GTripp0012
12-15-2008, 08:33 PM
Programming Alert: There will not be a game review next week. The GT review will return for the SF game.
This should not have happened.
I've been very critical of Greg Blache recently. I thought he flat out cost us chances to win divisional games against Dallas and New York by simplifying the reads of Tony Romo and Eli Manning with predictable blitz packages that exposed the secondary. I thought his zone defensive scheme worked very well against the Baltimore Ravens, but against Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Redskins too often got into bad defensive calls against a team that's got dominant targets on the outside, but a poor offensive line and an inexperienced QB.
Blache's blitzes were largely ineffective, but not decisively so. Two of the twelve blitzes Blache called generated a sack and a hit on Fitzpatrick. However, the other ten blitzes were largely ineffective. The gain caused by the successful blitzes does not excuse the fact that too often, the Redskins cannot generate pressure with even six or seven guys coming after the QB. Blache has totally gotten away from the 5 man rush, which basically means that if you can catch the Redskins showing their blitz, you know that they are in man coverage, and you can beat the blitz very easily. And by "you" I mean any QB no matter how inexperienced.
Blache did not cost the Redskins this game. He was not the one who didn't sniff out the screen to Cedric Benson, nor was he the one who failed to make a play in pursuit. He probably made the right long term call to sit Rocky McIntosh in the second half after he screwed up one to many times all season long. He was not the one who got Corneilius Griffin, Marcus Washington, or Chris Horton hurt, and Carlos Rogers sick. But his sack and interception averse schemes are part of the problem, not the solution, and he makes inexcusable choices in coverage.
Here's free advice: if you want to blitz, but it's going to force Fred Smoot into man coverage against TJ Houshmandzadeh...don't do it. You will lose the game.
Pass Offense
Vital Statistics
Total adj yards = 224
Yards per play = 6.05
Success rate = 37.8% (14/37)
If Rocky doesn't get caught in the wash, and makes the tackle on Benson on the screen for a 19 yard gain, the yards per play figure is down to 4.97, and the Bengals probably have three fewer points. But that's still too high for the Cincinnati Bengals. The Redskins defense must do a better job getting off the field. They must. Teams run up the time of possession on our defense too easily.
Take the second half for example. The Redskins defense got off the field on the first Bengals drive allowing only one first down. The Redskins offense chewed up a lot of time on the field, failing to capitalize with a yard to go in a 90 yard drive, maybe their best drive of the season. They gave the Redskins defense more than enough rest, and really needed the ball back quickly to attone for the fumble.
After that long rest, the Redskins defense got back on the field, and immediately allowed a third down conversion pass, then a 22 yard pass. They then got off the field, but the Bengals had already flipped the field position around on the Redskins, who would take over at their own nine.
Then the Redskins offense went right out and moved the ball out of the shadow of their own goal line with two nine yard passes. Ryan Plackemeier got off a rare booming punt to turn the field position around again, pinning the Bengals back inside their own 30.
After a series on each side later, the Redskins are right back in the same position: needing one more stop from their defense, and good field position. Not only are the Redskins unable to get the three and outs, but they allow the Bengals offense (yes, that Bengals offense) to covert 4 consecutive series. This included a 15 yard gift penalty on Chad Johnson after a first down catch that delayed the Bengals getting into field goal range.
The Redskins pass defense choked, when the team needed it most. On the drive, the Bengals converted two third downs against the blitz by simply picking on Fred Smoot against one of the best receivers in the NFL. They block the blitz, throw to a wide open receiver, and let him convert the play. Sounds simple. It really is. It's what the Redskins defense does whenever it needs a stop.
The Bengals and the Rams found the passing easy going in the most critical situations. Those are two of the three worst passing offenses in the NFL (At least JaMarcus Russell might miss his open target).
Coverage
(Targets, Completions, SR, YPA)
DeAngelo Hall - 7, 4, 57%, 5.9
Shawn Springs - 4, 3, 50%, 7.8
Carlos Rogers - 2, 2, 100%, 12.5
Fred Smoot - 2, 2, 100%, 8.5
London Fletcher - 2, 1, 0%, 1.5
LaRon Landry - 1, 1, 100%, 7.0
HB Blades - 1, 1, 0%, 4.0
Jason Taylor - 1, 1, 0%, 1.0
Lorenzo Alexander - 1, 1, 0%, 1.0
DeAngelo Hall has been pretty average since he got here, which I mean as a compliment considering that he was awful in Oakland. He's been a big upgrade over Fred Smoot, which I was skeptical that he would be. I still think we are expecting too much from him, but we really needed him in this one.
Pass Rush
Sacks (2)
Lorenzo Alexander x1
London Fletcher x0.5
Jason Taylor x0.5
QB Hits (2)
Andre Carter x1
HB Blades x1
Deflections at Line (2)
Anthony Montgomery x1
Lorenzo Alexander x1
QB Pressure (9)
Andre Carter x2
Lorenzo Alexander x2
Anthony Montgomery x1
Kedric Golston x1
Jason Taylor x1
Ryan Boschetti x1
HB Blades x1
After this game, I'm more than convinced that the Redskins will get more pressure when they don't blitz and force the opposing QB to read our zone coverages. I also know that as long as Greg Blache is the coordinator, it doesn't matter how many lineman we draft. Nothing is going to change in sack totals.
Montgomery continues to be the pocket collapser of the group, which is critical against the shorter drops by the QBs. Lorenzo Alexander is the best pass rusher from the three shade that the Redskins have. He's better than Evans in that role. Andre Carter continues to domiante one on one matchups vs. left tackles, and Jason Taylor continues to make little impact. Ryan Boschetti has been a pleasant surprise though.
Montgomery is clearly easily beaten by screens and draws, and I think this is obvious on tape. He's still going to be your every down nose tackle on a great defense. Kedric Golston is the best lineman we have at sniffing out the screens and draws, but he's not going to generate any sort of pass rush. No wonder Blache loves him.
Rush Defense
Vital Statistics
Total adj yards = 80
Yards per play = 3.33
Success rate = 45.8% (11/24)
First of all, the Redskins really missed Corneilius Griffin who is the best run defender on the entire team. You simply do not run on the Redskins when he is in the lineup, and when he's out of the lineup, you can gash them if you can move Montgomery, which seems to be a 50-50 proposition. The 2nd half LBs, Fletcher, Blades, and Fincher, we're collectively fantastic. Blades: 6 tackles, 6 yards, and 0 successful runs. Best day for a Redskins OLB this year.
Rocky McIntosh wasn't as terrible in this game as his benching would lead you to believe, but overall, this has been a disappointing year. I question the timing of his benching. He's overcome a lot of the aggressiveness issues that plagued him in the middle of the season, and right now, he's just struggling in pursuit a little bit. If Alfred Fincher had earned his way onto the field in practice, that's one thing. But we could have really used him earlier.
Tackles
(Tackles, Successful runs against, YPA)
HB Blades - 6, 0, 1.0
Mike Green - 4, 2, 4.0
Kedric Golston - 3, 1, 3.7
London Fletcher - 2, 0, 0.0
Demetric Evans - 2, 1, 2.0
LaRon Landry - 2, 1, 6.0
Alfred Fincher - 1, 0, 1.0
Jason Taylor - 1, 1, 2.0
Rocky McIntosh - 1, 1, 8.0
Anthony Montgomery - 1, 1, 7.0
DeAngelo Hall - 1, 1, 6.0
Andre Carter - 1, 1, 6.0
Shawn Springs - 1, 1, 4.0
Kareem Moore - 1, 1, 13.0
Overall Defense
Vital Statistics
Total adj yards = 304
Yards per play = 4.98
Success rate = 41.0% (25/61)
What's interesting is the type of player that let the Redskins down. McIntosh is obvious, but the Redskins secondary to start the year was Carlos Rogers, Fred Smoot, LaRon Landry, along with Reed Doughty. Doughty is on IR, but on passes that targeted Rogers, Smoot, or Landry, Ryan Fitzpatrick went 5 for 5 (all successful) for 49 yards and a touchdown. That's not good enough from this group, and they all share the blame. The Redskins have gotten better than expected production from DeAngelo Hall, and the coverage provided by the linebackers. Rogers is still having a great year, but this shows that when he's not available, the Redskins defense really, really hurts.
I wouldn't oppose a situation where the Redskins did not blitz in the final two games of the season. I think it's time to evaluate this defensive line in context. The Redskins must find out if they have a line capable of playing another year as is, and they only have two games left to do it. Greg Blache might not be around next season, and has to find a way to shut down the Eagles offense.
If the Redskins can beat the Eagles, it could validate their season, and take the edge off some of the disappointment from the second half of this season.
This should not have happened.
I've been very critical of Greg Blache recently. I thought he flat out cost us chances to win divisional games against Dallas and New York by simplifying the reads of Tony Romo and Eli Manning with predictable blitz packages that exposed the secondary. I thought his zone defensive scheme worked very well against the Baltimore Ravens, but against Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Redskins too often got into bad defensive calls against a team that's got dominant targets on the outside, but a poor offensive line and an inexperienced QB.
Blache's blitzes were largely ineffective, but not decisively so. Two of the twelve blitzes Blache called generated a sack and a hit on Fitzpatrick. However, the other ten blitzes were largely ineffective. The gain caused by the successful blitzes does not excuse the fact that too often, the Redskins cannot generate pressure with even six or seven guys coming after the QB. Blache has totally gotten away from the 5 man rush, which basically means that if you can catch the Redskins showing their blitz, you know that they are in man coverage, and you can beat the blitz very easily. And by "you" I mean any QB no matter how inexperienced.
Blache did not cost the Redskins this game. He was not the one who didn't sniff out the screen to Cedric Benson, nor was he the one who failed to make a play in pursuit. He probably made the right long term call to sit Rocky McIntosh in the second half after he screwed up one to many times all season long. He was not the one who got Corneilius Griffin, Marcus Washington, or Chris Horton hurt, and Carlos Rogers sick. But his sack and interception averse schemes are part of the problem, not the solution, and he makes inexcusable choices in coverage.
Here's free advice: if you want to blitz, but it's going to force Fred Smoot into man coverage against TJ Houshmandzadeh...don't do it. You will lose the game.
Pass Offense
Vital Statistics
Total adj yards = 224
Yards per play = 6.05
Success rate = 37.8% (14/37)
If Rocky doesn't get caught in the wash, and makes the tackle on Benson on the screen for a 19 yard gain, the yards per play figure is down to 4.97, and the Bengals probably have three fewer points. But that's still too high for the Cincinnati Bengals. The Redskins defense must do a better job getting off the field. They must. Teams run up the time of possession on our defense too easily.
Take the second half for example. The Redskins defense got off the field on the first Bengals drive allowing only one first down. The Redskins offense chewed up a lot of time on the field, failing to capitalize with a yard to go in a 90 yard drive, maybe their best drive of the season. They gave the Redskins defense more than enough rest, and really needed the ball back quickly to attone for the fumble.
After that long rest, the Redskins defense got back on the field, and immediately allowed a third down conversion pass, then a 22 yard pass. They then got off the field, but the Bengals had already flipped the field position around on the Redskins, who would take over at their own nine.
Then the Redskins offense went right out and moved the ball out of the shadow of their own goal line with two nine yard passes. Ryan Plackemeier got off a rare booming punt to turn the field position around again, pinning the Bengals back inside their own 30.
After a series on each side later, the Redskins are right back in the same position: needing one more stop from their defense, and good field position. Not only are the Redskins unable to get the three and outs, but they allow the Bengals offense (yes, that Bengals offense) to covert 4 consecutive series. This included a 15 yard gift penalty on Chad Johnson after a first down catch that delayed the Bengals getting into field goal range.
The Redskins pass defense choked, when the team needed it most. On the drive, the Bengals converted two third downs against the blitz by simply picking on Fred Smoot against one of the best receivers in the NFL. They block the blitz, throw to a wide open receiver, and let him convert the play. Sounds simple. It really is. It's what the Redskins defense does whenever it needs a stop.
The Bengals and the Rams found the passing easy going in the most critical situations. Those are two of the three worst passing offenses in the NFL (At least JaMarcus Russell might miss his open target).
Coverage
(Targets, Completions, SR, YPA)
DeAngelo Hall - 7, 4, 57%, 5.9
Shawn Springs - 4, 3, 50%, 7.8
Carlos Rogers - 2, 2, 100%, 12.5
Fred Smoot - 2, 2, 100%, 8.5
London Fletcher - 2, 1, 0%, 1.5
LaRon Landry - 1, 1, 100%, 7.0
HB Blades - 1, 1, 0%, 4.0
Jason Taylor - 1, 1, 0%, 1.0
Lorenzo Alexander - 1, 1, 0%, 1.0
DeAngelo Hall has been pretty average since he got here, which I mean as a compliment considering that he was awful in Oakland. He's been a big upgrade over Fred Smoot, which I was skeptical that he would be. I still think we are expecting too much from him, but we really needed him in this one.
Pass Rush
Sacks (2)
Lorenzo Alexander x1
London Fletcher x0.5
Jason Taylor x0.5
QB Hits (2)
Andre Carter x1
HB Blades x1
Deflections at Line (2)
Anthony Montgomery x1
Lorenzo Alexander x1
QB Pressure (9)
Andre Carter x2
Lorenzo Alexander x2
Anthony Montgomery x1
Kedric Golston x1
Jason Taylor x1
Ryan Boschetti x1
HB Blades x1
After this game, I'm more than convinced that the Redskins will get more pressure when they don't blitz and force the opposing QB to read our zone coverages. I also know that as long as Greg Blache is the coordinator, it doesn't matter how many lineman we draft. Nothing is going to change in sack totals.
Montgomery continues to be the pocket collapser of the group, which is critical against the shorter drops by the QBs. Lorenzo Alexander is the best pass rusher from the three shade that the Redskins have. He's better than Evans in that role. Andre Carter continues to domiante one on one matchups vs. left tackles, and Jason Taylor continues to make little impact. Ryan Boschetti has been a pleasant surprise though.
Montgomery is clearly easily beaten by screens and draws, and I think this is obvious on tape. He's still going to be your every down nose tackle on a great defense. Kedric Golston is the best lineman we have at sniffing out the screens and draws, but he's not going to generate any sort of pass rush. No wonder Blache loves him.
Rush Defense
Vital Statistics
Total adj yards = 80
Yards per play = 3.33
Success rate = 45.8% (11/24)
First of all, the Redskins really missed Corneilius Griffin who is the best run defender on the entire team. You simply do not run on the Redskins when he is in the lineup, and when he's out of the lineup, you can gash them if you can move Montgomery, which seems to be a 50-50 proposition. The 2nd half LBs, Fletcher, Blades, and Fincher, we're collectively fantastic. Blades: 6 tackles, 6 yards, and 0 successful runs. Best day for a Redskins OLB this year.
Rocky McIntosh wasn't as terrible in this game as his benching would lead you to believe, but overall, this has been a disappointing year. I question the timing of his benching. He's overcome a lot of the aggressiveness issues that plagued him in the middle of the season, and right now, he's just struggling in pursuit a little bit. If Alfred Fincher had earned his way onto the field in practice, that's one thing. But we could have really used him earlier.
Tackles
(Tackles, Successful runs against, YPA)
HB Blades - 6, 0, 1.0
Mike Green - 4, 2, 4.0
Kedric Golston - 3, 1, 3.7
London Fletcher - 2, 0, 0.0
Demetric Evans - 2, 1, 2.0
LaRon Landry - 2, 1, 6.0
Alfred Fincher - 1, 0, 1.0
Jason Taylor - 1, 1, 2.0
Rocky McIntosh - 1, 1, 8.0
Anthony Montgomery - 1, 1, 7.0
DeAngelo Hall - 1, 1, 6.0
Andre Carter - 1, 1, 6.0
Shawn Springs - 1, 1, 4.0
Kareem Moore - 1, 1, 13.0
Overall Defense
Vital Statistics
Total adj yards = 304
Yards per play = 4.98
Success rate = 41.0% (25/61)
What's interesting is the type of player that let the Redskins down. McIntosh is obvious, but the Redskins secondary to start the year was Carlos Rogers, Fred Smoot, LaRon Landry, along with Reed Doughty. Doughty is on IR, but on passes that targeted Rogers, Smoot, or Landry, Ryan Fitzpatrick went 5 for 5 (all successful) for 49 yards and a touchdown. That's not good enough from this group, and they all share the blame. The Redskins have gotten better than expected production from DeAngelo Hall, and the coverage provided by the linebackers. Rogers is still having a great year, but this shows that when he's not available, the Redskins defense really, really hurts.
I wouldn't oppose a situation where the Redskins did not blitz in the final two games of the season. I think it's time to evaluate this defensive line in context. The Redskins must find out if they have a line capable of playing another year as is, and they only have two games left to do it. Greg Blache might not be around next season, and has to find a way to shut down the Eagles offense.
If the Redskins can beat the Eagles, it could validate their season, and take the edge off some of the disappointment from the second half of this season.