Here is what you need to know on this Thursday, October 24, three days before the Redskins take on the Steelers in Pittsburgh.
Just plain ugly
Here are the uniforms that the Steelers will be sporting for the game on Sunday.
They are a throwback to 1933, when the Steelers were the Pirates. There really isn’t too much more to say other than that Larry Michael was relieved when I told him that there were white boxes around the black numbers, providing contrast so that he will have a chance of seeing the numbers from the radio booth.
Big Ben likes to dink and dunk, too
There has been an attempt to downplay the accuracy statistics posted by Robert Griffin III on the basis that he throws a lot of short passes. If you want to do that then you should do the same for Ben Roethlisberger.
We think of Big Ben standing there in the pocket as would-be tacklers bounce off of him, giving him time to launch a deep one to one of his offensive weapons which include Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, and Emmanuel Sanders. He still does that but just not as often as you think
Here is a tweet from Trent Dilfer of ESPN (@TDESPN)
Dink & Dunk pass game is working for Big Ben. Ball in air 10 yards or less=120-162 74.1% 985 yds 8TD/1INT 6.1/att (4th)
That comes to a rating of 103.0. Clearly, the short game is Roethlisberger’s wheelhouse.
He still does launch it deep but just not very often and, perhaps surprisingly, not very effectively. Per Pro Football Focus, in six games Roethlisberger has thrown passes that went 20 yards or more past the line of scrimmage in the air 26 times. He has completed just six of those passes for 207 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. That comes to a QB rating of a dismal 67.9.
Griffin, in fact, is more effective going deep than is his Sunday counterpart. RG3 is five for 13 for 176 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions on passes that travel 20+ yards. That’s a rating of 125.8.
Today’s schedule
11:15—Open locker room
12:00—Jim Haslett news conference
1:00—Practice (closed to the media after first 30 minutes)
After practice (approx. 3:00) Kyle Shanahan and Mike Shanahan news conferences
In case you missed it
Is Luck really playing better than RG3?
After two months away, Cooley reports for work.
Days until: Redskins @ Steelers 3; RG3 vs. Cam @ FedEx Field 10; Eagles @ Redskins 24; Monday night Giants @ Redskins 39
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