We play football differently than most.

[Oldfan]

I agree with you, Art...

Martz is an arrogant playcaller and I knew that he would not stick with the running game. He always has something he thinks he is prooving. He is the reason they (Rams) lost the SB to the Patriots. But like you say, the real test is at Green Bay...

BTW, when is the last time the 'SKins won at GB?

Gregg Williams knew it too. It appeared to me that Daniels and Carter took wider splits coming off the edge. We didn't blitz. We basically sold out to stop the pass and Martz could have pounded the ball between the tackles almost at will -- but he didn't.

[Commander Adama]

However - they ran well against us. So, is this a one hit wonder win?

68 Yards of total Rushing Offense is good?

Detroit Rush Yds Avg Lng TD FumL

K. Jones 11 48 4.4 10 0 0

T. Bell 4 15 3.8 9 0 0

J. Kitna 4 3 0.8 3 0 0

J. Bradley 1 2 2.0 2 0 0

Granted, Jones' Average was pretty good, but with the gameplan GW used, we were up, so runs were going to be fewer and far between. I don't think you can project this style of defense on another team since we would gameplan differently.

[Geoff_K]

Nice write up Art. I can see why you do what you do. Doing this for a couple more weeks in a row and we WILL be someone that other teams fear to play.

[Chump Bailey]

The thing I'm concerned with regarding the DL is how they perform against teams with good offensive lines such as Dallas, Green Bay and New England. This is what is vexing to me.

We all saw how effective our defense as a whole can be when only the front four lineman generate pressure and we can free up our DB's and LB's to an extent to make plays and/or prevent the other team from making them at the same time.

We're an entirely different defense when this happens - entirely and very close to championship caliber I think. It's critical that we get some push from Dre, Phillip, Montgomery and Griff in these upcoming games.

[Tomel]

Finally, a Gibbs I game!!!!

I don't know about the rest of you, but this is the first game in a lonnnnnng time that reminded me of the Gibbs I era. For all you young fans out there, this is what it was like before Norv Turner took over (sorry San Diego fans). Now, let's hope we can get some consistency for more than a game or two in a row.

[Larry]

Still, this defense just increases my pucker factor, because, if I am coaching against us, all I do is throw 5 yard passes all day. I never stop. I never get impatient. I go 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5....etc.....until over.

Yeah, it's true that if an opponent gets 5 yards every time they'll eventually score. OTOH, if you can force your opponent to abandon the deep routes, then you also force them to be perfect.

If they go 5, 0, 4, then they've got to punt. (It's the same problem that teams who run the ball for four yards a play face. If the defense stops you just once, then you're off your game.)

[Warpath11]

Yeah, it's true that if an opponent gets 5 yards every time they'll eventually score. OTOH, if you can force your opponent to abandon the deep routes, then you also force them to be perfect.

If they go 5, 0, 4, then they've got to punt. (It's the same problem that teams who run the ball for four yards a play face. If the defense stops you just once, then you're off your game.)

I do not think our defensive game plan will be like what we saw against the lions for every team. I mean if you give that underneath stuff to a Gruden coached team you are playing to their strength. They want to strech the field horizontally so they will be happy with those gains. Similarly I can see Wes Welker catch 15 balls for 100 yads and Tom Brady being happy with that.

Against teams like the Bucs, Jets (with Pennigton; only thorw he can make is the dink and/or the dunk) I do not see us playing that deep zone as often.

[jschlesi]

We overpowered a finesse team. Our DBs played good excellent. Kitna got pressure in his face and they never recovered. Det never runs that much helping our DEs get up the field. Williams' had a perfect game plan and it was executed on the field ( how often can you say that?)

[Henry]

Yeah, it's true that if an opponent gets 5 yards every time they'll eventually score. OTOH, if you can force your opponent to abandon the deep routes, then you also force them to be perfect.

If they go 5, 0, 4, then they've got to punt. (It's the same problem that teams who run the ball for four yards a play face. If the defense stops you just once, then you're off your game.)

And that's pretty much exactly how we beat the Dolphins and Eagles.

[Martini]

I love the physical nature of this team. Watching Yoder take out Dawkins and Sellers blowing people makes my hairs stand up. We all know the safties love to head hunt but seeing Smoot lay a vicious blow that took him out of the game is awesome.

If you play the Redskins be ready for a street fight. I cannot beleive what a nice guy Joe Gibbs is, so calm and polite. He has the team ready to brawl.

HTTR.

[Henry]

I love the physical nature of this team. Watching Yoder take out Dawkins and Sellers blowing people makes my hairs stand up. We all know the safties love to head hunt but seeing Smoot lay a vicious blow that took him out of the game is awesome.

If you play the Redskins be ready for a street fight. I cannot beleive what a nice guy Joe Gibbs is, so calm and polite. He has the team ready to brawl.

HTTR.

Was it me or when Sellers caught that pass was he LOOKING for a safety to smash into?

I love this quote from Portis on Sellers:

"We needed the touchdowns, and the touchdowns were big," running back Clinton Portis said. "But when he ran over Kenoy, that really changed their defensive mentality, like, 'These dudes on this team are crazy.' So I really think he loosened up the defense."

[APBT]

Good stuff Art.

The Skins seem to be on their way. Campbell is so poised that its scary. The run game seem to be alright but we are not there yet. When there are 2 safeties under the umbrella we are suppose to dominate.

You are right about teams such as the Bucs that are a short passing team. They will certainly take what the defense gives them. I notice in some of our games, the short dump off to the RB is something that kills us just about every down. Due to the fact that London Baker is playing a deep middle zone and the RB is usally underneath him. The gain is usally 5-6 yards.

Our coordinators are smart enough to adjust though.

[cphil006]

We overpowered a finesse team. Our DBs played good excellent. Kitna got pressure in his face and they never recovered. Det never runs that much helping our DEs get up the field. Williams' had a perfect game plan and it was executed on the field ( how often can you say that?)

stats-wise Detroit has more fire power than Green Bay, but can we overpower the Packers the same way? Green Bay can strike at any time and Brett Favre is a little more elusive than Kitna... although he looked real bad when Strahan "sacked" him a few years ago... or was it a "lay down"?

[Uno Mas]

Depends what you're hoping to accomplish. We hope to make a QB move off his drop. EVERY time that happens, we've "won" the play by design. It's the entire goal of what we do. We do specific games up front to make that happen. That is often more important than a hit or a sack. If you watch most games, few teams have shown themselves as consistently able to move the QB off his drop and we've blitzed less than anyone I've seen this year.

I agree with the idea, I just dont agree its happened as much as you think.:2cents:

[fansince62]

That's easy.

Yes if Campbell is for real. No if he isn't. It's that simple. Campbell extends plays and makes up for negative plays against us. If he gets more consistent we can handle anyone, any game. I think we do our best against the type of defenses that are designed to dominate. Our offensive line doesn't lose many up front battles against teams who are supposed to be great. That's one thing we have going for us.

that's what I was thinking also. my only departure from most folks is that I think JC has to be regularly able to work a 25-30 passes per game. We have a decent running game......but I don't think this offensive line is one that will dominate the best defenses in that department. We don't need JC to be a Dan Marino...but a ball control power game against the best defenses - especially when these teams have good offenses - isn't gonna cut it IMO. If JC is as accurate and timely as he was yesterday with regularity...spreading the ball around....then we become a very difficult offense to stop. It is a given, of course, just as it is with NE and Brady, that the O-line provides the pass-blocking that enables JC to pull the trigger.

[sonsofwashington]

I am not sure Art. I saw the Lions make an adjustment and throw more short passes, but by then it was probably too late and they had to go down field we also picked one off.

It was pretty obvious we would give them anything short considering almost every guy was five yards of the receiver. They even mocked up our defense on TV for the world to see.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I don't know if trying to out-hit another team is that revolutionary a concept or that unusual. As I mentioned before, I did my annual re-read of "Paterno: By The Book" recently and that is essentially the defensive strategy Penn State employed against Miami in the '86 Title Game. It is also the basic concept behind the Tampa 2 and - to some degree - the zone blitz. The name of the game on defense for at least 15 years has been to take the will out of an offense.

What made yesterday so remarkable was the pressure we generated on the Lions with just 4 guys. Jon Kitna is an accurate enough passer and the Lions receivers are good enough that they probably would have found a lot of room to work under normal pressure. But Kitna was running for his laugh from the opening snap and no one is ever going to confuse him with Fran Tarkenton on the run.

Next week will be interesting because Green Bay's offensive line is about a thousand times better than Detroit's and Favre still throws the best slant route in the NFL.

[Art]

Lombardi, no one things the concept of being more physical than the opposition is all that revolutionary. It's actually BEING so that is, in today's NFL. There are very few teams you would put in the category of physical teams. Pittsburgh. Chicago before some injuries. Philly would be there but for a finesse offense. Tennessee might be getting there. Baltimore is still there.

Today's NFL is based on stipping the ball and speed, not punishing and even those teams that seek to be that often can't accomplish it. We've actually done it in our favor all four games. The Giants took it and didn't wilt mostly because we couldn't get them off the field as Manning was making some great throws.

Today's NFL is just structured differently, really, on both sides of the ball, but for a handful of teams and maybe two actually seem like they can accomplish what they set out to accomplish. I just worry we're not as built for it as we could be.

[jpgirth]

Lombardi, no one things the concept of being more physical than the opposition is all that revolutionary. It's actually BEING so that is, in today's NFL. There are very few teams you would put in the category of physical teams. Pittsburgh. Chicago before some injuries. Philly would be there but for a finesse offense. Tennessee might be getting there. Baltimore is still there.

Today's NFL is based on stipping the ball and speed, not punishing and even those teams that seek to be that often can't accomplish it. We've actually done it in our favor all four games. The Giants took it and didn't wilt mostly because we couldn't get them off the field as Manning was making some great throws.

Today's NFL is just structured differently, really, on both sides of the ball, but for a handful of teams and maybe two actually seem like they can accomplish what they set out to accomplish. I just worry we're not as built for it as we could be.

I worry that we aren't built as well (they have to make smart tackles/not all kill shots?)......I still believe this team is one year (draft/FA) away from being a serious contender.