Going off my gut, I was of the impression that Washington’s offense slipped last year – that it wasn’t as good as in 2015. Certainly, Kirk Cousins had all kinds of problems in the red zone, and Matt Jones got benched halfway through the year. But when you get out the numbers, they tell a slightly different story.
Washington finished with 5,661 total yards in 2015. It finished with 6,454 in 2016. That’s not only 793 more yards (an average of almost 50 per week) it made Washington the league’s MOST IMPROVED offense.
Really.
| TOTAL OFFENSIVE YARDS (2015-2016) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 2015 | 2016 | Diff |
| Washington | 5,661 | 6,454 | 793 |
| Tennessee | 4,988 | 5,728 | 740 |
| Indianapolis | 5,142 | 5,830 | 688 |
| Atlanta | 5,985 | 6,653 | 668 |
| Dallas | 5,361 | 6,027 | 666 |
| Oakland | 5,336 | 5,973 | 637 |
| Green Bay | 5,353 | 5,900 | 547 |
| New Orleans | 6,461 | 6,816 | 355 |
| Chicago | 5,514 | 5,704 | 190 |
| Kansas City | 5,299 | 5,488 | 189 |
| New England | 5,991 | 6,180 | 189 |
| San Francisco | 4,860 | 4,930 | 70 |
| Miami | 5,307 | 5,324 | 17 |
| Cincinnati | 5,728 | 5,711 | -17 |
| Minnesota | 5,139 | 5,041 | -98 |
| Buffalo | 5,775 | 5,666 | -109 |
| Detroit | 5,547 | 5,421 | -126 |
| Baltimore | 5,749 | 5,563 | -186 |
| Jacksonville | 5,581 | 5,359 | -222 |
| San Diego | 5,949 | 5,708 | -241 |
| Cleveland | 5,311 | 4,976 | -335 |
| Seattle | 6,058 | 5,715 | -343 |
| Pittsburgh | 6,327 | 5,962 | -365 |
| Carolina | 5,871 | 5,499 | -372 |
| Philadelphia | 5,830 | 5,398 | -432 |
| Tampa Bay | 6,014 | 5,542 | -472 |
| Denver | 5,688 | 5,169 | -519 |
| Houston | 5,564 | 5,035 | -529 |
| Rams | 4,761 | 4,203 | -558 |
| NY Jets | 5,925 | 5,268 | -657 |
| NY Giants | 5,952 | 5,291 | -661 |
| Arizona | 6,533 | 5,868 | -665 |
That isn’t everything, of course. Cousins still had his problems, turning some wins into losses and keeping the team out of the playoffs. Jones still got benched.
But the offense wasn’t a disaster. And it wasn’t just moving the ball between the 20s. Washington also scored 8 more points in 2016 than it had in 2015 (slight increase).
—Ian Allan