ASHBURN — Even in a walkthrough, typically the lightest portion of a team’s practice, Washington Football Team cornerback Kendall Fuller can hear defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio barking the same message if the offense reaches the red zone: Don’t let them cross the goal line. Force a stop.
No team ever wants an opponent inside the 20, Fuller said. But when it happens, it’s time to buckle down, he said.
“You’ve just gotta have that mentality, at all costs, to keep them out,” Fuller said.
Keep them out. It’s a simple enough philosophy, and one that Fuller and his teammates on Del Rio’s squad have put into devastating effect on the field. Washington currently has the league’s top-ranked red-zone defense. Opponents score a touchdown less than 49% of the time inside Washington’s 20. The league average, by comparison, is about 62%.
Del Rio’s guys has been excellent at preventing teams from even getting to the red zone. Opponents have been inside the Washington 20 just 31 times this season, seventh-best in the league. The defense has given up just 15 touchdowns on those 31 trips.
For the other 16 stops, Washington has limited teams to 13 field goal attempts (12 made), while also grabbing two interceptions and forcing a fumble.
Rivera credits the coverage to film preparation —picking up opponent’s tendencies — and being on the same page.
“Especially in coverage, your front and your back seven have to be coordinated,” Rivera said. “You’ve got to be good in pressure on the quarterback and you have to be connected or tied to your coverage so you’re in position and you’re set to make a break on the ball. If that happens, you can be good. You can force a lot of bad passes. You can make tackles as guys are catching the ball. You can keep teams out of the endzone.”
That coordination was particularly on display in Washington’s 41-16 win over the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas has entered the red zone three times — failing to come away with a touchdown each time. Washington even forced Dallas to a field goal when the Cowboys took over at the 4-yard line thanks to a 43-yard interception return from linebacker Jaylon Smith.
For the latter, Washington was already fired up after Terry McLaurin’s chase-down tackle prevented the turnover from becoming a pick-six. Then, the defense proceeded to sniff out each one of Dallas’ plays. Cole Holcomb and Kam Curl burst through the line to stop an Ezekiel Elliott run for a loss of two. Jeremy Reaves came flying in to prevent a scrambling CeeDee Lamb from having success on a reverse. Then on third down, Reaves and slot corner Jimmy Moreland broke on the play to force a Lamb drop in the end zone.
When Greg Zuerlein lined up for the 28-yarder, the Cowboys had actually lost six yards in total.
“I feel like we got better in the red zone because we got better as a defense overall,” rookie Chase Young said. “Just by trusting each other a little more and really playing for each other. … That stop (in Dallas) was because we were really out there playing for each other.”
Coverages become tighter in the red zone, and Washington has done a solid job of taking away windows for opposing quarterbacks. This season, the team has allowed just a 56.8 completion percentage in that area with a 76.4 passer rating, according to Pro Football Reference. And in the last six games, those numbers have fallen to 47.1% and a 53.8 passer rating.
Washington’s tenacity in the shadow of its own goalposts stands to be sorely tested Monday by Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and a dangerous Pittsburgh offense.
The Steelers have one of the league’s best red zone offenses — scoring a touchdown 65% of the time. That ranks 11th and is a reason why Pittsburgh is undefeated at 11-0. The Steelers have a strong supporting cast around Roethlisberger with star receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool.
Roethlisberger has also been very accurate inside the 20, completing 62.3% of his passes.
“I do think it’s going to be a heck of a matchup. I really do,” Rivera said. “It’ll be interesting to see how it all unfolds.”
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