Stats That DON'T Matter: 3 Overblown Washington Redskins Stats to Ignore

Sometimes, statistics can tell a story. Other times, they tell only part of a story. And on some occasions, they're absolutely useless. While the majority of football statistics carry at least some meaning, here are three particular stats from 2011 that Washington Redskins fans can safely ignore heading into 2012:

Touchdown-to-interception ratio

Only the Buccaneers, Chiefs and Jaguars were worse than Washington in this category in 2011, as the Redskins had only 19 touchdown passes to go along with 24 interceptions. 

I'm pretty sure I don't even have to tell you that this stat no longer matters for the Redskins. As long as Robert Griffin III is the quarterback, this number should a) be better and b) be less relevant. With veteran quarterbacks running the show last season, 35 turnovers accompanied by only 27 total touchdowns was embarrassing. 

This year, they should score more than they give it away, and if they don't, at least they can chalk that up to RG3 growing pains. 

This rule applies to the majority of the team's passing stats from 2011, most of which were terrible.

Sacks allowed

The offensive line gave up 41 sacks last year, which is more than they'd like, but I don't think this number is irrelevant because of the change at quarterback. If anything, RG3 could be more susceptible to sacks than his predecessors were.

The key, though, is that last year's pass-blocking problems came with emerging left tackle Trent Williams missing four games, right tackle Jammal Brown missing four games and veteran guard Kory Lichtensteiger missing 11 games.

Pro Football Focus ranked them 28th last year in terms of pass-blocking efficiency, which was deserved based on those 41 sacks, as well as the fact that they gave up 205 total pressures (only the Giants had more with 220). 

By the time Williams got into a groove in October and November, Lichtensteiger was out for the year and guys like Maurice Hurt and Erik Cook were forced into the starting lineup. Both fared terribly. 

Now Williams is back from suspension, Lichtensteiger is back from injury and Brown seems to have a renewed focus on getting back to the Pro Bowl level he reached in New Orleans. 

So don't stress about this line. It's actually in pretty good shape.

Points allowed

Obviously, the number of points a defense surrenders is of the utmost importance, but the fact that Washington gave up a rather high 22.9 points per game last year shouldn't worry fans. 

Only 11 teams surrendered more points last year, but in reality, this defense played better than that would indicate. They were victims of the division they played in, facing six offensive juggernauts along with Tom Brady and the Patriots and Cam Newton and the Panthers. Against those teams, they gave up 24 points per game.

Remember, the Super Bowl champion Giants gave up more points than the 'Skins did. They didn't stand out like a sore thumb within their division.

Besides, the defense ranked much higher in related categories. Only 12 teams gave up fewer yards per game than they did. They were also middle of the pack in terms of yards allowed per play, better than average in first downs allowed and had the fifth-best red-zone defense in football.

This is a young defense, and they're doing a lot of things right. Getting that points allowed total down is sometimes the last thing to come.

From last month: Redskins stats that DO matter