No. 1 Pass Defense

Now that the Saints game is over, how do you feel about our secondary? Alot of fans and the DC media led us to believe that the secondary is not as good as the rating suggest. Brees had 419 yards, 2td, 1 int.

I feel the secondary did a good job, considering who they where facing. They didn't score get out of control. The two touchdowns that brees threw came off plays against Landry, who is out of position. Considering that our number 1corner Hall was out and so was Tryon, I think our secondary is as good as advertized. For me In don't care how many yard you throw on the field, to me it's all about redzone defense, and in my opinion the secondary and the defense as a whole did very well.

That #1 pass D rating is based solely on yardage. We don't really intercept passes, and our coverage gets help from the solid pass rush we've had pretty much all year (I know that's a two-way street). We've allowed some long TD passes in crucial situations.

Drew Brees is the best QB in the NFC, maybe the league. He torches secondaries all the time.

GTripp can probably give us a good assessment of the pass coverage unit. My opinion is that it's above average, but certainly not top notch. We don't take the ball away enough.

I know Smoot didn't show us much of anything today.

I know Smoot didn't show us much of anything today.

I'll try harder next time

These were, I believe, the 2nd most yards passing allowed by the Redskins D since Boomer Esiason passed for over 500 against us with the Cardinals.

All in all, we did ok though considering Barnes and Westbrook played a lot more than they ever have before

I'll try harder next time

These were, I believe, the 2nd most yards passing allowed by the Redskins D since Boomer Esiason passed for over 500 against us with the Cardinals.

All in all, we did ok though considering Barnes and Westbrook played a lot more than they ever have before

As i typed it up, for some reason i thought you would respond to my Smoot comment.

419 yards is alot....

Well I do think that the #1 rating is misleading, but that doesn't mean I think the secondary is poor. Up until the last few games where the skins offense has been competitive, teams have been able to go up by a TD and just focus on burning the clock. Its not that they can't pass on the skins, its just that they haven't had to. The really damning evidence is as GMScud mentioned, they don't force turnovers and they allow the big plays when they really need a stop.

I don't think the defense needs a complete overhaul though. I'm not a landry fan - he really just makes too many bonehead moves - but I love reed doughty and we've got an above average selection of CBs. I'd be in favor of trading landry and trying to pick up a true coverage safety in the draft to play FS with kareem moore. I'm also not sold on greg blache. I think he's given more credit than he really deserves... I mean I don't think we can solely blame the players for the disturbing amount of blown coverages this season. I wouldn't be too sad to see him go.

"Pass Defense" includes pass rush, and when you include our pass rush, which is legitimately top five or six in the NFL, the total product is a unit that is above average at pass defense.

But the coverage units are horrendous. There are worse units in the NFL, but those teams only have like two or three wins or something, which means that they suck and we don't. I've seen the worst defense in modern Redskins history (2006), and our pass coverage might have been better then. That year was Carlos Rogers playing mediocre ball, Adam Archuleta and Sean Taylor fighting to see who could take a worse pursuit angle on any given play, and even with Minnesota relieving us of our Smoot burden, we trotted out Kenny Wright for 16 games.

When Springs was in the lineup, that 2006 team was better at coverage than this team is, and they ranked 31st in the NFL. Of course, Springs wasn't healthy at all that season, and without him, I'd say Rogers and Wright is a worse tandem than Rogers and Hall. And I'd take Tryon over Mike Rumph anyday. And I'd take Doughty over Archuleta. So while there's no big edge for the 2009 team here, I guess things could always be worse.

And part of the suckitude of the safeties might simply be Landry playing in a role that doesn't suit him, but it's not like we don't have the talent to compensate for this. At least, I think we do.

There are worse units in the NFL, but those teams only have like two or three wins or something, which means that they suck and we don't.

Sounds like another team I know.