A Season in review

So the 2012 season actually made it to 2013. Much farther than any of us expected, much farther than we have been in 13 years (winning the division). Yes, I know that we won a playoff game in 2005 but winning the division is no easy feat. The Redskins end the season with two rookie of the year candidates, several team and league records and a whole lot of hope and confidence for next season. Sure Griffin's condition scares everyone to death, but regardless I am pumped for next season. The only people that picked the skins at more than 8 wins had to be a complete and utter homer. I was hoping for 8 wins at best and progress, this far exceeded anything I could have imagined.

Lets break down some things. Firstly the offense was pretty good throughout the entire year. The team ranked 5th in yards per game, 1st in rushing yards per game, 4th in points per game, and 3rd in turnovers (+17). Not too bad with a rookie quarterback, rookie running back, and missing Garcon and Davis for most of the year. The only category that the skins need to improve on is their 24th ranked 3rd down %. 36% isn't going to help you win games, fortunately they led the league in yards on first down and were able to get most of their first downs on first and second. Robert Griffin III had an amazing rookie campaign netting a 65.6% completion percentage, 3200 yards passing and a 4 to 1 TD-INT ratio (20-5). Griffin also compiled 815 yards rushing along with 7 tds. His 815 rushing yards is an NFL rookie record. Fellow rookie Alfred Morris ran for a Redskins record 1,613 yards, a 4.8 yard per carry average and 13 touchdowns. Alf finished second in the NFL in rushing behind only the inhuman Adrian Peterson. The receiving corps was nothing too impressive this season. A lot of timely drops cost the Redskins plenty of points and easier victories. Fred Davis went down early in the season. Pierre Garcon didn't play half the year which left the offense with Josh Morgan (48 for 510 2tds), Santana Moss (41 for 573 8tds) and Leonard Hankerson (38 for 543 3 tds). This group isn't going to scare anyone. Logan Paulsen had a great year stepping in for Fred Davis hauling in 25 catches for 308 yards and a TD. The offense had their ups and downs, but overall this is the unit that carried the team to their 10 win season. With another year under Kyle Shanahan, assuming he doesn't get a head coaching gig, this offense will only get stronger.

The defense had many bright spots and many ugly spots throughout the year. Overall the defense ranked 28th in yards allowed, tied for 31st in 3rd down percentage and 20th in points allowed. This defense was once again a bend but don't break unit. They made timely stops and held their own when games mattered most. It didn't help that Orakpo, Carriker and Meriweather missed 99% of the season, but this unit found other stars in the making. London Fletcher and Perry Riley shined on defense, amassing all but similar seasons. Fletcher had 139 total tackles, 3 sacks and 5 interceptions, while Riley had 129 total tackles, 3.5 sacks and 0 ints. Rob Jackson became a start logging 4 interceptions, 37 tackles and 4.5 sacks, while Ryan Kerrigan had 54 tackles, 8.5 sacks, and an interception. While none of these stats seem eye popping, these 4 guys led the way for the defense. DeAngelo Hall had 4 interceptions, leading the secondary, while also racking up 95 tackles. The only problem was the blown coverages from Hall, Wilson, Griffin, Johnson, Williams, Gomes and Doughty (to include everybody) led to way too many big plays that cost the team some games. Jim Haslett's name has been rumored for interviewing for some head coaching spots, but I am pretty sure he will be back next year. Hopefully the team can fill some holes, namely the secondary, and improve upon a season that has many parts that we would wish to forget. With a much stronger defense, 10 wins would be a minimum come the end of the 2013 season.

Special teams is on its own level. Graham Gano was cut before the season, the team signed Billy Cundiff (only god knows why there). After being terrible they cut Cundiff and grabbed Kai Forbath. With that being said, Forbath set a rookie record hitting 17 straight field goals to start a career and finished 17 of 18 on the year. With the acception of his miss, all of his field goals were money and right down the middle. You can't ask a kicker to do better than that. While he needs to work on his kickoffs a touch, Forbath could finally solve this kicker merry-go-round that has been going on since Chip Lohmiller exited. Sav Rocca was solid this season, had a 43.9 punting average to go along with 22 of his 68 punts being downed inside the 20 and 2 not so great blocks. Luckily these blocks came in the first two games and Danny Smith corrected whatever went wrong. While Rocca's numbers won't jump out at you his net average is 38.3 meaning punt returners are only getting 5.6 yards a return on him. Clearly he's doing something right and giving the punt team a chance to get down and do their job. The only real bright spot return wise this year was Richard Crawford's 64 yard punt return. Brandon Banks was banished from the unit after being ineffective and Niles Paul and Crawford took over kick and punt return duties. Both Paul and Crawford were solid but aside from Crawford's big return nothing really amounted from these units. This is one area that will need to improve next season. If Paul is going to be a tight end, he will have to gain size and that will cause him to slow a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if the team drafts a player capable of returning kicks while being a 4th or 5th receiver (I am in favor of Denard Robinson). Danny Smith should be back to man this unit again and with the addition of a return man, this unit as a whole will be dangerous once again.

Sure there were a lot of questions brought out to the coaching staff this season but all in all can the fans complain? A 10-6 regular season record, NFC East division title and the first home playoff game since the 1999 season. Sure it ended badly and very controversially but at the same time we should be holding our heads high. Yes I know Griffin's knee injury is up in the air but lets not just concentrate on that. He is a gamer, a warrior and will rehab it back to health and come back when he's ready. Let's not forget we have Kirk Cousins. Sure Shanahan should have pulled Griffin after the second touchdown pass, but at the same time lets not let this put a cloud over an amazing season. Remember we put Dallas out of the playoffs, we went 5-1 in the division, we beat the Saints to start the season, went on a 7 game winning streak to get in the playoffs and improved drastically on offense. If Griffin doesn't get hurt and we lose this fan base is happy, so lets not forget all the positives that came out from this year. Let's just hope that Griffin comes back healthy, the team signs some solid free agents and does well in the draft. As for now Hail to the Redskins and let's get ready for training camp in August.