One number to know for Washington's playoff game vs. Bucs originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Before every Washington Football Team game this year, Pete Hailey will identify one key number that you must know regarding that contest.
Here is his number for the Wild Card showdown with the Buccaneers.
3
Most of the talk this week, at least on the Washington side of things, has revolved around how the Burgundy and Gold can surround Tom Brady with pressure.
That's understandable, too, seeing as that feels like the only legitimate way the Football Team will be able to advance past the Buccaneers. While Tampa has a lot of routes to moving on — Brady can connect on a few long balls or he can hit on 25 quick outs, or their defense can make life so hard on Alex Smith and Co. that Brady doesn't even have to do much — the hosts seemingly need their defensive line to go off at FedEx Field.
As it turns out, there may be a magic number for that group to aim for on Saturday night.
The legendary QB doesn't get dropped often — for the year, Tampa's front allowed only 22 sacks, which was fourth-fewest in the NFL — but there were a few tilts where their protection was leaky, and in those contests, they weren't too successful.
In the four matchups where the Bucs gave up three sacks, they were just 1-3. In their other 12 appearances where they performed better in that area and kept that count to two or less, Bruce Arians' squad was 10-2.
Now, is that a total Washington can get to? Hell yes it is.
For the year, Jack Del Rio's unit averaged 2.9 sacks a week. Sure, that stat is buoyed by some explosions here and there, but in no way should it be dismissed or asterisk-ed because Chase Young, Montez Sweat and others are capable of having ridiculous outings.
Also, if Ron Rivera's club were facing Brady as a Patriot, when he was the king of getting the ball out to his slot guys and running backs in the flat, then this wouldn't be as good of a setup for his defense. However, under Arians, Brady has been taking more deep shots than he did in New England, meaning there should be opportunities to get home.
As Brady's ex-teammate, Rodney Harrison, so perfectly explained on the Washington Football Talk podcast: "He's 40-some years old, and 40-year old men, they don't want to get hit by 300-pound men."
And according to his recent track record, Brady especially doesn't like to be hit and sacked three times. So, if Washington can reach that mark, then perhaps they'll end up reaching the next round of the NFC's postseason bracket as well.
