Five key stats where WFT's defense is ranked last right now originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Game shows are ubiquitous these days. It seems like Rob Riggle is involved with about six of them. Families of all types are still Feuding. Lots of old staples are coming out of retirement like Michael Jordan or Brett Favre for another run.
With that in mind, let's play a new game show called, "Are They Last?"
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For now, it'll exist only on this website, but it should be picked up for television soon. Perhaps by tomorrow. Maybe even by later this evening.
The premise of "Are They Last?" couldn't be simpler. We'll go through various defensive statistics, find where Washington's defense ranks in those areas and then ask the all-important question: "Are they last?"
There's no host, no prize money and no promise of "Are They Last?" being an enjoyable experience. Ready to play? Great. Let's get it going.
The stat: Points-per-game allowed
Washington's number: They're allowing an average of 31 points per game.
Are they last?: Yes.
Heading into Sunday's tilt versus the Chiefs, Washington was second to last while Kansas City was last. Sweet!
However, because the Burgundy and Gold scored just 13 points and ceded 31, they're now officially last in the NFL in average points allowed. Not so sweet.
The stat: Third-down defense
Washington's number: They're allowing opponents to convert on 57.7% of third downs.
Are they last?: Yes.
Aaron Rodgers owns the Bears and Jack Del Rio's group owns being the worst at getting their foes off the field on third down.
The Chiefs were successful on 11 of 17 third-down attempts in Week 16, which comes out to a conversion rate of 64.7%. After faring OK on third downs against the Saints, things were right back to numbing normal on Sunday.
The next-closest/next-worst squad is Miami at 52.4%. In this case, Washington isn't just last; they're emphatically last.
The stat: Yards-per-game allowed
Washington's number: They're allowing an average of 423 yards per game.
Are they last?: No. They're second to last!
Every entertaining game show has to have a twist and here's your twist. The Seahawks are the ones giving up the most yards per game in the sport and, though they play in the state of Washington, they aren't the Washington Football Team.
The stat: Opposing air yards
Washington's number: Opponents have registered 998 air yards against Washington this year.
Are they last?: Yes.
Air yards are a measure of how far the ball flew from the quarterback's hand to a receiver on a given pass.
By not taking into account yards after the catch, it helps show how susceptible a defense is to deeper tosses and how open receivers are in the secondary (a throw of 20 yards can be deceptive if a running back hauls in a checkdown of two yards and runs for 18 on his own, while a throw of 20 air yards is more of a hard-earned completion, at least in theory).
That "at least in theory" qualifier is necessary to tack on when examining Washington's defense, since air yards against them aren't that difficult to come by. Their 998 air yards allowed are another worst-by-a-major-margin number, as the Seahawks are 31st in the league at 902 and Miami is third at 841
The stat: Percentage of drives ending in an opponent's score
Washington's number: Opponents are scoring on 51.5% of their drives versus Washington.
Are they last?: Yes.
Del Rio's crew is the only one that's letting offenses add to the scoreboard on more than half of its possessions. Remember all the talk about how this could potentially be the most-feared defense of 2021? Those discussions feel like they happened in 1972.
The stat: Passing touchdowns allowed
Washington's number: Opponents have thrown for 16 touchdowns against Washington.
Are they last?: Yes.
In its last four outings, Washington has watched Josh Allen hit on four touchdowns, Matt Ryan hit on four touchdowns, Jameis Winston hit on four touchdowns and Patrick Mahomes hit on two touchdowns.
It's such a relief they don't have to meet up with Rodgers, Tom Brady, Derek Carr and Dak Prescott twice the rest of the way. That would really be unfortunate.
