Confused: New Coaches, New Players, New Schemes; No Time To Develop?

[Commander Adama]

Why are the same people who were wiling to give the new regime time, acting like the sky is falling? I am just so confused. Switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 we all knew was going to take some time especially since we did not have all the players that were optimal for a 3-4 to work. Also, new QB, new scheme, new coach...

Is it since we beat Dallas we thought we were going 10-6? What about our team do you think is so utterly wrong that we cannot fix it in time with this new regime? Is it we have had the same bad team since early 2000 and are afraid it is the same old, same old? Or are you willing to give the new regime time?

What I see is: Bruce Allen wanted to have enough veteran leadership to help younger players as well as a chance to win now, but are committed to injecting youth into this organization. I think a new scheme takes time especially going from a 4-3 to a 3-4. It's like when we switched to a West Coast. I think the players have bought in, and I think we have what it takes for a good base to build upon, and see this for what it is...it is going to take some time to turn this ship around.

[rockfan7224]

Again, i completely agree! People just need to get real.

[KDawg]

Scheme change on defense shouldn't take all that long to be reasonably successful at. Green Bay made the change last year and their defense was solid during that first year.

What the 3-4 is doing that our vanilla 4-3 defenses hasn't is we've forced more turnovers and QB pressures. However, it's also allowed a lot more points and a lot more yards. I'm okay with a bend but don't break defense that surrenders a ton of yards but very few points and forces turnovers and pressure. Our defense, however, is allowing tons of yards and tons of points. We really do not have the personnel to make the full switch and we should have eased into it with a mix of 4-3 and 3-4 sets.

And we should have hired a coach who had a modicum of success running the 3-4 previously. Haslett hasn't.

[TheGreatBuzz]

While I was in the crowd yelling that we were going 10-6 this year and headed for the playoffs, I am not running around screaming the sky is falling. I don't see my previous hopes coming true this year but I was and still am willing to give the new regime time. Yes, beating Dallas set everyones expectations higher then they should have been. And every game the Skins go into I still expect them to win (though I wouldn't bet on most of them).

So no, the sky is not falling. We just need to sit back, relax, and watch the organization continue to grow.

[S.T.real,lights,out]

Youre right we do need to give things time to jell or whatever. But when you're up 17 points and u blow the lead and lose the game that has nothing to do with a new system. When u play one of the worst teams (well thought that before but obv i was wrong) and you're down 14 with 8 mins to go in the 1 qtr. I mean really! Their best player by far was out for more than half of that game and we still couldn't stop them. I couldn't even name you their starting WR's with Avery out and they all looked like all-pros yesterday.

I agree with u. This thing is going to take time and i am willing to wait. But when we are still making the same stupid mistakes that we have been for the last how many years it's just frustrating.

[jbowman]

Scheme change on defense shouldn't take all that long to be reasonably successful at. Green Bay made the change last year and their defense was solid during that first year.

What the 3-4 is doing that our vanilla 4-3 defenses hasn't is we've forced more turnovers and QB pressures. However, it's also allowed a lot more points and a lot more yards. I'm okay with a bend but don't break defense that surrenders a ton of yards but very few points and forces turnovers and pressure. Our defense, however, is allowing tons of yards and tons of points. We really do not have the personnel to make the full switch and we should have eased into it with a mix of 4-3 and 3-4 sets.

And we should have hired a coach who had a modicum of success running the 3-4 previously. Haslett hasn't.

Green Bay was 2-2 by the week 5 bye week, opponents all scored more than 14 points against, them including the Rams who scored 17.

Now after that bye week they won a lot more games, but really they were still giving up chunks of points. If you look a the 3 losses they had it was the D who gave up tons of points and lost them the games. So yea, even GB had issues, especially at the beginning of the year, with the switch to 3-4.

[KDawg]

Green Bay was 2-2 by the week 5 bye week, opponents all scored more than 14 points against, them including the Rams who scored 17.

Now after that bye week they won a lot more games, but really they were still giving up chunks of points. If you look a the 3 losses they had it was the D who gave up tons of points and lost them the games. So yea, even GB had issues, especially at the beginning of the year, with the switch to 3-4.

The Rams scored 17, you say? Funny, because the Rams put up 30 on us. It's not comparable. Their D looked much better in the early stages of transition than ours has, despite their struggles.

Growing pains are one thing. What we have isn't growing pains.

[jbowman]

The Rams scored 17, you say? Funny, because the Rams put up 30 on us. It's not comparable. Their D looked much better in the early stages of transition than ours has, despite their struggles.

Growing pains are one thing. What we have isn't growing pains.

Green Bay went out and got a NT. We thought we did, but didn't. That's going to be the difference, however a lot of Green Bay fans I know were pissed at the beginning of last year and the thing they complained about the most was the defense. My wife works at a bar where there are a ton of GB fans as patrons and a couple employees so it was pretty interesting watching the last year actually.

The Skins problems remain the same, it's all in the trenches. Carricker was playing inside at points in the game, and he's like Haynesworth, a better fit for DE in a 3-4 scheme. Until we get a NT we're going to have problems. I think though, you don't give up on the 3-4 and you keep pushing it. We're going to move to it, it makes sense to move to it especially in our division, so get the guys used to playing it. I doubt you're going to see much turnover in the LB core between this year and next year, and they're the ones that really go to learn the assignments.

Like the original post said, before the season a lot of people were willing to give them time. Now we're seeing the losses and it's gut check time.

[USS Redskins]

Lets get real: Why would you change the one thing that the team was half way decent at????: Defense. The personell they have are there to run a 4-3 - its painfully obvious that these defensive ends just are not suited to covering tight ends and running backs. The few guys they brought in to shore up the middle of the line are just god awful. Jabba the Hut could get a first down.

I expect growing pains in a new scheme but the freaking Rams have won 4 games in the last 2 years and they shredded this "team."

The offense didnt fair much better... they fave had 3 quarters of a good passing attack in 3 games. The play calling on Sunday wasnt just bad it was pathetic... RUN three straight times inside the 5???? Freaking stupid idiot.

[KDawg]

Green Bay went out and got a NT. We thought we did, but didn't.

We never had a true NT and more importantly our best linebacker is lost in what Haslett is doing. I don't blame the scheme, I blame Haslett. We should be transitioning slowly, not completely selling out.

[blueskin]

Ma'ake is not the answer. Too bad, because I was happy when he signed.

I realize that it takes time to install a new defence, but shouldn't the OTAs and preseason be the time when you work out the bugs?

Our run D was porous last year too. Only now it has been joined by a porous secondary.

Haslett, I think, is to the defense as Zorn was to the offense. He thinks he's a genius, but he hasn't put in enough time to analyze whether the players truely fit the scheme.

We should've just kept the 4-3, just added a little more aggresion.

[HAILSKINSNYC]

Why are the same people who were wiling to give the new regime time, acting like the sky is falling? I am just so confused. Switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 we all knew was going to take some time especially since we did not have all the players that were optimal for a 3-4 to work. Also, new QB, new scheme, new coach...

Is it since we beat Dallas we thought we were going 10-6? What about our team do you think is so utterly wrong that we cannot fix it in time with this new regime? Is it we have had the same bad team since early 2000 and are afraid it is the same old, same old? Or are you willing to give the new regime time?

What I see is: Bruce Allen wanted to have enough veteran leadership to help younger players as well as a chance to win now, but are committed to injecting youth into this organization. I think a new scheme takes time especially going from a 4-3 to a 3-4. It's like when we switched to a West Coast. I think the players have bought in, and I think we have what it takes for a good base to build upon, and see this for what it is...it is going to take some time to turn this ship around.

they can play 5 years together in the 3-4 scheme and they would be bad....it's about personnel...why can't people understand this?...a square peg into round hole now is going to be a square peg into round hole 5 years from now.....this team will have at least 5 new starters on defense next year....therefore; we're not building towards anything this year...this is a completely wasted season.

this team had a major weakness at running back and receiver...the best we could come up with were Larry Johnson, Roydell Williams & Galloway?...gimme a break.

if this was a young team, I could better understand what they were trying to do, but this team is old....we're going to have more holes going into next off-season then we had this off-season

[loren]

Injecting youth? Don't we have the least amount of under 25 talent in the league?

[maskedsuperstar]

And we should have hired a coach who had a modicum of success running the 3-4 previously. Haslett hasn't.

Haslett was the DC for the Steelers in the late 90's. Now see, do some research.

[maskedsuperstar]

they can play 5 years together in the 3-4 scheme and they would be bad....it's about personnel...why can't people understand this?...a square peg into round hole now is going to be a square peg into round hole 5 years from now.....this team will have at least 5 new starters on defense next year....therefore; we're not building towards anything this year...this is a completely wasted season.

this team had a major weakness at running back and receiver...the best we could come up with were Larry Johnson, Roydell Williams & Galloway?...gimme a break.

if this was a young team, I could better understand what they were trying to do, but this team is old....we're going to have more holes going into next off-season then we had this off-season

The Skins couldn't get anybody because of the current CBA, without giving up draft picks. Nothing new. Some failed to understand. So, instead of buying up everybody, the Skins signed stop gap free agents. This is what was out there.

[maskedsuperstar]

We should've just kept the 4-3, just added a little more aggresion.

Yeah, thats it. Just add some aggression with the 4-3.

[Skins_Fan82]

RUN three straight times inside the 5???? Freaking stupid idiot.

I can't even describe how pissed i was.

[maskedsuperstar]

We never had a true NT and more importantly our best linebacker is lost in what Haslett is doing. I don't blame the scheme, I blame Haslett. We should be transitioning slowly, not completely selling out.

The Skins couldn't cut everybody. Its just a bump in the road. Yeah, blame Haslett.

[maskedsuperstar]

Lets get real: Why would you change the one thing that the team was half way decent at????: Defense. The personell they have are there to run a 4-3 - its painfully obvious that these defensive ends just are not suited to covering tight ends and running backs. The few guys they brought in to shore up the middle of the line are just god awful. Jabba the Hut could get a first down.

I expect growing pains in a new scheme but the freaking Rams have won 4 games in the last 2 years and they shredded this "team."

The offense didnt fair much better... they fave had 3 quarters of a good passing attack in 3 games. The play calling on Sunday wasnt just bad it was pathetic... RUN three straight times inside the 5???? Freaking stupid idiot.

The Rams threw the ball short. Thats how a offense attacks an aggressive defense. Football 101.

[KDawg]

The Skins couldn't cut everybody. Its just a bump in the road. Yeah, blame Haslett.

Haslett is the one who said we would be running a hybrid 3-4, did he not? I think we all assumed that meant we'd see some 4-3 looks. With this personnel, you need to keep the 4-3 somewhat in tact and mix in the 3-4 look for a smooth transition. You don't go all in and pray when your personnel just doesn't fit.

Andre Carter at OLB is one of the worst things we could have done. He failed in that role once, and Haslett failed in the 3-4 scheme once. Apparently, we don't learn from our mistakes. The 3-4, with the correct personnel, and even some of what we have now will be DANGEROUS in the future. Unfortunately, the future isn't now. He can fix things by adding an actual 4-3 look with Carter playing DE and Rocky/Rak/Fletcher at the backer spots and not fully abandoning the 3-4. The 3-4 works, even for us at times. But we aren't talented enough to run it full time. The blame for that goes on the defensive coordinator.

I coach the defense... If my D fails, its my fault.

[HAILSKINSNYC]

Yeah, thats it. Just add some aggression with the 4-3.

three things needed tweaking with the 4-3...agression was one....moving Landry to strong safety and orakpo to DE were the other....that would be a top 10 D that forces turnovers.

[HAILSKINSNYC]

The Skins couldn't get anybody because of the current CBA, without giving up draft picks. Nothing new. Some failed to understand. So, instead of buying up everybody, the Skins signed stop gap free agents. This is what was out there.

I'm sorry, but johnson,williams and galloway were not the best options out there...far from it....bad personnel decisions

[F-16 CHIEF]

Yeah, I mean, how dare people expect people to hold on to the ball and not get penalized every play. The nerve of some people.

Not only that, but if you don't have 3-4 personel, then why do it this year? Why lineup Carter like that? Why? Nobody has answered how the 3-4 will help.

And with what? This backfield? We have the worst secondary in football. No pass rush. Nothing. Decade. We're still a decade away from a competetive football team.

[KDawg]

Haslett was the DC for the Steelers in the late 90's. Now see, do some research.

I'd look in the mirror with that comment.

Haslett's Steeler defenses were laced with talent.

Here's how he fared:

1997: 11th in points, 6th in yards. 18th in pass yards, 22nd in pass TD. 1st in all rush statistics. (11-5)

1998: 7th in points, 12th in yards. 18th in pass yards, 3rd in pass TD. 13th in rush yards, 4th in rush TD. (7-9)

1999: 12th in points, 11th in yards. 4th in pass yards, 11th in pass TD. 26th in rush yards, 13th in rush TD, 29th in yards per attempt. (6-10)

So what do we see there? The Steelers defense, and record, got worse with each year Haslett was there as the defensive coordinator. I don't know why you'd parade his Steeler defenses as some kind of accomplishment. The only year his D was good was his first year, working off of Coach LeBeau's base.

The year prior to Haslett's arrival?

The D was 4th in points, 2nd in yards. 5th in pass yards, 6th in pass TD. 3rd in rush yards, 5th in rush TD. They also finished 10-6 and made the playoffs.

The year after he left?

6th in points, 7th in yards. 9th in pass yards, 5th in pass TD. 13th in rush yards, 6th in rush TD. Looks like it improved drastically from the previous year.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Who are the new players on defense?