CBS: Redskins report: Inside slant

[Duncan]

http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/teams/report/WAS

Redskins report: Inside slant

Nov. 2, 2005

The Sports Xchange

Inside slant · Strategy and personnel · Notes, quotes

Washington's defense, second against the run in 2004, was already just 15th before Sunday's sieve-like performance in the stunning 36-0 loss at the New York Giants dropped it to 25th.

New York running back Tiki Barber burst through the right side for 57 yards on the first play, and didn't stop gashing holes in the Washington defense until he was rested after he scored with 1:24 left in the third quarter -- and added a career-high 206 yards to his resume.

"We gave up the big run and after that, there was no enthusiasm," said right end Phillip Daniels, who watched Barber scoot past him. "It seemed like we were a bunch of deer in the headlights. Guys were wondering who was going to make a play instead of making the play themselves. We're not playing very smart. We're not doing the little things and that's killing us."

Barber's monster runs (he had a 59-yard scamper early in the second quarter) were the fifth and sixth runs of at least 34 yards which the Redskins surrendered during the last four games.

"It's the same old deal," defensive end Renaldo Wynn. "Every game, a missed tackle always turns into a big run. It was horrible. I don't remember a time when I felt this low during my NFL career. "

Safety Sean Taylor took the wrong approach on Barber's first jaunt. Cornerback Walt Harris missed the tackle on the next one.

"A couple of times we make a mistake by being so aggressive," Gibbs said. "We come up and probably have a chance to get the guy down, but we try to explode on him and miss the tackle. Does it concern us? Yeah. That's one that hopefully we can fix."

Safety Matt Bowen said the problem is not that hard to solve.

"Football is a game of tackling and angles," Bowen said. "If you don't have a proper angle on a running back in this league, you're not going to catch him, and you won't be a in a good position to tackle him. That's just proper technique. It starts when you're young, but it stays the same as long as you keep playing. If we want to have the season that we want, it's going to come down to stopping big plays."

[footballhenry]

Wow, were 25th against the run? Guys, I think its official, our defense is not nearly as good as last year:(

[Leonard Washington]

Wow, were 25th against the run? Guys, I think its official, our defense is not nearly as good as last year:(

i know...being 15th coming into the game wasn't to good either.

[36HAMMER]

The scheme has been debunked (solved) as far as the run is concerned. also our talent level is not as high. i just hope we can pull it together for the birds.this game is for more than record, it's for pride and dignity.

[Jumbo]

Given all the stuff written on boards about Bowen always taking horrible angles it seemed ironic to read his noting that as the problem, and it being simple to solve.

[PREDICTOR]

WOW! I am just amazed. Not at the defense...but that so many of you believed that the Redskins actually didn't need to draft defensive linemen. I have been on this for years now.

As I said during the offseason....one reason the Redskins defense finished so highly last year in the rankings...was because other teams got the lead last year and then just tried to run out the clock. Other teams left tons of yardage on the field because they knew they could just play safe and run out the clock.

With the offense scoring more this year, that has forced other teams to go up and down the field more.

The other problem is that the Redskins offense is not as good as many have claimed. Those lucky deep passes we have been living off of aren't to be counted on week in and week out.

There is no consistency with out defense OR our offense and that is on the coaches and management. They need to realize that schemes don't win ball game, STARTERS do. All players are just not interchangeable, DESPITE what Greg Williams says.

I have worked for people like Greg Williams. These guys feel like its all them. That their system..SYSTEM..is better and more important than the players. Its all about Greg Williams. He is a genius and doesn't have to play great players because his scheme is so perfect. Right!

[herb mul-key]

GW is scaring me

[dawgjk9]

i really hope that during practice tackling is the main focus this week, and that the tackling will be vastly improved this week, otherwise we could be in for antoher long day. if our tackilng is as good as it was last year, this D will be great again.

[Destino]

I said this weeks ago before we fell in the rankings. This defense does not gang tackle like it did last year, it gives up the big play, and it generates almost no pressure on the passer. This all points towards the defensive line.

What worries me is that I didn't get the sense that the defensive coaches felt they needed more talent there. I can't see us drafting all the FB's if Gregg Williams had made it clear we had a need. The coaches not seeing the obvious need is what concerns me.

[Hog Fever]

A quality DE (or two) would go a long way to getting Greg Williams back to genius status.

I’d just settle for all of our starters being healthy. We started the season off very good against the run. Something has changed in the past three weeks that has sent everything into the crapper. Either we don’t have the right people healthy or other teams have found a weakness and they are exploiting it.

[feeshta]

Predictor you need to lay off on the negative attitude man. Are you actually a fan or what?

As far as drafting D-line is concerned, it would not be such a problem if there were not so many injuries at DT this year. It stated with Noble going down, then Griff gets injured and Big Joe has plantar fascitis which is very painful and limiting, not to mention our backups are nearly all injured as well. When the team made their decisions in the draft it looked good at DT, with the same trio that was extremely effective last year returning intact and Daniels returning at DE along with still having a couple guys like Evens who played well last year around, so they took a pass on D-lineman and went after areas of greater concern. Rogers has been a good pick, and Campbell may prove to be in the future. After that they went after LB's to try to fill the middle, but Marshall proved to be the best option in the end there.

Daniels has not played as well as the coaches expected I don't think, and the injuries at DT have become a serious problem at this point. Wynn is his usual self, not making any mistakes but also not scaring anyone.

If I'm Gregg Williams right now, I'm thinking about moving Daniels into the DT rotation to help spell the depleted corps there, and playing Evans at DE. Besides the problem at DT, WLB has been the weakest link, but the fix there is obvious and impending. Hopefully we will get some guys back at DT soon and shore up the middle so that teams have to repect it again. Right now they are simply playing it striaght up in the middle and moving blockers to the fringes where they can overpower Holdman easily and turn the corner. I was just thinking, has Holdman ever actually made a tackle out in the flat on his side? I can't remember one, but thay doesn't mean anything.

As far as D-line, I think the team may take a look at DE's this year in the draft as Daniels and Wynn are both egtting up there in age and Daniels has not met expectations. I think a guy like Tomba Hali from PSU might be available in round two, and he is a good smart player with a motor on him. DT depth could be available cheap in free agency. It would be nice to add a solid two gapper to complement Griffen, but not sure we can find one for the right price.