RG3’s 6 Interceptions in 2014

In my last article I broke down RG3’s 5 touchdowns this season. In this breakdown we will take a look at his interceptions and see what we can learn from the mistakes during the 2014 season.

Season Stats
RG3 – 147/214 (68.7%), 1,694 yards, 7.9 y/a, 4 TDs, 6 INTs, 38 rushes for 176 yards and 1 TD
Note: Play numbers correspond to plays found here in the GIF Database.

First let’s look at the intended targets of the interceptions:

Receiver Breakdown

Pierre Garcon	2
Andre Roberts	2
DeSean Jackson	1
Niles Paul	1

 

Next let’s see when the interceptions occurred in which quarter and what down.

Quarter Breakdown

1st Quarter	2
2nd Quarter	1
3rd Quarter	1
4th Quarter	2

 

Down Breakdown

1st Down	2
2nd Down	0
3rd Down	3
4th Down	1

 

As well as the distance and location of the interceptions:

Distance Breakdown

Fewer than 6 Yards	4
Between 6 and 15 yards	1
More than 15 yards	1

 

Location Breakdown

Deep Left	Deep Middle	Deep Right
0	0	1
Intermediate Left	Intermediate Middle	Intermediate Right
1	0	0
Short Left	Short Middle	Short Right
2	2	0

 

Here are the routes that were intercepted as well. If you notie that short passes like slants and out routes were intercepted the most.

Route Breakdown

Slant	2
Out/Flat	2
Go	1
Middle/Stop	1

 

Let’s take a look at the plays:

Play 1
Situation: 1st and 10 at WSH 39
Description: Q2 - (1:04) (Shotgun) RG3 pass short left intended for A.Roberts INTERCEPTED by C.Munnerlyn at WAS 47. C.Munnerlyn to WAS 46 for 1 yard (A.Roberts). The Replay Official challenged the incomplete pass ruling, and the play was Upheld. The ruling on the field stands.
Opponent: 9. MIN

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Slot Left Far
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1

RG3 in shotgun takes the snap and looks for WR12 Roberts on the out route. RG3 places the ball too far inside letting CB24 Munnerlyn pick the ball off. This interception is on RG3 simply for not putting enough velocity into the pass and for not placing it correctly by the sideline.

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Play 2
Situation: 1st and 10 at WSH 20
Description: Q1 - (15:00) (Shotgun) RG3 pass short left intended for N.Paul INTERCEPTED by D.Lansanah at WAS 29. D.Lansanah pushed ob at WAS 29 for no gain (J.Reed).
Opponent: 11. TB

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Twins Right - “Rabbit”
Offensive Personnel: 12
Defensive Formation: Cover 3

RG3 in shotgun runs play-action to Morris. Buccaneers bring five pass rushers, four on the line and LB54 David from the edge. On the fake, RG3 sees his first read TE86 Reed on a seam route open in the middle. RG3 double clutches the ball and then pump-fakes finally realizing it’s too late and that Reed isn’t open anymore. LB54 David rushes unimpeded but bites on the play-action. He hesitates realizing that RG3 still has the ball and then gives RG3 a shove ineffectively. RG3 escapes from the pocket to the left side throwing to Paul low, but the ball is still catchable. Paul bobbles the ball and gives it right to the linebacker for an easy interception.

First, LB54 David for the Buccaneers should have had an easy sack on this play. He sees RG3 with the ball in the pocket and he doesn’t take him down or deliver a more decisive hit. Second, RG3 sees Reed open on his first read and fails to throw the easy pass over the middle that would have gone for at least 15 yards. Third, RG3 rushes his pass throwing it too low to Paul on the outside after he escapes the pocket. Fourth, Paul NEEDS to secure the pass.

On the offensive line, watch LG Lauvao completely miss on his block on DT McDonald. You will also notice that Garcon is actually wide-open on the right side. SS Wright who was lining up in deep off-man coverage over Garcon watched RG3 double clutch and stare down Reed over the middle so he ditched his coverage to cover him. I don’t actually blame RG3 for not seeing Garcon since the LOLB was already in his face. RG3 had to escape. In this play I blame Paul for bobbling the ball, and I also blame RG3 for the low pass while Paul is open.

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Play 3
Situation: 3rd and 6 at WSH 8
Description: Q1 - (4:04) (Shotgun) RG3 pass short left intended for P.Garcon INTERCEPTED by J.Banks (M.Foster) at WAS 19. J.Banks for 19 yards, TOUCHDOWN. P.Murray extra point is GOOD, Center-A.DePaola, Holder-M.Koenen.
Opponent: 11. TB

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Twins Left/Right - “Rip” Call
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1

This is an interesting play design. All four wide receivers are running slant routes. LB59 Foster sprints to the flat and deflect the pass allowing CB27 Banks to intercept the ball.

This interception is caused by RG3 not stepping up into the throw as well as him staring down the WR88 Garcon from the start of the play and forcing him the ball without scanning the underneath zone coverage. This interception is on RG3.

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Play 4
Situation: 3rd and 10 at WSH 17
Description: Q4 - (9:20) (Shotgun) RG3 pass deep right intended for D.Jackson INTERCEPTED by N.Allen at PHI 45. N.Allen to PHI 46 for 1 yard (D.Jackson).
Opponent: 16. PHI

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Split Slot Right
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1

RG3 takes the snap from shotgun finding SS29 Allen playing Cover 1 in the deep center of the field. WR11 Jackson runs a go route up the sideline and RG3 attempts the deep pass to him on 3rd down. Watch as SS29 Allen shades to the right side of the field after the snap, but RG3 never sees this shift. Additionally, RG3 places the ball too short allowing Allen to make a break on the ball infront of Jackson.

This interception is completely on RG3. RG3 needs to use his eyes to look off the safety. Based on Allen’s position on the field on the right hash marks, RG3 should have targetted WR88 Garcon instead who had a clear step ahead of his defender in bump-and-run coverage. This is the difference between a long play, possibly a touchdown, and an interception.

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Play 5
Situation: 4th and 1 at DAL 7
Description: Q3 - (2:35) (Shotgun) RG3 pass short middle intended for P.Garcon INTERCEPTED by B.Carter at DAL 5. B.Carter to DAL 40 for 35 yards (Tren.Williams).
Opponent: 17. DAL

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Split Slot Right
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Goalline Zones

Out of all the interceptions by RG3 this is my least favorite one. This play is caused simply by RG3 forcing the ball to Garcon on a slant route over the middle of the field on 4th down and not even seeing the underneath zone linebackers.

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Play 6
Situation: 3rd and 10 at DAL 16
Description: Q4 - (12:32) (Shotgun) RG3 pass short middle intended for A.Roberts INTERCEPTED by B.Carter (O.Scandrick) [T.Crawford] at DAL 7. B.Carter to DAL 11 for 4 yards (A.Roberts).
Opponent: 17. DAL

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Split Slot Left
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 2 - Five Underneath Zones

RG3 takes the snap and looks for WR11 Jackson on the left side of the field running a slant route. RG3 assesses that he’s covered and moves on to his next read. Good. His next read is WR12 Roberts from the slot running a middle/stop route to the center of the field. Pre-snap you can see that the Cowboys are in a Cover 2 shell most likely playing three underneath zones over the middle, but instead they are playing with a complete five underneath zones beneath the safeties. This should be the clue to RG3 that the middle/stop route will be covered by the inside linebackers. Predictably the ball is deflected and then intercepted by LB54 Carter sitting in his zone.

This interception is completely on RG3 when the ball really should have gone to TE86 Reed from the backfield running a wheel route up the left sideline. Realistically neither receiver would have scored a touchdown, but at least this would have allowed the Redskins to kick a field goal or go for it on 4th down with better field position instead of giving up the ball to the defense.

Overall, Play 5 is my least favorite interception out of all six this season due to the fact that RG3 completley missed the underneath linebacker zone and tried to force it to his receiver. Only one interception, the pass to Niles Paul that was bobbled in Play 2 was the only one that was partially his fault. RG3 still has a lot more room to improve in his decision making process as well as his mechanics to make sure he consistently attempts to pass with velocity. Ball placement is key in the NFL especially in Jay Gruden’s West Coast offense that relies on decisive, short passes. Here is a complete breakdown of his play throughout the season comparing to the other Redskins quarterbacks Colt McCoy and Kirk Cousins (found here).

Click here for all of his plays in the GIF Database.