NFLFanhouse: "Between the Lines: Haynesworth Can't Do Everything for Redskins"

[FrFan]

As we have done since the FanHouse began, I'll be taking a look every week at some aspect of line play. You can read more features in the series here. Check back every Thursday for a new Between The Lines.

When the Redskins signed defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth to the largest free agent deal in NFL history, that contract came with a lot of expectations. One game into his Redskins' career, there are already columns asking, is that all there is? Haynesworth had four tackles against the Giants. He had no quarterback hurries and no sacks as the Redskins lost 23-17.

The stats tell a little bit, but they don't really fully explain how Haynesworth played in his Redskins' debut. So how did Haynesworth look? To get a better idea, I went back and watched every snap the Redskins' defense played against the Giants. Haynesworth worked hard for his paycheck, but the team's struggles explain how it's more difficult for a dominant defensive tackle to dominate a game than a great quarterback.For one thing, barring an injury, a quarterback (or a linebacker or a cornerback) plays every snap. Like any other defensive lineman, Haynesworth gets breaks. In the opener, Haynesworth played 45 of the Redskins defense's 61 snaps (73.7 percent). But even that was a chore for the big defensive tackle. He clearly tired in the fourth quarter, showing less push and less effort as the game wound down.

And for another, when a defensive tackle like Haynesworth is on the team, the opponent gameplans around him. That was very apparent on Sunday. When Haynesworth was in the game, the Giants generally ran the other way. And while Haynesworth is very quick for a 330+ pounder, he's not going to run Brandon Jacobs down from the backside.

For most of the game, the Giants tried to avoid Haynesworth at all costs. Washington made that relatively easy, as Haynesworth didn't move around much. He lined up for one play at right defensive end and one play at left defensive tackle, but for the other 43 snaps, he was at his normal right defensive tackle spot.

Continue reading here

Very interesting stat lines here, the Giants did adapt to the Haynesworth factor, veni vidi vinci.

[Coolio47]

bah you beat me to it. It's true, while haynesworth has a new big contract, I do expect big things from him, but I don't expect everything to be done by him. He is only one man, and I think a lot of people lose sight of that.

[FrFan]

The Giants showed the NFL the game plan to neutralize Albert.

I just wonder how Blache is going to adapt to this.

[Avidpoet]

If we had a legit linebacker and not one who converted from DE then that may help. I expect London Fletcher to once again have a ton of tackles. He seems to be the only one on the team who can tackle. If teams are going to start running to the outsides then they are going to have a field day on us unless Orakpo and McIntosh have a better game

[redskins55]

http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/09/17/between-the-lines-haynesworth-cant-do-everything-for-redskins/

When the Redskins signed defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth to the largest free agent deal in NFL history, the contract came with a lot of expectations. One game into his Redskins' career, there are already columns asking, is that all there is?

Haynesworth had four tackles against the Giants. He had no quarterback hurries and no sacks as the Redskins lost 23-17.

The stats tell a little bit, but they don't really fully explain how Haynesworth played in his Redskins' debut. So how did Haynesworth look? To get a better idea, I went back and watched every snap the Redskins' defense played against the Giants. Haynesworth worked hard for his paycheck, but the team's struggles explain how it's more difficult for a dominant defensive tackle to dominate a game than a great quarterback.

For one thing, barring an injury, a quarterback (or a linebacker or a cornerback) plays every snap. Like any other defensive lineman, Haynesworth gets breaks. In the opener, Haynesworth played 45 of the Redskins defense's 61 snaps (73.7 percent). But even that was a chore for the big defensive tackle. He clearly tired in the fourth quarter, showing less push and less effort as the game wound down.

And for another, when a defensive tackle like Haynesworth is on the team, the opponent game plans around him. That was very apparent on Sunday. When Haynesworth was in the game, the Giants generally ran the other way. And while Haynesworth is very quick for a 330-plus-pounder, he's not going to run Brandon Jacobs down from the backside.

For most of the game, the Giants tried to avoid Haynesworth at all costs. Washington made that relatively easy, as Haynesworth didn't move around much. He lined up for one play at right defensive end and one play at left defensive tackle, but for the other 43 snaps, he was at his normal right defensive tackle spot.

Click link for rest

[Capt. Kaos]

search is your friend

[redskins55]

I searched for it but didnt see it... Thank you for letting me know

[Dan T.]

London Fletcher was credited with 18 tackles on Sunday, a huge game for a middle linebacker. Could Haynesworth's presence have been a contributing factor?

[Santana_Fan]

I know this is the wrong thread for Orakpo talk, but I really wish Blache would put Orakpo back where he belongs. Our line would be vicious.

[HailGreen28]

But he's supposed to give our LBs easy shots at their running backs! He's supposed to give us a pass rush, himself and the rest of our D-Line!

That's why we paid him $100 million, right? I've seen the posts here saying so. Should I start quoting people on that?

[hail_victory]

MLB's love a space eating DT, Ray Lewis complained for years to Bmore that they needed it, and they finally drafted Haloti Ngata, players like this let the MLB move around alittle more freely

[brianm23]

I'm sorry, but when a player is getting paid that of a Quarterback, you better god damn well be game changing. SO far, he should be returning money as of right now, but then again, I said all along that it was Dana Stubblefield all over again.

[lashondajones]

HEY There hi yall doing. My husband gotme into football and now i love skins.

um not no expert but I like to wat ch my husbnds favorite player hAynesworth. He says that he is the baddest d tackle on the planet and i agree.

but here is my questiun for anybody who can asnwer me. why didn't Bryan Orakpo rush quarterback last week instead of just haiving our new defensive end run all around the field trying to cover recievers downfield gettin tired and gettin worn out???

i'm not a expert but it seems like anybody with half a brain would no that if your best pass rusher doe s wind sprints for a couple of plays then he won';t be able to rush the qb as well as if he just stayed on the line.

whatsup with that stuff from the redskins? does anybody know cause i haven't hear anybody talkin about it.

[[[ghost]]]

Did you happen to notice how often Orakpo played as an End, as compared to OLB?

Just wondering what the ratio was.

[holmester]

"For most of the game, the Giants tried to avoid Haynesworth at all costs. Washington made that relatively easy, as Haynesworth didn't move around much. He lined up for one play at right defensive end and one play at left defensive tackle, but for the other 43 snaps, he was at his normal right defensive tackle spot."

I'm glad im not the only one taking notice to this. Would it be that crazy to line up Al at RDT, and as the QB is coming under center slide the line down and put him at LDE. We know if the play was designed to go off RT, or at Al, they would audible out of it and Fletch could make adjustments to stuff it. If they don't audible then we know they were either running the ball up the middle or off LT and the LB's can shift towards that side.

Maybe im thinking to much.

[Dan T.]

I'm sorry, but when a player is getting paid that of a Quarterback, you better god damn well be game changing. SO far, he should be returning money as of right now, but then again, I said all along that it was Dana Stubblefield all over again.

Really, what the hell do you care what he's paid? That's such a tired argument.

[Polo3]

HEY There hi yall doing. My husband gotme into football and now i love skins.

um not no expert but I like to wat ch my husbnds favorite player hAynesworth. He says that he is the baddest d tackle on the planet and i agree.

but here is my questiun for anybody who can asnwer me. why didn't Bryan Orakpo rush quarterback last week instead of just haiving our new defensive end run all around the field trying to cover recievers downfield gettin tired and gettin worn out???

i'm not a expert but it seems like anybody with half a brain would no that if your best pass rusher doe s wind sprints for a couple of plays then he won';t be able to rush the qb as well as if he just stayed on the line.

whatsup with that stuff from the redskins? does anybody know cause i haven't hear anybody talkin about it.

Crack is a helluva drug, just say no...

[iMeast]

Albert Haynesworth can't do it all other players have to make the plays he opens up. I think he was a contributing factor in London Fletcher's big day.

HTTR

[brianm23]

Really, what the hell do you care what he's paid? That's such a tired argument.

If you don't care what he's being paid, lets pay our punter 17mil a year. I mean, since it's not important and all. Hell, he's got just as many scores as our QB does.

[Recent Vintage]

The fact that he totally took away the ability for Brandon Jacobs to run up the middle, and helped collapse the pocket is really all we can expect from one man against one of the top offensive lines in the NFL.

We were a couple missed tackles (Hall and Landry) from being in that game the whole time. Those two actually wrap up and take Bradshaw/Manningham/Jacobs down and the defense looks dominant, and everyone talks about how Haynesworth "made everyone else better."

That statline on that article about the run game is really telling.

Away From Haynesworth it's a 4.4 YPC

At Haynesworth It's a -0.7 YPC

Outside On Haynesworth's side it's a 2.0 YPC

Haynesworth On Bench it's a 6.86 YPC

[SkinsFTW]

He's never going to be worth the money but while he's on the field we can know that he will stop teams from running at him and will free up another player sometimes. He's not doubled nearly as often as people try to make it seem though. At least not against the Giants.

We'd have done better to sign 2 guys like Canty and still have some left over to resign Rogers. As soon as he misses a few games people will realize this.

I still can't believe we drafted a ****ing fullback instead of Canty that year. And then we drafted another one in the 7th.

[FrFan]

Defensive coordinator Greg Blache said "too much is expected of Albert Haynesworth" Link

Soon it's going to be Albert Ain'tworth, sorry just being sarcastic.

[braindx]

The fact that he totally took away the ability for Brandon Jacobs to run up the middle, and helped collapse the pocket is really all we can expect from one man against one of the top offensive lines in the NFL.

We were a couple missed tackles (Hall and Landry) from being in that game the whole time. Those two actually wrap up and take Bradshaw/Manningham/Jacobs down and the defense looks dominant, and everyone talks about how Haynesworth "made everyone else better."

That statline on that article about the run game is really telling.

Away From Haynesworth it's a 4.4 YPC

At Haynesworth It's a -0.7 YPC

Outside On Haynesworth's side it's a 2.0 YPC

Haynesworth On Bench it's a 6.86 YPC

This.

And the fact that the rest of our DL with 1 on 1 matchups could barely get any pressure on the QB... is kinda disheartening.

Most of the time Haynes was double teamed.

[redskins55]

I think Haynesworth had a great day. He has four tackles as a DT and they ran away from him most of the game. He was instrumental in the short yardage stops during the game and scraped down the line well when the giants ran away from him. Folks talk about the lack of pressure on Eli. I think we did our D-line a dis service by playing our CBs off the ball 9yds. Eli got the ball out of his hands very quickly. The moments when Eli stood back and held on to the ball we rushed only four and didn't send any exotic blitzes. You can't do that agianst a great O-line like the Giants. I never thought Haynesworth was a pass rusher so its not fair to fault him for lack of pressure on the QB. I think his presence helped Andre' Carter greatly because Carter was consistently pressuring Eli. We need to establish good D-line combinations in practice and translate them to the field.

I think we should consider these options

1. Moving Haynesworth around DT, DE etc

2. Putting Orakpo's hand in the dirt on more downs than just obvious passing downs or 3rd downs

3. Putting Chris Wilson and Orakpo on the field together and develop some exotic blitzes with them. (The have to much speed and talent to not play them on the field at the same time in many circumstances)