With the regular season in the books, here's how the Redskins' defense ranks overall for 16 games:

All 16 games Stat NFL Rank Points Against 24.2 22 Total Yards Against 377.7 28 Rushing Yards Against 95.8 5 Passing Yards Against 281.9 30

Yikes. Except for the rushing defense, the Redskins look pretty horrid statistically.

However, lets see how the defense ranks using just these last seven games, whose opponents were (in order): PHI, @DAL, NYG, BAL, @CLE, @PHI, DAL.

Last 7 games (all wins) Stat NFL Rank Points Against 20.0 8 Total Yards Against 351.7 18 Rushing Yards Against 95.1 5 Passing Yards Against 256.6 29

The Redskins are giving up four points less a game. That's huge.

The rushing defense has held steady, but the passing defense has improved a modest 30 yards a game, which makes a big difference on the overall yardage ranking.

Some other key stats:

In 3 of the 7 games of this streak, the Redskins were either tied (DAL) or losing (NYG/BAL) at halftime. In those games the Redskins outscored their opponents 45-21. Interestingly, they were all at home.

Robert Griffin III had a 100+ QB Rating in every game of this winning streak but the final DAL game (inactive vs CLE). Before the BYE, RGIII only had three 100+ QB Rating games out of nine.

The Redskins gave up 186 rushing yards to the Ravens ...so, let's not run wild with the #5 ranking.

Here's an Excel sheet of all these stats for anyone that wants to read more detailed info.