Where Can Washington's Defense Take Them From Here?

You guys.. it might be one of those years. It only happens every 5 years or so, but Washington might just pull it off and make the playoffs again.

Here's the deal, Washington wasn't supposed to win the past two weeks. Now with a 4-game winning streak behind a sizzling hot defense, the schedule remains as such:

Seattle Seahawks

Carolina Panthers

Philadelphia Eagles

While Seattle presents the biggest challenge for Washington of the three games left, that is mainly due to Russell Wilson being a "baddd man" and not so much the defensive side of the ball. Interesting year for Seattle given their history the last decade of dominant defense. This year they can be had.

In fact, Seattle, Carolina, and Philadelphia rank 18th ,19th, and 20th in team defense rankings while Washington ranks 6th in team defense and tied for 2nd in points against.

At this point, Washington is 6-7 leading the NFC East with three games to go. They lost both games to the Giants which really made things harder. And honestly, sooo "DC Sports" of them to do that.

Speaking of The G-Men, they play the Browns, Ravens, and Cowboys in their final three games. Safe to say after watching Daniel Jones struggle this past week following a hamstring injury, the Giants are as good as gone. You heard it here first! Yes, I know they have a good defense and a solid new coaching staff. I like Joe Judge, he's got a great name and a great defense..but this year ain't it. I thought Washington's offense was bad, then I watched the Giants game last week. Let me double down while we're here and tell you I am actively avoiding watching NYG games the rest of the season because it's a tough scene to say the least.

Washington will need to win a 2 out of 3 from here on out, but 3-0 isn't impossible given how the defense is playing.

I almost feel bad talking about Chase Young so much because the whole defense is playing great, but he went bananas on Sunday:

As for the other guys, PFF graded out Washington's Safeties and S Kam Curl (79.2) has played spectacular for a rookie and S Jeremy Reaves (79.5) has produced every time he steps on the field. They rank 12th and 13th, respectively among all safeties since Week 12.

This Curl interception was a critical moment in the second half with San Francisco driving into Washington territory. This was a backbreaker for the 49ers and while they fought back in the 4th, this pick 6 was too much to overcome. This bend-don't-break defensive mentality has helped Washington become a top second half defense.

Stat courtesy of Teamrankings.com

The "last 3" stat jumped out at me the most. 4.7 points/second half in the last 3 games is outstanding. The second closest team is actually the Patriots tied at 4.7, but they gave up 17 points in the first half vs the Rams, who by and large were running out the clock in the second half of that affair..

The other stat that jumped out is the whopping differential between 2019 -> 2020.

12.9 to 6.5 2nd Half Points Against/Game . What a jump!

The most staggering thing about all of this is when the offense produces, the team wins. The defense struggled up until midway through the season, but since then it would be hard to pin any loss on them other than MAYBE the Detroit loss (See Chase Young Roughing Penalty).

The only thing that NEEDS to happen is Alex Smith staying healthy. This is the key to all of their current and future success this season. Sure, the defense has been a top 5 unit.. and sure, Gibson and McLaurin have been great weapons, but Alex ties it all together.

TOP 5 offense with Smith on the field? Pretty wild stat considering all the hate Smith gets about being a Checkdown Charlie with all these short throws, but when it's there, he knows when to take the shots. Smith was diagnosed with a calf sprain on Sunday against the 49ers on his surgically repaired leg. His availability for Week 15 vs Seattle is up in the air. This is concerning as Haskins may feel some pressure, but we can all agree Dwayne just wants to help the team win at this point so it will be interesting to see what happens. I still believe Smith is the only quarterback on this roster that can go 3-0 in the final 3 games. I also believe he gives Washington the best chance to beat Seattle on Sunday.

So the moral of the story is yes, the Defense can absolutely get them far, but the Offense is going to win these games moving forward. For Washington's sake, they are going to want Smith healthy and available for the final stretch.

On to Seattle.