Problems with the Defense, IMHO

[Beemnseven]

Originally Posted by TAFKAS

I wonder if part of the problem isn't due to Greg Blache's philosophy that sacks aren't as important as batted passes and taking away passing lanes.

Actual quotes from Greg Blache:

"The thing you have to understand is there is much more to playing defense than just getting sacks," Blache said Wednesday. "Here [in Washington], we talk about disruptions – batted balls, altered passes, try to get your hands in a quarterback's throwing lanes to make him adjust the ball."

"If a sack was really important, it would factor into the quarterback rating," Blache explained. "Incomplete passes affect his rating, interceptions affect his rating, but not sacks."

Oh, brother. The defensive line coach making excuses for the pass rush. That's just great. It would be different if the linemen were coming close to sacks, creating havoc, and disrupting the quarterback's pacing. But they're not even coming close! There is no pressure. Kerry Collins and Chris Simms the week before had ample time to choose their receivers, get set in perfect throwing motions and make pinpoint deliveries. The bottom line is, opposing passers have generally been able to pick the secondary apart, making key passes yesterday late in the game to tie and then later take the lead.

Sure, they talk about disruptions, but when was the last time you saw a defensive lineman bat down a pass? I can't find stats for QB ratings against the Redskins this year. But Collins was 19 for 36, equalling just over a 50% completion rate -- but remember, several of those were drops by Lamont Jordan and Zack Crockett, and that's what Greg Blache's little cop out doesn't tell you. Sure, the quarterback's rating might be down, but how much of that is attributed to receivers dropping the ball? He finished with 289 yards with one TD and one pick -- and let's be honest, that hasn't happened much either, this defense getting a turnover. Chris Simms was even better.

Mr. Blache, spare us. Pressuring the quarterback is a key facet of any defense. Nobody expects 5 sacks a game. But one sack from the starting defensive ends after 10 games ?!? Don't tell me that's just part of the system. Please, stop talking about disruptions, and coach your players to start making them.

[#56fanatic]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

Honestly, I think a fair amount of the blame can be put on Frost for not kicking good punts when he needed to.

Thank you. I have been saying this the past few weeks. This guy might hit a good one every 5 punts. The punting yesterday was awful. The one that he needed to get down the field at the end of the game, was an awesome 31 yards, giving the Raiders the ball on our 45 or so. Tupa last year would keep the field posting in our favor ALL GAME. I think our punting game has been over looked. Its awful. The guy is a killer in terms of field position.

[#56fanatic]

I believe our Defensive unit played better regarding the pass coverage. Moss never really got into a groove and pissed off most of the game. How does Marshall, a Middle LB, get assigned to cover Porter? That is twice in the past couple of games teams have got that match up. Last week in Tampa he was beet down the middle of the field by a WR,(galloway) and this week. What kind of defensive call is that? And again, late in the game we are blitzing when we have gotton absolutely no pressure on the QB all day. And again we give up two or three big plays at the end of the game when we need to control the Raiders and keep them infront of us. But we blitz, and get burned for 30 by moss. Blitz again and get beat by Jordan out of the backfield for 20. Its the same ole story game after game.

Gibbs deserves some blame too. 4th quarter, up by 3, with little over 7 minutes left. Three straight passes? what the hell is that. Portis was averaging alost 5 yards a carry and we come out 3 straight passes, two of them deep down the field. That is horrible. And again, I think we get the ball back, and again throw the ball two of the three downs. We got out coached, first, and out played second.

[MTK]

It's very simple, we just don't have the talent up front to get the job done rushing the passer. We can blame the coaches all we want, but look at the names up front. This unit needs a serious overhaul. I wouldn't mind Wynn and Daniels as backups, but it's definitely time to replace both guys with some DE's who can get after the QB. We somehow got away with mediocre talent on the DL last year, but this year it's finally catching up with us.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by #56fanatic

Gibbs deserves some blame too. 4th quarter, up by 3, with little over 7 minutes left. Three straight passes? what the hell is that. Portis was averaging alost 5 yards a carry and we come out 3 straight passes, two of them deep down the field. That is horrible. And again, I think we get the ball back, and again throw the ball two of the three downs. We got out coached, first, and out played second.

Didn't Gibbs catch hell from a lot of us last week for running late in the game? Now we throw and he's still hearing it from us. Guess it just goes to show the most popular decision is the one that works.

[#56fanatic]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Didn't Gibbs catch hell from a lot of us last week for running late in the game? Now we throw and he's still hearing it from us. Guess it just goes to show the most popular decision is the one that works.

Not from me buddy, you can go back and look at the posts I put up. I thought running the ball last week was the right think to do. This week it was the right thing to do also. dont throw me under the bus in regards to jumping on the ship every week. I call it like I see it. We should have been able to grind out 2 stinking yards last week, didn't and lost. We should have run the ball this week, and we didn't. Portis I think had like 6 to 8 carries in the second half. And we are freakin winning. We were plaing like we were down 13 points instead of up 3. It was bad play calling, nothing else. You dont come out and throw the ball 3 straight times, with 7 min to go in the game, and leading. its flat out rediculous!! Then, GW and again blitzes late, and again we get burned down the field. Moss on the 20 yarder on the side line, then Jordan coming out of the back field. Dont they watch any gamefilm and keep track of Norv and what he does. Go back to his days in Dallas, Miami, and now the Raiders, the back always catches balls out of the back field. He obviously watched our tapes and knew when we were blitzing and knew he had that play in his pocket and used it at just the right time. Good call on his part. and bad call on our D again this week. And the punter isn't getting off easy either, he sucks donkey dicks. This guy could n't punt the ball 40 yards with wind at his back. All day long he is punting the ball 30 yards. At the end of the game, when we needed a deep punt to pin them inside their 30, he hits a long ball of 31 yards and they start at midfield. Last year, Tupa kept the field position in our favor. This is two weeks in a row, late in the game our punter has given our D a very short field to work with.

[funandgunner]

I think the problem is that the redskins don't play with intensity and at 100% the whole game. The offense gets complacent when they are up and only tries to turn it up when they are behind. The defense is the same way - they usually wait until the other team is in the redzone and then they start to get fired up. That's why the score is always close - except for the San Fran game.

BTW, I don't believe in ever giving 110% - there is no such thing as giving MORE than your all. Hey redskins, where's your heart ? The redskins fans have more passion and heart than the players right now.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by #56fanatic

Not from me buddy, you can go back and look at the posts I put up. I thought running the ball last week was the right think to do. This week it was the right thing to do also. dont throw me under the bus in regards to jumping on the ship every week. I call it like I see it. We should have been able to grind out 2 stinking yards last week, didn't and lost. We should have run the ball this week, and we didn't. Portis I think had like 6 to 8 carries in the second half. And we are freakin winning. We were plaing like we were down 13 points instead of up 3. It was bad play calling, nothing else. You dont come out and throw the ball 3 straight times, with 7 min to go in the game, and leading. its flat out rediculous!! Then, GW and again blitzes late, and again we get burned down the field. Moss on the 20 yarder on the side line, then Jordan coming out of the back field. Dont they watch any gamefilm and keep track of Norv and what he does. Go back to his days in Dallas, Miami, and now the Raiders, the back always catches balls out of the back field. He obviously watched our tapes and knew when we were blitzing and knew he had that play in his pocket and used it at just the right time. Good call on his part. and bad call on our D again this week. And the punter isn't getting off easy either, he sucks donkey dicks. This guy could n't punt the ball 40 yards with wind at his back. All day long he is punting the ball 30 yards. At the end of the game, when we needed a deep punt to pin them inside their 30, he hits a long ball of 31 yards and they start at midfield. Last year, Tupa kept the field position in our favor. This is two weeks in a row, late in the game our punter has given our D a very short field to work with.

I wasn't calling you out specifically, just saying it's funny how both sides of the coin get played week to week.

[Southpaw]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

It's very simple, we just don't have the talent up front to get the job done rushing the passer. We can blame the coaches all we want, but look at the names up front. This unit needs a serious overhaul. I wouldn't mind Wynn and Daniels as backups, but it's definitely time to replace both guys with some DE's who can get after the QB. We somehow got away with mediocre talent on the DL last year, but this year it's finally catching up with us.

The coaches are as much to blame for the lack of pass rush as the front four are. They knew last year that the starting DE's were useless as far as the pass rush, and they had ample time to do something about it. Instead, they drafted a corner to sure up the pass coverage...

But seriously, this line has needed an overhauling for almost five years, and the only positive thing that has happened in that time is the addition of Griffin.

[MTK]

We probably won't be laughing at the Rogers pick at this time next year, though I guess that's not soon enough for the people who are already convinced he's a bust.

You can't address every single need each year, if only it were that easy.

GW needs to regroup this offseason with this schemes and most definitely his personnel. Stuff that worked last year isn't working this year, and we've had some key injuries.

Maybe next year we can finally get the offense and defense on the same page.

[firstdown]

Its funny that this time last year we were worried that a team would try to make GW their head coach. Thats one thing I don't think we have to worry about this year.

[Southpaw]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

We probably won't be laughing at the Rogers pick at this time next year, though I guess that's not soon enough for the people who are already convinced he's a bust.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not labeling Carlos Rogers a bust at the moment. I actually think he's as good or better at tackling than any of our other corners, and I've only seen him get beat deep once, which isn't bad for a rookie. My only real knock against his is that he plays very soft intermediate coverage.

My main point is the D line has been a problem for years, and the coaching staff has put forth very little effort to fix it.

[VTSkins897]

the defense did okay imo. it was turnovers giving them a short field and keeping em tired that may have hurt us. the D got our only TD and kept them to like 2 yds/rush.

[offiss]

Originally Posted by Redskins8588

Not to add fuel to the fire, but did you watch last weeks game against Tampa? Our offense did put up 35 points, and our D gave up 36 points. Even our D players said something to the effect, "It's our worst game, so much worse because our offense gave us 35 points," Clark said of the secondary. So that is why people are blaming our D, hell they even blame themselves. I agree that we need to step up on both sides of the ball, but after last years D performance so many were hoping for a repeat and not realizing that we were hurting this bad on our front 4.

Take a look who wasen't in the lineup last week as well, Taylor, and Griffen, Taylor is a major player on our defense, of coarse the defense isn't going to make excuses because of injuries especially this group, they believe they can stop anyone, but it's awfully tough when your missing 2 players who may be the best in the game at their positions.

I believe if Taylor played last week we win that game against Tampa he's that valuable.

[SmootSmack]

I wonder if we miss Noble at all. Either way we definitely need to get some pass rushers in there. I sort of liked it against the Niners when we went with the 3-4. In fact has Holdman even been on the field these past couple of weeks?