San Francisco 49ers' Blueprint for Shutting Down Robert Griffin and the Redskins

To stop the Washington Redskins, the 49ers must, first and foremost, shut down Robert Griffin III. 

In their three wins this season, Griffin has been left fairly unbothered, sacked only twice and hit six times.  This lack of pressure has allowed him to take the time needed to scan the field and make big plays, completing 64.1 percent of his passes for an average of 13.8 yards per completion.  He’s also been able to turn that lack of contact into big plays on the ground, rushing for 5.6 yards a carry—in short, he’s flashed the sort of form that made him a superstar as a rookie last season.

By contrast, in the seven games Washington has lost, Griffin has been sacked 20 times and hit 26 more, according to Pro Football Focus’ charting numbers (subscription required).  The added pressure has caused Griffin’s completion percentage to drop to only 58.2 percent, with his average completion dropping to 11.6 yards and his average rush dropping to 5.1 yards.

It’s not merely enough to send players into the backfield and hope for the best, however.  As Griffin’s knee has continued to heal, he’s been more and more dangerous on the ground, and rushers coming free from one side can’t catch him if the linemen on the backside don’t stay disciplined, maintaining their lanes and not giving Griffin room to bounce plays to the outside. Griffin already has 12 rushes of 10 yards or longer this season, able to transform a broken play into yardage again and again.

This is all very good but a bit obvious—of course a quarterback is going to perform better when he has time to make decisions.  How, then, can the 49ers guarantee they’ll be able to get pressure on Griffin and keep him from taking over this game?

The key to getting that pressure is to attack up the middle.  The two Washington guards, Kory Lichtensteiger and Chris Chester, as well as the center, Will Montgomery, have been the weak links when it comes to pass protection.  They may have only given up five sacks, according to Pro Football Focus’ charting numbers, but they’ve allowed 56 hurries. Pressure is getting through, and Griffin’s forced to run to the outside or throw the ball away before getting clobbered.

Take a look at the matchup two weeks ago at Minnesota.

Note: All screen shots come courtesy of NFL Game Rewind (subscription required).

This comes from a play early in the fourth quarter. You can see the Vikings aren’t lined up as if they’re sending very much pressure; it’s 3rd-and-16, and they’re lined up to drop seven men into coverage.  Surely, the five offensive linemen will be able to handle the limited amount of pressure a four-man rush can generate.

It turns out they had plenty of difficulty.  Kevin Williams has run a stunt, looping back behind Everson Griffen and around the right tackle, coming through untouched, preventing RGIII from coming through the right.  Jared Allen has powered through Trent Williams on the left, providing the pressure from Griffin’s behind.  Everson Griffen is double-teamed by Montgomery and Chester but forces his way through them very quickly and ends up being the one to actually accrue the sack.  As for Lichtensteiger, he simply stands there with no one to block as his quarterback goes down.

This is not an isolated incident.

This is a 3rd-and-3 situation later in the game.  Although the Vikings have more men towards the line on this play, they still end up only sending four rushers—not an excessive blitz package, not pressure coming from strange locations, just their base rushers.

Again, you can see the two outside rushers blow past the tackles, but again, it’s the interior line that gives in.  Kevin Williams is able to give Montgomery a little swim move and then power through Chester to get to Griffin for one of his three sacks of the night.

This is one of the few times they blitzed all night, and Washington attempts to counter by keeping a tight end, a fullback and a running back in protection to try to absorb some of the pressure.  With six men on the line of scrimmage and two in the backfield to chip potential pass-rushers, this should be a fairly solid protection scheme.

Williams is just too fast for Montgomery, essentially blowing by him before Montgomery even has a chance to get out of his stance.  It doesn’t help that Alfred Morris doesn’t get a chip on Williams as he’s blowing by, allowing Williams to essentially reach Griffin unimpeded. 

Note also, however, the presence of a QB spy—Erin Henderson hasn’t moved much, because it’s his responsibility on the play to track down Griffin, and he’s essentially removed the option for Griffin to try to run up the middle here.  Coupled with the omnipresent Jared Allen coming around the outside and Sharrif Floyd pushing Chris Chester into the backfield, Griffin has nowhere to go.

The Vikings were able to shut down Griffin by sending extensive pressure through the middle and then using their outside rushers to seal the edges, preventing Griffin from springing the ball outside, limiting his damage on the ground.  It’s not just the Vikings game, though; the interior line has been struggling all season long, and there's been a general negative trend as the year's gone on.  Here's sacks, hits and hurries allowed by the offensive line each week, from Pro Football Focus:

Game	QB Sk	QB Ht	QB Hu
v. Philadelphia	1	1	12
@ Green Bay	0	0	5
v. Detroit	0	4	9
@ Oakland	0	1	5
@ Dallas	1	0	12
v. Chicago	0	1	8
@ Denver	3	6	10
v. San Diego	0	2	3
@ Minnesota	4	6	10
@ Philadelphia	1	2	9

So how do the 49ers match up against them?

As a 3-4 defensive end, Justin Smith is best suited to take advantage of the interior line’s weaknesses.  He’s had a solid season so far this year; he only has three sacks but has been in the backfield multiple times each and every game—including forcing Drew Brees to hurry five times last week and forcing Russell Wilson, a mobile quarterback in Griffin’s mold, to hurry four times. He has the opportunity for a big day.

The keyword for the linebackers will be discipline.  They must keep containment and not allow lanes for Griffin to run in if a play breaks down, even when rushing the passer.  Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks must be sure not to get blocked too far into a play—they might find themselves rushing where the quarterback was, only for Griffin to pop around behind them and head for the space they vacated.  They can’t over-pursue, in other words, and must maintain their gap responsibility. The 49ers don’t need to bring excess pressure to break down the line, but everyone they do send needs to remain vigilant.

As long as San Francisco stays disciplined and executes, there’s no reason to believe they can’t break down Washington’s line.  The pressure will force Griffin to make decisions much faster than he’s prepared to do and prevent Pierre Garcon or Jordan Reed from working their way open for longer routes.  It could put a serious damper on the explosiveness we’ve seen that this offense is capable of when it’s ticking on all cylinders.

Keep Robert Griffin in front of you, maintain your discipline and smash your way through an interior offensive line that’s struggling.  That’s the blueprint for the San Francisco 49ers to stop the Washington Redskins on Monday night.