The Washington Redskins will host the St. Louis Rams in what will be their second home game in as many weeks. The Redskins exited their week one contest against the Dolphins with a loss, while the Rams managed to secure a victory in their home opener against the Seahawks.
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St. Louis defeated Seattle by winning the battle in the trenches. Their defense secured six sacks, while their offense only allowed two. Washington will have to find a way to disrupt the Rams’ pass protection on defense, and a way to slow down their ferocious pass-rush on offense.
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The latter is more easily said than done, as St. Louis has a number of talented players in their front seven. The group is headlined by defensive tackle Aaron Donald, and defensive end Robert Quinn. Both players proved difficult to defend in week one; Donald and Quinn each registered a pair of sacks on the day.
While the Rams undoubtedly have one of the best pass-rushing duos in the league, slowing them down, or stopping them altogether, isn’t impossible. It certainly won’t be easy, but, in a surprisingly strong effort, the Redskins offensive line was able to neutralize Miami’s pass-rush in week one.
The Redskins allowed one sack on the day, and it didn’t come from Ndamukong Suh or Cameron Wake. The fact that Washington was able to keep players like Suh and Wake at bay is promising. It was unclear how effective the right side of the offensive line would be, as right tackle Morgan Moses and right guard Brandon Scherff are relatively unproven talents at the professional level.
Moses and Scherff, who are 24 and 23 respectively, played incredibly well in the season opener and will be expected to be equally as effective this week against the Rams. If they can manage to neutralize St. Louis’ pass-rush, their odds at moving the football greatly increase.
On top of trying to neutralize the Rams’ pass-rush, the Redskins will have to find a way to generate a pass-rush of their own. In their winning effort against the Seahawks in week one, the Rams only allowed quarterback Nick Foles to get sacked twice. Washington will have to get to him a lot more than that to secure a victory.
The Redskins, in my opinion, have an underrated pass-rush. Ryan Kerrigan is a constant force coming off the edge, and Preston Smith, Washington’s second round selection in the 2015 NFL draft, has looked solid since joining the team. The rookie garnered one sack and a forced fumble in week one, while Kerrigan earned half of a sack in the contest. It’s worth noting that veteran pass-rusher Jason Hatcher also recorded a sack.
In all, the Redskins racked up three sacks against the Dolphins. While solid, I believe that Washington will have to improve upon that number if they want to be victorious this Sunday against the Rams. They need to produce a pass-rush capable of putting pressure in the face of Nick Foles.
If the Washington Redskins don’t win the battle in the trenches, on offense and defense, I fear that they will fall to 0-2 on the season.
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