‘Introduction to Bottle Nose’
courtesy of ‘Danilo.Lewis|Fotography’

It is hard to believe that at one point this season the Redskins were 3-1. It is also hard to believe that this will be John Beck’s eighth career start and he is still looking for his first victory. When John Beck took over for Rex Grossman it was because Grossman showed why no other team had interest in him and it was time to find out what John Beck was. John Beck might be one of the few quarterbacks in the NFL who is worse than Rex Grossman, and neither of them should have a starting job again after this season.

To be fair to Beck the Redskins don’t help him out by lacking skill players and an offensive line that can protect the quarterback or open up lanes for the running back. The Redskins offense is one of the worst in recent memory and it is a surprise that they are only 12th worst in yards a game, but no surprise they are fifth worst in points a game. The Redskins have almost no running game averaging just 89.9 yards a game which is fifth worst in the NFL. Of course the issue with the running game could be because of the passing games inability to make opposing teams pay for stacking the line and putting eight men in the box.

The Dolphins are a surprisingly similar team to the Redskins. A somewhat decent defense that keeps points off the board and an inept offense. The Dolphins have allowed 21.1 points a game compared to the Redskins 19.8. Both teams rank in the top ten in this category. The Dolphins are the sixth worst in the NFL in passing yards allowed having allowed 265.2 yards a game, and the Redskins aren’t particularly good against the run having allowed 122.6 yards a game which ranks them as the 12th worst team against the run.

That is not good news for Redskins fans as Reggie Bush has found his rhythm and is coming off of back to back 100 yard games for just the second time in his career. The Redskins are going to have to slow down Bush and make Matt Moore beat them with his arm. As many questions as there are about the Redskins secondary they rank 11th in the NFL against the pass having allowed 218.8 yards a game. That has more to do with the terrifying pass rush that the Redskins employ with Kerrigan and Orakpo coming off the ends than it does with the secondary. If a quarterback has time he can pick apart the Redskins. They key is to not give that quarterback time. The Redskins have been good at getting to quarterbacks and have the third most sacks in the NFL with 25.

The big problem the Redskins have faced this season have been turnovers. Their defense doesn’t get them and the offense is too happy to give them up. The Redskins are tied for second worst with a turnover differential of -8. Good news for the Redskins is the Dolphins are even worse at getting turnovers and like to give them up almost as much. The Dolphins have only taken the ball away from their opponent four times this season and have given it up twelve times. Of course if the Redskins had only given up the ball twelve times they would only have a -1 turnover differential, and might have an extra win.

Neither the Dolphins or the Redskins are going to be mistaken for a good team, but styles make fights, and the Redskins and Dolphins are fairly evenly matched. Despite the fact that neither of these teams are very good this could be a good game. The Dolphins struggle so much against the pass that John Beck might be able to not look terrible, and the Redskins struggle against the run enough that Matt Moore might not be relied upon. Both defenses are good at keeping points off the board while neither offense is good at scoring points. This game is doubtful to have much impact on the playoffs, but it should be a fun one to watch.

David Huzzard

David Huzzard was born at Fairfax Hospital in 1981 and has spent his entire life in the Washington, D.C. area. He has been a fan of all the area sports teams either since he was born or since they arrived here. He is also very pleased that his hometown is a burger town.