Midseason Stats That Matter: Washington Redskins

For the second straight year, the Washington Redskins have hit the midseason mark at 3-5. Last season, they battled back to win the NFC East, so we're not ruling anything out as they kick off the second half of the year Thursday in Minnesota. Before that happens, let's look at some of the key stats from the first eight games of 2013.

22.4: That's the number of points Griffin's passer rating has dropped by this season. One year after posting the league's third-highest rating, RGIII ranks 23rd at 85.0—behind Mike Glennon and Michael Vick and less than a point ahead of EJ Manuel. 

25: That's the total number of passes Griffin's receivers have dropped this season, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), which is only 10 short of his total from 2012 and ranks third in the NFL behind only Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford. We're not letting him completely off the hook, but that might help explain why he's been so inconsistent. 

0: That's the number of times Griffin has put together back-to-back games with a passer rating above 80.0. Last year, he was above that mark in each of his first seven games of the season. He's had two games over the 104.0 mark, which is only one shy of last year's total at this point in the season. The problem is that there have been as many valleys as peaks in 2013.

31: That's the percentage of 20-plus-yard passes Griffin has been accurate on, according to Pro Football Focus. He's going deep on about 10 percent of his throws, which is basically the same rate as last year, but he was accurate on 50 percent of those tosses in 2012. Also, he threw seven touchdowns and only a single pick on deep passes last season, but he's got only two touchdown strikes and three picks in those situations this season. 

257: That's how many yards Griffin has rushed for this season, which ranks fourth among quarterbacks, behind Terrelle Pryor, Michael Vick and Colin Kaepernick. He's been held to 37 yards or fewer in six of his eight games, with 63 percent of his 2013 total coming in back-to-back October games against Dallas and Chicago. Last year, when he led all NFL quarterbacks with 840 rushing yards, he was capped at 37 or fewer yards just six times the whole season. He's still on pace to run 98 times, which would only be 22 shy of his 2012 total. The difference is he's averaging just 5.2 yards per carry after averaging 6.8 in 2012. 

	2012 (rank)	2013 (rank)
Comp. %	65.6 (5th)	60.3 (23rd)
TD %	5.1 (8th)	3.0 (27th)
INT %	1.3 (1st)	3.0 (24th)
YPA	8.1 (1st)	7.2 (18th)
Rating	102.1 (3rd)	80.0 (23rd)
QBR	71.41 (5th)	42.24 (24th)
Rush YPA	6.8 (1st)	5.2 (5th)
Rush YPG	54.3 (1st)	32.1 (5th)

65.4: That's the percentage of times the Redskins have scored touchdowns when reaching the red zone, according to TeamRankings.com, which is surprisingly four points higher than their total from 2012. They ranked fourth in the league in this category last season, and they're in the exact same spot again this year.

58.1: That's the percentage of plays the Redskins have passed on this season, according to TeamRankings.com, which is up more than 20 percent from last year's percentage of 48.3. Alfred Morris is averaging a league-high 5.2 yards per carry, and Roy Helu has performed well, but they've handed it off a lot less, and Griffin's been running by design less often. 

	Plays per game	Handoffs per game	Designed QB runs per game
2012	62.1	23.4	5.0
2013	69.5	22.3	3.5

2: That's the number of 40-yard passes the Redskins have completed this season. The Buccaneers are the only other team with fewer than three completions of 40 yards or more. They're also one of only four teams with fewer than 22 20-yard pass plays. All of that passing for naught. 

16: That's the number of times the Redskins have turned the ball over this year. In 16 games last season, they turned it over just 14 times, which was the lowest total in the NFL. Now they're on pace for 32, which would have been the seventh-highest total in football in 2012.

92: That's the percentage of runs on third or fourth down with two or fewer yards to go that the Redskins have converted, according to Football Outsiders, which is the highest rate in the NFL. That reflects well on Griffin, Morris and Helu. 

81.3: That's the offensive line's pass-blocking efficiency rating, according to PFF, which ranks fourth in the NFL. It's surrendering only 10.5 pressures per game, which is slightly higher than last year's average but on significantly more passing plays. The line itself has been responsible for a league-low five sacks. 

31.6 and 398.8: That's how many points and yards the 'Skins have given up on a per-game basis this season, ranking 31st and 30th respectively. On the bright side, the two teams ranked below them in the yards allowed category are division-rivals Dallas and Philadelphia. Washington gave up only 22 fewer yards last year, but it's giving up an entire touchdown more in the points department.

	PPG allowed	YPG allowed
Entire 2012 season	24.2 (22nd)	377.7 (28th)
First four weeks of 2013	28.0 (26th)	440.5 (31st)
Most recent four weeks	35.3 (32nd)	357.0 (19th)

-14.5: That's Washington's DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) rate on special teams, according to Football Outsiders, which ranks dead last in the NFL. The Redskins have given up a pair of punt return scores and plenty of big returns in addition to those, and they've averaged only 6.5 yards per punt return. They've yet to return a kickoff more than 28 yards. As a result, Washington is the only team in the NFL that is starting its drives, on average, inside its own 23-yard line.

1.35: That's how many yards opposing running backs are averaging against the Redskins between five and 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, according to Football Outsiders, which is the second-highest total in football. That's an indictment on the linebacking corps as well as the secondary.

-16.5: Speaking of that linebacking corps, that's London Fletcher's PFF grade, which ranks him 50th among 51 qualifying inside linebackers. He has only 13 defensive stops on 522 snaps, 10 missed tackles and the third-lowest stop percentage among inside linebackers. Might be time for the 38-year-old to walk away.

18.6: That's Trent Williams' PFF grade, which makes him the third-highest-rated tackle in the NFL. Williams has given up just two sacks and 16 pressures in eight games. If the former top-five pick keeps this up, he'll deserve his first Pro Bowl nod.