Week 13: Redskins vs. Giants Gameday thread

I think under Snyder the one constant has been change. I'm hoping we're done with change for a while when it comes to Allen and Shanahan. Let's see what they can build and give it more than one season.

Lets give them more than 3 full seasons to really put their imprint on what DS has so messed up the last 10 years

It's going to take time but changing the defense was MS idea cause he thought using a 3-4 would cause more turnovers. Well we went from a top 10 defense to the worst in the NFL. He has to take blame for that. MS should've just worried about fixing the offense and left the D alone. This 3-4 has been a complete cluster ****.

Really? The departure of guys like Cornelius Griffin, the decline of Kedric Golston, the complete whiff and waste of space that is Ma'ake Kemoeatu, the ho-hum performance of Rocky McIntosh, the age of Philip Daniels, London Fletcher, Andre Carter -- those have nothing to do with how bad this defense is?

That "top 10 defense" was a patchwork group that worked really well in 2004 and 2005, took a big dive in 2006, and has been headed in a downward spin over the last couple of seasons. If Greg Blache were still here, and if this was a 4 -3 defense 100% of the time, there isn't any doubt in my mind that this year's D would be in the very same position.

We were top 18 in points last year(as in 18th place). We've even eclipsed that low bar(we're 23th best points-wise) AND we're sucking in yardage given up as well.

We have a lot of poor performing individuals on the defense, and I think they overshadow some of the excellent performers we have had on that side of the ball. Fletcher, Landry, Rogers, Orakpo, Alexander, and Carter are all very good players for us. We have a number of contributing role players in Hall, Carriker, Kemo, Buchanon, Barnes (sky may be the limit for him), Wilson, Holliday, Blades, and Doughty.

You really should be able to build a pretty good defense out of that. But that personnel is not particularly suited to a 4-3 or a 3-4 system. And so we end up playing poor performers like Moore, Rocky, Golston, Daniels in roles they simply werent designed to play in, and we get diminished results because of it. It's not surprising, but we simply don't play a defense of good players even though we have more than 11 of them (closer to 15), and that doesn't even include Haynesworth.

I think the 3-4 is responsible for some of our pass rush woes, because it puts three non-pass rushers on the field in the down linemen sets and since you can't have those players in coverage, you're rushing three non-pass rushers every time they drop back.

The design of the 3-4 is to use those players positively to break down blocking schemes and create runs on the quarterback. We never try to do that. We just send a fourth rusher with those three and never get close to quarterbacks.

On the positive side, this is a much better zone coverage team than it was earlier in the year. But with no significant amount of pressure on quarterbacks via the blitz, its difficult to play pass defense.

I'm not sure about whether Haslett will be back, but it looked to me like much of the problem today was sloppy tackling...and some really questionable decisions by McNabb

I feel like we got crushed by the Eagles bc they were on fire, but today it was because we were pretty awful. We have no depth, and that will take some time to correct

If a team is on fire you get crushed with something like 42-21. Once you allow a team to pass that 50 point barrier you then have a combination of a team thats on fire and a team that stinks.

Really? The departure of guys like Cornelius Griffin, the decline of Kedric Golston, the complete whiff and waste of space that is Ma'ake Kemoeatu, the ho-hum performance of Rocky McIntosh, the age of Philip Daniels, London Fletcher, Andre Carter -- those have nothing to do with how bad this defense is?

That "top 10 defense" was a patchwork group that worked really well in 2004 and 2005, took a big dive in 2006, and has been headed in a downward spin over the last couple of seasons. If Greg Blache were still here, and if this was a 4 -3 defense 100% of the time, there isn't any doubt in my mind that this year's D would be in the very same position.

I disagree. Kemoeatu would not even be on the field and he's a huge part of the problem. Carter would be back at his normal position. Rocky would be playing weakside LB where he belongs.

I disagree. Kemoeatu would not even be on the field and he's a huge part of the problem. Carter would be back at his normal position. Rocky would be playing weakside LB where he belongs.

Okay, so the solution is simple -- just get Greg Blache back and switch over to the 4-3 and suddenly we'll be a top ten defense again, right?

What we're seeing now was going to happen no matter what system the coaches are running.

Not to turn this into another Haynesworth thread but I think the reason Shanny didn't let him play today wasn't another egotistical moment. According to this (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/05/AR2010120504364.html) article it's not just Shanny that's fed up with him, it's his fellow teammates, including some of our defensive Pro Bowlers that don't want to be named (I have to assume Fletcher/Orakpo are a couple of them).

Since I don't have much to go on I'm going to assume that Haynesworth's sickness that kept him out of practice, probably wasn't much, like maybe a cold or a lesser illness, and he could've practiced if he wanted but obviously chose not to. I'm assuming along those lines simply because of what the article says about Phillip Daniels and how injured he is, yet he hasn't missed a practice/meeting/etc.

Not to restart all this Haynesworth drama but this article paints the picture that Haynesworth might not play another game for the Redskins. Now I doubt that, if he practices this week/future weeks, I think he'll finish out the season for the Skins and then get traded, but overall I wouldn't be suprised if him and Haslett are gone at the end of the season. I'm only including Haslett because of how bad our defense has been this season, like it's been bad on a historic level, and it's not just something that can be blamed on making the switch to the 3-4. Tackling has been bad, coverage has been bad, run defense has been horrible (I mean really, we need to just start wrapping up, that's all you have to do. No ankle tackles, half-arm grabs, grabbing a shoulder pad, giving a "bump" that barely causes a guy like Brandon Jacobs to stumble, etc.)

Now we can't blame Haynesworth for everything, I mean it's not like even when he's been in there we've been awesome 100% of the time, and we can't blame half-assed tackling on his behalf, but this is getting to be a bit much. It's to the point where I'm starting to miss lesser talented but obviously more dedicated guys like Cornie Griffin. I've actually forgotten what it's like to not have a diva defensive tackle on this team (And I actually never thought I'd use the terms diva and defensive tackle in the same sentence).

So Smootsmack, would I be right in assuming that's what all this "more behind the scenes" drama is with Haynesworth? And what's up with ESPN having a link up besides the Skins-Giants game recap that says "Haynesworth benched?" but the story doesn't show when I click on it? Tell 'em to get that fixed or take the link down.

EDIT: Alright, ESPN fixed the link (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5888908).

Well I'm sure you've already heard the talk this morning that he'll be released this week. Shanahan is taking on the role of bad guy, but really AH no longer has the support of any of his teammates nor Haslett. He's half-assing it in practice when he shows up, skipping meetings and overall he's basically quit on his teammates. He has a world of talent, but he's got to go. Along with Maake and Bryant.