Welcome once again to the Hog Molly Report, where winning in the trenches is all that matters. Before we begin, we open with the reciting of our usual motto:

“Big men allow you to compete. We're certainly going to look at the big hog mollies.”

In the spirit of Mr. Gettleman’s words, and the philosophy of building a team from the inside out, my goal will be to watch the hog mollies each game during the season, and give them a grade based on their performance. This week we will look at the complete win over the Washington Redskins and see where the Pig Pounders excelled, and how they can continue their recent dominance.

Offensive Hog Mollies

*Season average in parentheses

Week 15 Yards per carry: 4.5 (3.9, T-23rd NFL)

Third down conversions: 4 out of 15, 27% (40%, T-16th NFL)

Sacks given up: 2 (31, T-16th NFL)

Rating: 5 out of 5 BBQ BOUNCERS

This was without a doubt, the best effort one could expect from our patchwork offensive line. The team was able to both efficiently pass and run the football, with the only main detriment to scoring and 3rd down conversion being penalties, deserved or not. The hogs were helped with what I would say was one of Jonathan Stewart’s best games as a pro, but they did help create those lanes to begin with in many cases. Some of it was pure will by Stew, some of it was good blocking.

In pass protection, they did get swarmed a couple of times on blitzes resulting in two sacks, but the consistent pressure on Cam Newton was not there. Tyler Larsen continues to be a worthy backup to Ryan Kalil, and was notably starting to be more active in calling out protection assignments. Trai Turner did get victimized at RT a couple of times, but it was pretty forgivable. As a result, Cam turned in a beautiful stat line, that could have been better if our wide receivers had better hands. While beating a team once you’re already practically out of the playoff race isn’t as good as the alternative, it was nice to see last year’s Carolina Panthers appear and show they are still in there somewhere.

Defensive Hog Mollies

Yards per carry allowed: 2.2 (3.7, T-4th NFL)

3rd Down Conversions allowed: 2 out of 12, 17% (38%, 8th NFL)

Sacks: 1 total with 1 from DL (40, T-1st NFL)

Rating: 5 out of 5 Potbelly Pounders

Where you going Robert Kelley?

NOWHERE!

Total and complete shut down of the Washington running game was the lynchpin for defensive dominance in this game. Without being able to pound the rock, Kirk Cousins and his receivers were exposed. While the sack total is low, the impact of that one sack by Wes Horton was very high, resulting in a quick six points after halftime that really hurt the skins’ chances of a comeback. Besides, even though they didn’t always get there, the amount of pressure generated by four lineman was adequate to make Cousins make nervous rushed throws.

Defensively, things really could not have gone better for the Panthers, as the Redskins were the third ranked offense in the league entering this game. All this accomplished without Charles Johnson and Luke Kuechly was really a sight to behold.

Hog Molly of the Week: Wes Horton

Coming out of halftime it only took one big play to crush the Redskin’s spirit, and that was a strip sack created deep in their own territory by perennial punching bag Wes Horton. While it’d be hard to be presented with an easier opportunity for Horton to make that play, since Vernon Davis was asked to pull and make a block on him, give Horton credit for finishing by sacking and scooping up the fumble. From my angle, I thought the tip of the ball crossed the plane before he was down, but it didn’t matter. Notorious carbohydrate enthusiast Mike Tolbert was able to stretch out and snatch the last cookie from the Skins’ theoretical cookie jar two plays later.