The BYE week as we've seen is a great time to finger-point conduct some introspection and improve. One of my biggest gripes with the Redskins so far has been the penalties. A team with so many veterans and a discipline monger Head Coach like Mike Shanahan should not be equated with poorly disciplined teams, but alas, here we are.
The Redskins are NFL Worst 2nd in the NFL in offensive holding penalties with 16 (Bears have 17). That's equated to 8 stalled drives, and as we've seen, the Redskins have been in 3rd and longs WAY too many times. Their average last week versus the Lions was around 12.2 yards. Not many teams will convert those. The fact the Redskins rank 31st in 3rd down conversion percentage at 24% is no doubt affected by this (the majority of the NFL is around 40%).
The Skins' 12 false starts are also a top 10 worst, which have equated to a whopping 9 stalled drives. Here's the breakdown of penalties per game (games in bold are losses): DAL (5), HOU (7), STL (9), PHI (5), GB (4), IND (7), CHI (7), DET (10). The Redskins rank 4th in the NFL in penalties with 59. Below is a list of all of them (including declined ones) and after the jump is the individual breakdowns. (Stephon Heyer is not going to like this post).
First Downs: penalty caused a first down for other team.
Stalled Drive: no points scored on drive and no first down earned after penalty incurred.
Penalty |
Count |
Declined |
Yards |
Nullified Yards |
First Downs |
Stalled Drive |
Offensive Holding |
16 |
2 |
140 |
49 |
0 |
8 |
False Start |
12 |
0 |
55 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
Illegal Block Above the Waist |
6 |
1 |
44 |
163 |
0 |
0 |
Defensive Offside |
6 |
1 |
25 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Defensive Holding |
4 |
0 |
16 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
Defensive Pass Interference |
2 |
0 |
19 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Delay of Game |
2 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Illegal Crackback |
1 |
0 |
15 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
Low Block |
1 |
0 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Unnecessary Roughness |
1 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Illegal Bat |
1 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Intentional Grounding |
1 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Offensive Pass Interference |
1 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Illegal Wedge |
1 |
0 |
8 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
Defensive 12 On-field |
1 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Illegal Motion |
1 |
0 |
5 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
Offside on Free Kick |
1 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Ineligible Downfield Pass |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Totals: |
59 |
5 |
401 |
239 |
9 |
2 |
It is re-assuring that the team is not committing routine personal foul and dumb penalties, but we're shooting ourselves in the foot with these regardless. OK...so who's to blame?
Stephon Heyer tops the list. Week 3 and 4 were games that he started, so a lot of damage was done there. He did see some action against the Lions. In short, we need Jammal Brown.
Artis Hicks and his false starts baffle me to no end. They guy has been in the league for over 10 years and is lined up next to the Center. Four of those false starts have led to stalled drives.
Trent Williams gets a pass. Those two holding calls were against the Colts (Freeney), so other than that he's been pretty solid despite some up and down play.
Orakpo has to get smarter because two of those off-sides calls led to direct first downs.
Player | Count | Declined | Yards | Nullified Yards | First Downs | Stalled Drive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stephon Heyer | 6 | 0 | 45 | 36 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Artis Hicks | 5 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Trent Williams | 4 | 0 | 35 | 17 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chris Cooley | 4 | 0 | 33 | 22 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brian Orakpo | 4 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jammal Brown | 4 | 1 | 15 | -4 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
H.B. Blades | 3 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Phillip Buchanon | 3 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Casey Rabach | 2 | 0 | 20 | -2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kory Lichtensteiger | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chris Horton | 2 | 0 | 13 | 47 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fred Davis | 2 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Donovan McNabb | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Santana Moss | 1 | 0 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mike Sellers | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Carlos Rogers | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
London Fletcher | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rex Grossman | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LaRon Landry | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Roydell Williams | 1 | 0 | 10 | 20 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Darrel Young | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reed Doughty | 1 | 0 | 8 | 84 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kedric Golston | 1 | 0 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kareem Moore | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Phillip Daniels | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derrick Dockery | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rocky McIntosh | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Keiland Williams | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |