Just as the rest of the league may have forgotten about them, the Pittsburgh Steelers have snuck back into the playoff race in the AFC after defeating the Washington Redskins 27-12. They’ve now won two straight games and sit only one behind the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers were certainly helped by Redskins mishaps, but they’re starting to establish a powerful running game behind halfback Jonathan Dwyer, and the offense looks like it’ll be difficult to defend moving forward.
For the Redskins, it was a sloppy game from the start as the receivers put the ball on the ground and, although the numbers won’t tell the whole story for quarterback Robert Griffin III, it was still his worst game as a professional. The bigger story is the defense, which was unable to come through in any phase of the game, and had no consistent answers for the Steelers' offense.
Let’s take a look at the key performances from this inter-conference matchup.
Washington — Three Performances of Note
Ejection Deserved
Even before DeAngelo Hall was ejected after losing his cool at the end of the fourth quarter he was already having a difficult day, as his -3.4 coverage grade suggests. It started on the Steelers’ second play from scrimmage as Hall bit on a fake wide receiver screen, opening up the wheel route for tight end Heath Miller. Hall struggled with WR Emmanuel Sanders as well, as the Steeler created a lot of separation on crossing routes over the middle. For the game, Hall surrendered five of seven passes his way for 73 yards, 60 of which came after the catch. Had Sanders not dropped a wide open in-route early in the fourth, those numbers would look a lot worse.
The late-game ejection and a personal foul penalty pushed Hall’s overall grade to -5.2, and no doubt puts him in contention for our “Had a Bad Day” team, announced, as usual, on Tuesday
Strong Right Side, Part 1
Among the few positives for the Redskins' offense was the right side of their offensive line. While it’s no major surprise that right guard Chris Chester (+2.4) played well, tackle Tyler Polumbus (+3.0) has now put together a three-game stretch of strong play after a horrendous start to the season. For the day, the pair combined to surrender a solitary hurry on 74 combined pass blocks as Griffin was generally well-protected.
Polumbus also did a nice job against inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons, as he got out in front of him on one of the many Redskins’ wide receiver screens, while also getting to the second level in the running game to seal Timmons to the outside on another play. The rest of the Washington offensive line has played well this season, and if Polumbus can continue his improvement they may actually round out to be one of the league’s best by year end.
Aging Fletcher?
In the NFL, good players can age seemingly overnight and unfortunately for LB London Fletcher, his best play may be well in the rearview mirror. He graded at -3.5 on Sunday, dropping to -11.7 for the season. Most alarming were his three missed tackles, which allowed him to not only match last year’s total of 14, but also to take the dubious distinction of the current leader in that category at his position. When he wasn’t missing tackles, Fletcher was getting wiped out at the second level in the running game, and even though he only allowed 4 yards into his coverage, Fletcher was responsible for fullback Will Johnson’s touchdown in the flat. His base numbers also benefited from a dropped pass from wide open tight end Miller. It may be too early to write off a player of Fletcher’s ability, but his play has taken a big hit so far this season.
Pittsburgh — Three Performances of Note
Lewis Has a Big Hand in the Win
Throughout the game, the announcers were intent on pushing the narrative of the Redskins’ dropped passes. While they did drop seven for the game, some of the instances the announcers cited were actually great plays from cornerback Keenan Lewis. He graded at +3.1 on the day with three passes defensed. Lewis saved a touchdown as he batted away a post route intended for WR, Dezmon Briscoe at the start of the second quarter. He got his hands on another would-be touchdown that was intended for WR, Aldrick Robinson with 14:22 to go in the fourth quarter. On a day when Griffin seemed to have plenty of time to throw on his play action fakes, Lewis’ coverage was a key part in holding the Redskins to only one touchdown for the game.
Strong Right Side, Part 2
Much like the right side of the Redskins’ line, the RG Ramon Foster (+1.8) and RT Mike Adams (+2.5) combination were the strength of the Steelers’ offensive line on Sunday. The pair allowed only a single hurry on their 72 combined pass rushes, while adding strong work in the running game. Foster was able to seal defensive tackle Barry Cofield inside on more than one occasion while Adams was one of the Steelers' linemen who saw success against Fletcher at the second level.
Play Action Weaknesses
Despite allowing only 12 points, it was not your classic effort from the Steelers' defense. The team’s pass rush was inconsistent, and their susceptibility to the play action pass was alarming. Linebackers James Harrison (-2.4 pass coverage) and Lawrence Timmons (-2.0 pass coverage) were caught out of position on more than one occasion. For Timmons, the issues leaked into the running game as well, as he looked timid against the Redskins’ option attack and was beaten at the second level on six different occasions.
Both Timmons and Harrison were manipulated by the play action game all afternoon, leaving wide open throwing lanes in the middle of the field. Harrison lost Logan Paulsen on one crossing route, but he was bailed out when Griffin overthrew the wide open tight end. It was a similar situation with 4:11 to go in the third quarter as Timmons was again dragged out of the middle by the play fake. Fortunately for Pittsburgh, Griffin’s underthrown crossing route cost the Redskins a big gain.
Though Washington was unable to capitalize, Sunday showed just how potent their play action game can be, while also giving future Steelers’ opponents a weakness to exploit in the coming weeks.
Game Notes
– While the Fox broadcast may have slightly exaggerated the numbers, the Redskins did drop seven passes in the game
– QB, Ben Roethlisberger did not attempt a pass over 20 yards, while Griffin’s two attempts over that distance fell incomplete.
– Steelers RB Jonathan Dwyer picked up 73 of his 107 yards after contact.
PFF Game Ball
With the Steelers unable to get consistent pressure on Griffin, Keenan Lewis was the best player on the defense as he got his hands on three passes, including two in the end zone.
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