foot injury (unrelated to his previous injury), but he did not even miss a play.

Smith passed for 296 yards, which in itself is not a lot, but this came against the number one passing defense in the NFL. Pittsburgh was allowing only 193.2 passing yards per game and had 16 interceptions on the season. Smith surpassed that average by over 100 yards and played mistake-free football.

24 of Smith’s 31 completions and 260 of Smith’s 296 passing yards went to Thomas, Cam Sims, and J.D. McKissic, who stepped up in a big way.

1.5: Coming into today’s game, Washington had the 14th-ranked rushing defense by yardage. Not only did they hold the Steelers to only 21 rushing yards, but they held them to 1.5 yards per carry. Yes, they did benefit from James Conner missing the game due to COVID-19, but they forced the Steelers to be one-dimensional.

On the other hand, Peyton Barber, who led Washington in carries, only averaged 1.6 yards per carry, showing the need for Washington to have additional RB playmakers if Gibson is ever forced to miss a game.

0-2: Not enough can be said for how big of a game the Washington defense played on Monday. They bent, but they did not break. When it counted most, the team was able to get stops against the Steelers. They held the Steelers to 0-for-2 on fourth down, including a goal-line stand where Chase Young stopped Benny Snell Jr. from putting Pittsburgh up 14-0.

After Washington had turned it over on downs at their 31-yard line, Pittsburgh had five chances to get it into the end zone from the one-yard line, but the defense held up.

Late in the fourth quarter, with Pittsburgh at the Washington 28, they decided to go for it again on fourth down instead of kick the field goal and were stopped on an overthrown ball by Roethlisberger. Washington took over and drove down the field for the winning kick.

12-1-2019: It has been over one year since Terry McLaurin was held to two catches or less. Against Pittsburgh, he only had two receptions for 14 yards, as he constantly faced double teams throughout the game. This freed up other receiving targets who made the plays when it counted most.

Washington continues to defy the odds and has the looks of a team that believes it can stand up to any team in the league. If the trend continues, don’t be surprised if the Washington Football Team is able to pull up an upset in the Wild Card Round a la the 2014 Carolina Panthers.