Lack of QB pressure; coaching, players or both?

[DCsportsfan53]

Thank god some one else realizes this!! Hass Defense is way too predictable!

---------- Post added October-6th-2012 at 02:55 PM ----------

LOL I stop reading after you said Rakpo is average???? smh, I guess Kerrigan is a below average 3-4 backer based on his sack #'s too lol

As EA, myself and many, many others around here have said before Kerrigan was probably a better OLB than Rak last year and definitely is a better player now. Rak looks the part and the measureables are there but his reputation was built off an impressive rookie campaign. The problem is, while he's gotten better in coverage and run defense (still not sold on that entirely, he was a liability more than a few times in the run game last year) his game has not significantly progressed or improved beyond his rookie campaign. He still only has one or two moves, he still can't seem to generate fumbles, he hasn't adjusted to how offenses are playing him and he's non existent in NFCE games. Don't get me wrong, he's a solid player and most definitely a legit starter but he's not elite. He's an average to borderline above average starting 3-4 OLB. I think we all thought after his rookie season and where he was drafted that we had a D Ware/Matthews type of player but there's just something missing. He's game has not dramatically improved since the rookie year. He came in swinging, laid some haymakers....the league got their books on him together and counterpunched....we're still waiting on him to adjust to that and react to it. To me he hasn't. To what extent it's Haz's fault, I don't know, I know I believe he's not a very good DC and certainly isn't doing much to help his guys but there's a measure of pure instinct and reaction that's missing.

Fwiw, I don't think Kerrigan will ever be the 15-20 sack guy either but he has such a good all around game and to me the thing I notice is that he impacts games on a regular basis in a way that Rak doesn't. I think at this point it's fairly safe to say he's the best player in our front 7. All due respect to London, who's still playing at a very high level but he isn't what he was when he first got here.

I think at the end of the day our pressure problems are across the board. There isn't a single truly dominant pass rusher on the defense and while Kerrigan and Rak are very good there a secondary push up the middle is needed and sorely lacking. This team could use a true NT and another pass rusher in the worst way, even before Rak's injury. So you have lunch pale guys on the line, very solid but not overwhelming rushers from the LB spots to round out your personnel problems and you combine that with an unimaginative, predictable DC and Orakpo's injury and you wind up with what we currently are seeing. My main disagreement is that this was ever an elite group to begin with. They're certainly suffering from the injuries' they've sustained but I think the total impact is much less than many would have us believe and the D wouldn't be overwhelmingly better had they not happened.

[#BgMase76#]

I gotta calm Carriker on this one. The dude never seamed like much to me. But now I see his hidden impact. It also appears to me that Cofield is getting worn down already. Yeah I know its only wk5. If you watch the games you'll see he's constantly getting pressure up the middle only to get stonewalled by the double team. Bowens appears solid but no flash. Jenkins in just keeping my fingers crossed that he'll begin to shine it at least his switch will get jiggled.

[DC9]

The short answer is that teams have been three step dropping the Redskins since the Saints game. It's no secret that the Redskins secondary is terrible. If you can get the ball out in 2 seconds or less the YAC will be there. We've seen that with every team we've played.

To a lesser extent you saw a minor scheme change against Tampa, we rushed four more often than not (instead of blitzing) and we had safety help over the top. Now, no one knows for sure if this was a planned changed or a change on the fly because Doughty had to play for Merriweather.

Also, we don't have good defensive backs. The fact that teams can get loose on our secondary without much effort and off of three steps show you that.

So my answer is both. I think the front seven is money, I've said that all along... but they've had to pull back to help cover the middle of the field since our secondary is crap. We'll have to get home with just four rushers and keep everything in front of us... oh... and tackle.

[Isifhan]

Our problem is we have all 4-3 coaches running a 3-4 using Lou Spanos playbook he brought from Pittsburgh. Yep let that sink in for a minute.

Why is it we let Spanos go? I can't imagine we couldn't figure out a title change and pay bump to make him happy or just should have fired Haz and promoted Lou in the first place. In retrospect Mike should have hired him as DC from the get go, was that ever considered? That was a huge loss.

[Enter Apotheosis]

Why is it we let Spanos go? I can't imagine we couldn't figure out a title change and pay bump to make him happy or just should have fired Haz and promoted Lou in the first place. In retrospect Mike should have hired him as DC from the get go, was that ever considered? That was a huge loss.

He was only an assistant LBs coach before coming here. He was very well-regarded but hiring him from that position directly to defensive coordinator would have been a somewhat iffy decision when Shanahan first brought in his staff.

Fairly sure the timing just didn't work as far as keeping him on staff goes.

[GO HAMSKINS]

I gotta calm Carriker on this one. The dude never seamed like much to me. But now I see his hidden impact. It also appears to me that Cofield is getting worn down already. Yeah I know its only wk5. If you watch the games you'll see he's constantly getting pressure up the middle only to get stonewalled by the double team. Bowens appears solid but no flash. Jenkins in just keeping my fingers crossed that he'll begin to shine it at least his switch will get jiggled.

Carriker is not missed that much if you ask me. Now,don't get me wrong he is a very good backup,but I think JJ was putting up all types of pressure against ATL. IMO

[SkinsBoss]

Jenkins is getting better week by week

[GO HAMSKINS]

As EA, myself and many, many others around here have said before Kerrigan was probably a better OLB than Rak last year and definitely is a better player now. .

Why do you care who is the better player between them? They both play for our team, the Redskins. Rakpo has looked very good this season. Hell, he was injuried on a sack/fumble play that he created!

I don't understand why are fans continue to compare are own players against each other ? I would expect for other teams fans to compare their teams DE to Rak, but not are fans comparing Rak to Kerrigan? Smh, as long as they both play for the Skins that's all I care about. Both are beast if you ask me, and I never really paid too much attention to it, because I don't care. So If Kerrigan is better than Rak, great! (vice versa)

just saying bro

[Warhead36]

Rak was a big part of our pass rush. You have to account for him every play. Right now pass rush wise it's just Kerrigan and a bunch of guys.

The DL needs to step it up.

[GO HAMSKINS]

Jenkins is getting better week by week

Yeah he's starting to get back into football shape(in my Mike Shanny voice)! Both He and BC, were crushing the pocket at times!

~Tazer celebration~

[JoeSkins]

Carriker is not missed that much if you ask me. Now,don't get me wrong he is a very good backup,but I think JJ was putting up all types of pressure against ATL. IMO

The point is that you want an effective 2-deep, and losing Carriker takes that away.

[Enter Apotheosis]

Why do you care who is the better player between them? They both play for our team, the Redskins. Rakpo has looked very good this season. Hell, he was injuried on a sack/fumble play that he created!

I don't understand why are fans continue to compare are own players against each other ? I would expect for other teams fans to compare their teams DE to Rak, but not are fans comparing Rak to Kerrigan? Smh, as long as they both play for the Skins that's all I care about. Both are beast if you ask me, and I never really paid too much attention to it, because I don't care. So If Kerrigan is better than Rak, great! (vice versa)

just saying bro

This post is just mind-boggling to me. You expect us to not judge our own players in the negative at all? That's a really extreme form of homerism.

[evmiii]

A lot of good analysis, but the bottom line is, with few exceptions, we do not adequately pressure the opposing QB. Our secondary is suspect at best and when the opposing QB has time they will inevitably pick us apart. It's not one guy or only poor schemes, but a combination of both. Add that to the amount of time they were on the field today it will almost always end in defeat. We have to do something different; we can't get new players so let's try a new D cord with some new ideas. I don't know if coach Morris is the man, but I am all for giving him a shot.

[DCsportsfan53]

A lot of good analysis, but the bottom line is, with few exceptions, we do not adequately pressure the opposing QB. Our secondary is suspect at best and when the opposing QB has time they will inevitably pick us apart. It's not one guy or only poor schemes, but a combination of both. Add that to the amount of time they were on the field today it will almost always end in defeat. We have to do something different; we can't get new players so let's try a new D cord with some new ideas. I don't know if coach Morris is the man, but I am all for giving him a shot.

As much as I agree with your assessment of the problem defense wasn't the problem today. They played how the need to play....picking their possession by allowing the underneath stuff and keeping things in front of them. What else are you going to do when you're poor in coverage and pressure? It's not like we get much more pressure when we blitz. Frustrating to watch but it kept them of the score board. The offense missed a lot of opportunities to break the game open and take advantage.

[Renegade7]

Houston doesn't run a 3-4 "just like us." They're both 3-4's but very different schemes. One of the HTTR guys did a great piece that explained it about a week or so ago. That being said JJ Watt is a phenomenal player.

You're nitpicking my words and running with it, for what I reason I don't know. I never said its exact same scheme, I said they run a 3-4 as well. And as you acknowledged, they have better players then us. That was my point.

---------- Post added October-7th-2012 at 09:55 PM ----------

Most if the catches ive seen against London are based on his height, not age.

The man is 37 years old. I love him to death, but he has no business covering guys 10 years younger then him. We let him do it because he's what we have right now. Height is a factor, yes, but he's getting beat because he's not as fast as these new-age TEs he's being asked to cover. Not anymore...

[GO HAMSKINS]

A lot of good analysis, but the bottom line is, with few exceptions, we do not adequately pressure the opposing QB. Our secondary is suspect at best and when the opposing QB has time they will inevitably pick us apart. It's not one guy or only poor schemes, but a combination of both. Add that to the amount of time they were on the field today it will almost always end in defeat. We have to do something different; we can't get new players so let's try a new D cord with some new ideas. I don't know if coach Morris is the man, but I am all for giving him a shot.

Exactly!

[GO HAMSKINS]

I also think the lack of pressure is coming from too many subs!! We don't have are play makers on the field enough! Example- you might have Rob Jackson in for 2 plays,and then he's replaced by Chris Wilson on 3rd down on every single series? That is making the pressure inconsistant

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I think the problem is that the Redskins aren't all that good on defense.

[ZoEd]

Because of this thread I paid extra close attention to our DL today; here's what I saw.

1) Barry is a tall dude and doesn't get low enough IMO. It's almost as if he's content with merely occupying the middle of the line "eating space" and not trying to get through his guy. I like BC and think he's done ok considering this isn't his natural position, however, watching him lock onto an OL and watch them shove each other around reminds me of watching my 5/6 year old pee wee team when they play. Yes his "assignment" is to control the gap and close down running lanes, but with his size, if he can explode off the ball, staying low and use his leverage he'd be much better at collapsing the pocket.

2) SLOW OFF THE BALL! Jenkins and Bowen, time after time, ball is snapped and the OL are already moving and setting their feet before they even fire off the line. Watch it back, it happened over and over again. Watch Dallas' line, can't tell you how many times I've thought they were offsides because they time the snap so well. Yes, there are definitely risk associated with trying to time the snap count but damn, the lineman already being set and our guys are still in their stance is pretty slow!

3) STUNTS! Why do our front 7 never stunt? It's straight up bullrush with an occassional inside or outside move. When the LB's blitz there's no misdirection from the DL, they just try and shoot the gap. How difficult is it for a TE or RB to block a guy coming through his assigned lane? It's not rocket science, this is the elite level, none of our guys are going to out muscle or manuever too many OL, TE's or RB's with such straight forward, predictable blitzes. Also, almost everytime we come with a corner, it's picked up before the ball is even snapped, horrible job disguising our Corner blitzes, when was the last time you saw one of our CB's come free the way Robinson did yesterday?

So after further review, I'm gonna have to go with coaching. Yes, our players need to be better but it's up to the coaches to capitalize on player strengths and abilities. If we're just not getting there Haz has to figure out away to design schemes to better our DL's chances of creating pressure. It does absolutely no good showing the same bull**** week in and week out making the obvious even more predictable. The defense stepped up yesterday, but Ryan was sacked 7 times the week before, 7 TIMES! We got one sack on the day. Come one Haz, watch last weeks tape, see what you can mimick, stop setting our guys up for failure.

4

[GO HAMSKINS]

Because of this thread I paid extra close attention to our DL today; here's what I saw.

1) Barry is a tall dude and doesn't get low enough IMO. It's almost as if he's content with merely occupying the middle of the line "eating space" and not trying to get through his guy. I like BC and think he's done ok considering this isn't his natural position, however, watching him lock onto an OL and watch them shove each other around reminds me of watching my 5/6 year old pee wee team when they play. Yes his "assignment" is to control the gap and close down running lanes, but with his size, if he can explode off the ball, staying low and use his leverage he'd be much better at collapsing the pocket.

2) SLOW OFF THE BALL! Jenkins and Bowen, time after time, ball is snapped and the OL are already moving and setting their feet before they even fire off the line. Watch it back, it happened over and over again. Watch Dallas' line, can't tell you how many times I've thought they were offsides because they time the snap so well. Yes, there are definitely risk associated with trying to time the snap count but damn, the lineman already being set and our guys are still in their stance is pretty slow!

3) STUNTS! Why do our front 7 never stunt? It's straight up bullrush with an occassional inside or outside move. When the LB's blitz there's no misdirection from the DL, they just try and shoot the gap. How difficult is it for a TE or RB to block a guy coming through his assigned lane? It's not rocket science, this is the elite level, none of our guys are going to out muscle or manuever too many OL, TE's or RB's with such straight forward, predictable blitzes. Also, almost everytime we come with a corner, it's picked up before the ball is even snapped, horrible job disguising our Corner blitzes, when was the last time you saw one of our CB's come free the way Robinson did yesterday?

So after further review, I'm gonna have to go with coaching. Yes, our players need to be better but it's up to the coaches to capitalize on player strengths and abilities. If we're just not getting there Haz has to figure out away to design schemes to better our DL's chances of creating pressure. It does absolutely no good showing the same bull**** week in and week out making the obvious even more predictable. The defense stepped up yesterday, but Ryan was sacked 7 times the week before, 7 TIMES! We got one sack on the day. Come one Haz, watch last weeks tape, see what you can mimick, stop setting our guys up for failure.

4

He escaped alot of those sacks too bruh!! I mean I seen him get pressured,and just run away from the sack for large gains.

[ZoEd]

He escaped alot of those sacks too bruh!! I mean I seen him get pressured,and just run away from the sack for large gains.

Again, that comes back to scheme, you design blitz packages with that in mind and when he moves the pocket away from the pressure BOOM! There's Kerrigan for the sack. With only one legit pass rushing DE in Kerrigan, Haz has to find ways to maximize his effectiveness by bringing Corners, ILB's or Safeties to shake things up. If not, how hard is it to figure out "hey RB, chip that Kerrigan dude because they've got nothing else".

[GO HAMSKINS]

Again, that comes back to scheme, you design blitz packages with that in mind and when he moves the pocket away from the pressure BOOM! There's Kerrigan for the sack. With only one legit pass rushing DE in Kerrigan, Haz has to find ways to maximize his effectiveness by bringing Corners, ILB's or Safeties to shake things up. If not, how hard is it to figure out "hey RB, chip that Kerrigan dude because they've got nothing else".

True I seen JJ and BC almost come up with a sack on him. I know BC finally got one but I really like when they play both him and JJ together. It seems to work out for them fine. I seen both of them get a few good shots though on M.Ice ..he's a just a darn good qb imo

[GO HAMSKINS]

Again, that comes back to scheme, you design blitz packages with that in mind and when he moves the pocket away from the pressure BOOM! There's Kerrigan for the sack. With only one legit pass rushing DE in Kerrigan, Haz has to find ways to maximize his effectiveness by bringing Corners, ILB's or Safeties to shake things up. If not, how hard is it to figure out "hey RB, chip that Kerrigan dude because they've got nothing else".

True I seen JJ and BC almost come up with a sack on him. I know BC finally got one but I really like when they play both him and JJ together. It seems to work out for them fine. I seen both of them get a few good shots though on M.Ice ..he's a just a darn good qb imo

[Sticksboi05]

Both. The schemes are clearly predictable and the execution could be better.

[#BgMase76#]

Carriker is not missed that much if you ask me. Now,don't get me wrong he is a very good backup,but I think JJ was putting up all types of pressure against ATL. IMO

I'd agree that Jenkins seams to get better each week. But I'm firmly convinced that Carriker is just one of those underrated players that you just don't appreciate him until he's gone.