e16bball Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2161260 1. Ravens 2. Bills 3. Steelers 4. Eagles 5. Patriots 6. Jets 7. Washington Redskins Star power: LB LaVar Arrington; CB Shawn Springs; DT Cornelius Griffin; FS Sean Taylor Key arrivals: CB Carlos Rogers Gregg Williams arrived in D.C. last year with the reputation as a defensive guru and a $1.8 million salary that raised eyebrows. No longer. Williams' defensive transformation with the Redskins, a middling unit in recent years, helped enhance Williams' image and salvaged the team from complete disaster with its inept offense. The aggressive style the team employed -- blitzing from all angles, using odd fronts, slanting formations every which way -- should continue this year, but the losses of MLB Antonio Pierce and CB Fred Smoot, both of whom had career seasons, could weigh heavily on the unit. Still, the return of LaVar Arrington should result in strong LB play, and first-round pick Carlos Rogers will get the chance to replace Smoot. Can the Redskins play as much man coverage without Smoot? Probably, because FS Sean Taylor -- a player with a ton of potential -- can cover tight ends, backs and slot receivers adeptly. And with an unknown but overachieving D-line handling business, the results should be strong again. 8. Bears 9. Carolina 10. Jacksonville Personally, I would sub Atlanta in, take out the Jets, and move the 'Skins up to about 5th. I'd move Carolina up, as well, but not as much anymore with Kris Jenkins out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myzhi Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 If we have an O, would be #1. Instead, going to be hard to hold #3 ranking from last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamSneed36 Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 best actual explination of the D ive seen all year, but under rated. With a little more offensive production and ball control the D will be top 3 again easily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skins1972 Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 jets are higher ranked than us?? Hmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoCalMike Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 Marshall seemed to replace Pierce just fine. I am really tired of the media acting like Pierce was the be all, end all of this defense. He was very good for us, but it was ONE SEASON, it wasn't like losing a 5 year Superstar that anchored the Defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Worthy Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 If Pierce was a main reason we had a good D last year, how come the Giants arent in this list....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fighting for old D.C. Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 How is Marcus Washington not a star? He's twice the player LaVar is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamSneed36 Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 How is Marcus Washington not a star? He's twice the player LaVar is. True, hes also a pro bowler now. People seem to forget :logo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Kenzo Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 I completely agree...Pierce was a good player for us last season. But how do we know if Pierce was going to be able to produce the same way that he did last year. Lemar has field in great for us so far and he will be a leader. Plus, Gregg Williams plays one of those defenses that everybody is versatile and can be a solid contributor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mookie0720 Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 The Falcons defense has got to be on there. They are just nasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. S Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 Falcons defense should be there, Jets and Bears should both be out. Carolina and us should both be top 5, along with Ravens, Steelers, and Patriots. It is a pretty fair assessment, but our run defense is still insanely good and it was not menntioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streater101 Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 If Pierce was a main reason we had a good D last year, how come the Giants arent in this list....? Better yet, why didn't he make the Pro Bowl. Urlacher was hurt most of the year, Keith Brooking was moved to the outside, so with the Pro Bowl MLB slot seemingly wide open, he still couldn't beat out Trotter fresh off of his amazing 6 starts. He also managed to overlook Marcus, the only Skins defender who actually did goto the pro bowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bounty Hunter #21 Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 I can live with that ranking...atleast they didnt put dallas ahead of us... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwsleep Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 The Jets? Did I miss something? Guess I'd go with Atlanta over Jax, but whatever... Also, nice to see the Bears up there, if only to make me feel a bit better about our offense! When was this written, before or after week 1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orlskinsfan Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 funny..the jets ranking higher than us...now that is funny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theartofmonk Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 Marshall seemed to replace Pierce just fine. I am really tired of the media acting like Pierce was the be all, end all of this defense. He was very good for us, but it was ONE SEASON, it wasn't like losing a 5 year Superstar that anchored the Defense. My point EXACTLY. Pierce was 2nd string until injuries caused him to get a shot. Sure, he stepped up, but that's what he's SUPPOSED to do. He wasn't a 1st year player & 1 year does not make a career. Look at his body of work - not terribly impressive (courtesy of http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/237172): {bad copy-paste job, sorry.. just click the link) Sure he's a good player showing signs of greatness, but not irreplacable. I've said it before & I'll say it again: Smoot is better at telling jokes than tackling. Walt Harris is thorough as well as Lemar Marshall. Part of our defense's success is it's depth. If those guys get hurt, there's another potential Pierce-esque breakout star waiting in the wings (i.e., Rogers, Clark, Prieleau Campbell, Keasey, Clemons). I haven't even mentioned our Pro-Bowler - be for real. Forget these rankings, I KNOW we're the best D in the league. Teams will not be looking forward to facing us this season. They know they have to work hard to score & gain yards - no gimmes. The media is so inept & clueless it's pathetic. These guys know jack! My :2cents:. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theartofmonk Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 And another thing. It kills me when we shut down these so-called "high powered" offenses like the Rams & the media still gives us no credit. "[insert media darling offense here] just had a bad day. They were off. They beat themselves". Uh uh. They didn't produce because Taylor & Springs (& company) put the fear of God in the receivers with hard hits and swatted or picked a chunk of the QB's passes. Our D-line & LB corps shut the shut down the run & had their QB contemplating other career opportunities after seeing that pressure. I hope Gregg Williams & Joe Gibbs stick together in rebuilding this dynasty. They have these guys playing REAL football, especially on D. These are the Redksins that I remember rooting for - the pride is back, people. Forget those mediots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synergist Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 Where did Dallas end up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowtrain Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 The Jets? Did I miss something? In 2004, the Jets defense was 3rd in points allowed, just 1 tenth of a point away from ranking 2nd. This year they added Ty Law into the mix, plus a healthy John Abraham. I think it's recognized that a quality D like that doesn't just vanish into thin air because they played one poor road opener against one the NFL's best offenses. Due to the lack of turnover in personnel, chances are better than not that 16 games + 2 playoff games last season is a more accurate reflection of things to come than 1 game last Sunday. Just a guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Om Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 I can't get the page to load properly to verify this, but ... that reads to me like a preseason ranking. Yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark327 Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 I can't get the page to load properly to verify this, but ... that reads to me like a preseason ranking. Yes?[/quote i can't either , but i would assume it is since the Skins are currently ranked # 2 right now behind the Bills so much for the media's knowledge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Monk Fan Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 I don't get the reference to our D having been a "middling unit in recent years." I know we dropped the year before, but I seem to remember that under Lewis, Schottenheimer, and Rhodes we were a top ten D. Is my memory faulty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e16bball Posted September 15, 2005 Author Share Posted September 15, 2005 I can't get the page to load properly to verify this, but ... that reads to me like a preseason ranking. Yes? Yes, it's a preseason ranking... I think the Jets would fall a bit in the eyes of these writers after being manhandled by KC. A lot of teams get manhandled by KC, though, and Pennington and co. sure didn't help, so I'm not saying they are a bad defense; just that they would have to slip below us after that performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Money Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 If Pierce was a main reason we had a good D last year, how come the Giants arent in this list....? Thats great but the Giants D did look better than last year the other day... I guess we'll just have to see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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