When watching preseason football, as a writer and a fan, you analyze things that go right and wrong. Last night, the Washington Redskins opened their preseason defense of the 2015 NFC East Championship. While there were some good things that happened there were plenty of bad. In this article we take a look at a the bad, the better, and the best of week 1.
The Bad. Penalties were very bad. I know that this is the first preseason game and mostly rookies play it, but the penalties were horrid. The Redskins had 14 penalties for 123 yards. Many of the penalties would negate plays that were being made. This must be cleaned up. We will need to keep an eye on this going forward in the preseason. If, when the starters are playing longer, the penalties still rear their ugly head the Washington Redskins could be in trouble. Costly penalties are hard to overcome.
The Better. Defensive front seven. When the Redskins first group was on the field their run defense seem to be much improved. Will Compton and Mason Foster in the middle of that front seven are able to hunt down running backs going sideline to sideline. OLB Preston Smith along with DE Trent Murphy also got in the backfield on run plays and created havoc. If they are able to keep this up the front seven and the run defense of the Washington Redskins should be much better in 2016.
The Best. Kirk Cousins. Cousins came in and from the start seemed to have command of the game. He was calm in the pocket and was able to hit 4 different receivers on his only drive of the game. Cousins was 5-5 for 40 yards on that drive. He saw the field with great precision and was very accurate with the ball. If there was any question on whether he was ready or not it was answered. Now we want to see that answer get built upon.
The 2016 Washington Redskins took the lump on the scoreboard. However, the preseason is not about wins and losses. The preseason is about evaluation and readiness. I need to see more out of the run game and the depth, otherwise, I think come Monday Night September 12, 2016 we should be more than ready to put a valiant effort on defense of the division title.
Preseason week 2 Friday Aug 19 vs New York Jets. Check out my preview on this game later in the week. HTTR!!