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Originally Posted by smootsmack
Do you have the whole interview? Blache is one of the best assistant coaches to interview in the league. He's extremely candid
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My bad...it was in Wilbon's chat house in response to one of the questions and in his article on the Bears game. Here's the transcript below.
Lexington Park, Md.: Good column today, but one that made me worry. Is the Skin defense getting to the point where they feel that they have to win the game? It seems that when you get to that point the defense is going to take some bigger risks, be it going for more interceptions instead of deflecting the ball, and trying to strip it instead of making the tackle. That means there's more of a chance for a big play to go against the defense. Too much aggressiveness will cause this.
Are the coaches worried about this? Or will they be able to keep the defense aggressive, but not to the point of making huge mistakes looking for the big play?
Michael Wilbon: Hey everybody...Sorry we had to delay for an hour but I'm just getting in from Chicago..And this first question is a really good one. How much should a defense be responsible for? That's what I was asking Gregg Williams, Greg Blache, Shawn Springs and Fred Smoot yesterday after the game. Of course, having played between a 7 and 9 1/2 every week for six weeks, they think they can do more and should do more. I don't believe they think they are going to start gambling for interceptions and that sort of thing.
What Blache talked to me about was blocking after turnovers, after recovering fumbles and picking off passes. Tampa Bay made an art of it for five or six seasons. We'll see how the Redskins do. But aggression in a defense is rarely bad. And remember, when LaVar comes back and Phillip Daniels comes back and Andre Lott comes back they should be able to rotate guys a little more, keeping them fresh, and they should be more aggressive if Williams wants to do that in the fourth quarter.
But I'm a firm believer in building a team defense-first. The Patriots defense gets little credit, but that defense was better than the offense in both Super Bowl seasons. We know about the Ravens defense, and the Tampa Bay defense...The offense ain't good, so you go with your strength, right?