If you take into account the injuries suffered on the offensive line, plus the loss of both Trent Williams and Ereck Flowers this offseason, it would be extremely easy for the front-five in Washington to pack things up and make a litany of excuses for why they aren’t getting the job done.
However, through 10 games this season, they’ve been doing anything but that, instead adapting to the current circumstances and finding a way to string together a few nice games that have allowed QB Alex Smith some time to work in the pocket.
After Sunday’s win against the Cincinnati Bengals, the offensive line deserves a lot of credit for what they were able to accomplish. With both Geron Christian and Cornelius Lucas unable to play, veteran right tackle Morgan Moses shifted over to the left tackle position, and backup LT started at the RT position. It was a make-shift plan that had a high probability of not working.
It worked pretty well.
Yesterday's #WashingtonFootball pass protection metrics via @PFF. pic.twitter.com/T8ovbo8s7t
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) November 23, 2020
Alex Smith was sacked once and pressured only four times. He was given time to stand in the pocket and make his reads downfield, getting the ball to seven different receivers. Not all of the credit goes to the tackles on the outside, though. After the game, coach Ron Rivera offered a lot of praise to his guys in the middle, RG Brandon Scherff and LG Wes Schweitzer, who had stand-out games as well.
The top 2 offensive linemen around the league in Week 11, so far, per PFF: Wes Schweitzer and Brandon Scheff.
Ron Rivera praised the OL today during his presser including those two: pic.twitter.com/zoOOsDrx9Y
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) November 23, 2020
The offensive line rarely gets a lot of credit when things go right, and regularly shoulders much of the blame when things go wrong. From a birds-eye view, things are going wrong more often than not in Washington, but for the first time in a while, you can’t pin all of the blame on the O-line. Instead, they’ve been a very solid unit that is performing above expectations through 10 weeks, and though they lost two star players, plus an offensive line coach who is regarded as one of the best in the business in Bill Callahan, they’ve been able to put together several nice games, and give this offense a chance to succeed.
