Our Defense Is Built To Stop Elite (Broncos) Offenses

[DM72]

I think that 13 point line is a freaking insult, though. Every single Redskins player should feel disrespected by that spread.

You do realize that we're 2-4 and Denver is 6-1 and the game is in Denver.

[ArmchairRedskin]

You do realize that we're 2-4 and Denver is 6-1 and the game is in Denver.

 

 

Of course I do. 13 points is a huge spread. Especially when you consider how Robert has looked the past two weeks. The offense has 900+ yard these last two weeks. 

 

Redskins have scored 61 the last two weeks and the Broncos have scored 68. 

 

13 points is too many. 

[Audible_Red40]

Of course I do. 13 points is a huge spread. Especially when you consider how Robert has looked the past two weeks. The offense has 900+ yard these last two weeks. 

 

Redskins have scored 61 the last two weeks and the Broncos have scored 68. 

 

13 points is too many. 

 

And for what it's worth Denver is 3-4 versus the spread this year.

 

(Skins are 3-3 in case someone wanted to look it up.)

[DM72]

Of course I do. 13 points is a huge spread. Especially when you consider how Robert has looked the past two weeks. The offense has 900+ yard these last two weeks.  Redskins have scored 61 the last two weeks and the Broncos have scored 68.  13 points is too many.

They're also taking into account Peyton vs our defense. Special teams and homefield advantage. Plus, who we've beaten. Two backup QB's. And yes, we're 2-4 and they're 6-1.

Look, I hope we kick their asses too, but I'm not blind. Our defense had better play a whole lot better than the previous 6 weeks in order for us to win.

[ArmchairRedskin]

They're also taking into account Peyton vs our defense. Special teams and homefield advantage. Plus, who we've beaten. Two backup QB's. And yes, we're 2-4 and they're 6-1.

Look, I hope we kick their asses too, but I'm not blind. Our defense had better play a whole lot better than the previous 6 weeks in order for us to win.

 

 

I'm not necessarily talking about beating them. I'm just saying the Broncos beating the Redskins by 13 or 14 depending on where you look is pretty unlikely. The Broncos haven't really been great on D either. So you have to factor in Redskins O vs their D. Can they stop the Redskins enough now with Griff regaining his form? I dunno. I feel like unless the Redskins stop themselves with dumb penalties or turnovers, the game will be a high scoring affair that ends with a closer score than 13 or 14 points. I don't think I'm shooting for the stars here. Seems really reasonable that while the Redskins may very well lose, they surely wont lose by two freaking TDs

[Slateman]

lol, this thread.

 

Cade McNown had a field day with the Redskins defense. Peyton Manning, coming off a loss, is going to be a nightmare. This defense is made to stop anyone.

 

13 points is a big spread, however, it's justified. Manning is going to score at will. The Skins will have to match. Once they get down a touchdown or two, they'll start to throw. Broncos are built to rush the passer. I predict Cousins finishes the game.

[stp240]

Amerson, D Hall and Rambo have above average ball skills.  Will they ever get around the ball?

 

We know that scheme has been the problem on defense for a while.  Scheme and execution is what wins football games.   We lack both.

 

This game is Peyton Manning vs. Jim Haslett........ History says that match-up is a joke.

 

 

All we can do is press everyone at the LOS and pray to make a play or two.

[wit33]

This is true for all QB's, but being able to pressure Manning this week will be the ultimate key. Their Oline is not the strongest unit on their team and we saw how the Colts --Mathis especially-- were able to exploit that, and disrupt Manning's rhythm on many occasions. This truly is a game where the Skins' pass rushers need to step up and be a force. 

 

Beginning to feel similar confidence I had last year with the offense... still need to see it another week though. Hopefully the latest positive signs continue and the Skins can put up enough points. As some have mentioned, the Bronco's D is nothing special at all and has many holes to exploit. 

 

Excited for this game!

[Ozymandias]

No team has been able to stop him, and you think OUR defense is built to stop them? C'mon man, our defense made Stafford look great, they made a back up look amazing. We might get lucky and Payton has a bad day, but i doubt it.

[sportjunkie07]

You guys are funny. Some guys being realistic and claiming we'll get stomped, others being homers and predicting a win.

There's no way I'd be putting my money on the skins straight up. Realistically and given all that we've seen so far this year, we should get annihilated.

I'd like to hope for a great defensive performance but let's be real, manning is going to be carving it up. Ill consider a good defensive performance under 30 points.

But none of that really matters. if we win the turnover battle and rg3 continues his progression, we will win this game, not even Peyton is as good as rg3 when he's at the top of his game.

I'd like to see dhall get a pick this game, this is the best stretch I've ever seen him play. Finally putting his elite talent to use without getting stupid penalties.

[RemoveSnyder]

In actuality the Colts defense is built to stop the Broncos offense.

 

I've felt all along that you need to play Man-Up coverage and succeed, at that, in order to disrupt the Bronco offense. Man-up every receiver lined-up so that each guy is covered and accounted for and each defender has a specific responsibility, namely each receiver. Far too often we simply don't line-up over each and every receiver. We play a zone on the Slot, for example, a lot. Our LBs stink at pass coverage. Cloning four Aqib Talibs would help in playing Man. When we go Zone, too many guys end up with flat feet staring at the QB while a receiver moves beyond them. Minimal number of guys for rush, but of those, our best, and Max coverage behind.

 

The working theory of this thread has been that the pass rush is the key to victory over Manning. That isn't altogether correct.

 

You might come away with that interpretation after watching the highlight plays of Mathis during the Colts v Broncos, or even reading just the stat line, but, as was noted during the telecast, the Colts played Press Man on the Broncos receivers and excelled at disrupting their routes and/or making plays on the ball. That is what initially rolled the tide in favor of the Colts.

 

We don't have the players to play Press Man.

 

In the first half of the Colts v Broncos game, the Broncos had three separate 3-and-out series of their 7 first-half series, where they actually ran a play. *Technically they got the ball for an 8th series, but the 8th was just a kneel down before half-time.

 

So 3 of 7 offensive series for the Broncos were 3-and-out and one of the remaining four* series was a two-play drive which resulted in a sack-fumble and recovery in the end-zone for a safety.

 

1st series  = 3-and-out

2nd series = TD

3rd series  = 3-and-out

4th series  = TD

5th series  = Safety

6th series  = 3-and-out

7th series  = Punt

8th series  = kneel-down

 

All told, after that first half, Manning was 9 of 17 for passes completed. That's 9 completions to 8 incompletions. In one stretch Manning completed 5 in row. He sat 7 for 10 at that point (end of 4th series - TD). However, after that, he went 2-7 (that's 2 completions to 5 incompletions) on the following 3 series.

 

Indy lead 26 to 14 at the half. And more of the same occurred to begin the 2nd half. The first three series of the Broncos in the 2nd half were held to 3-and-out, again.

 

But, more specifically to that, on the pass rush:

You need Mathis. We don't have Mathis. Likewise, you need Mathias to dislodge the ball from Manning's hand, not just get there. And you need, specifically, turnovers. And not just turnovers, but TOs that result in points. You need turnovers not just pressure.

 

Mathis knocked the ball out of Manning's hand which resulted in a safety. You have to have turnovers associated with pass rush and you need points associated with turnovers. Later Walden disrupted Manning's throwing motion, hit his arm during release, which caused a dying duck and an INT by Angerer.

 

The INT occurred in the 4th quarter, at 7 mins left, with the Broncos down 36 to 30. After the INT, which occurred in the Broncos redzone, the Colts converted a FG. They went up by 9, a two score margin.The Broncos got the ball back with under 6 minutes needing to complete at least two drives.

 

So it's not just pass rush. Having Kerrigan bullrush all the way to Manning but not actually get his hands on Manning's arm is pointless (for lack of a better word).

 

And when it is all said and done, if the D-Line makes just two big plays, just like the Colts did (the turnovers) then that's all you should readily hope for. Just 2 or 3 plays out of 70 is what you are looking at in reality.

 

Being able to get stops from your secondary is paramount. The corners need to be able to play Press Man and get an incompletion to cause a punt. The Colts made the Broncos punt 7 times. We made the Bears punt 3 times, all occurring in the 1st half. <- That has to improve.

 

And the premise of this thread, that our pass rush is significant enough or even formidable enough as it currently stands, I don't buy that. It's my opinion, after watching the All-22, that our pass rush is Cofield and Kerrigan. Anyone else that gets pressure or a sack, that is merely a by-product of the efforts of Cofield and Kerrigan.

 

The Slot DB blitz we use, when a team lines up a receiver in the Tight Slot alignment, that works well. But that, to me, is a result of overloading the Tackle and Guard with our standard 5-Tech and Rush OLB, then having the DB (like Wilson) slipstream through the gap.

 

Anyway, we send the best four men we got. Sometimes send your best three men on rush and hope the yeoman efforts of Cofield and Kerrigan come through ... or whoever.

 

Yes, pass rush was exceedingly pronounced for the Colts and resulted directly into 2 of the 3 turnovers (the other being a Hillman fumble at the goalline). I don't discount pass rush. However, we need turnovers from our pass rush, which result in points.

 

There were 6 drives that I counted from the game where Manning was throwing on 3rd down but did not gain the yards to convert for a 1st down. 5 of those 6 resulted in a punt, change of possession. The 1 non-converted 3rd down resulted in a FG. So the end game to me is being able to get the Bronco offense off the field, make them Punt. And you have to do that by stopping Manning as he passes the ball.

 

It's simply that. The numbers are clear, your pass rush will only be there on a handful of times. You can only expect 2 or 3 or 4 plays from the pass rush. The overwhelming majority of plays (like 3rd downs) falls upon the shoulders of the secondary. The secondary will have many more "looks" or situational opportunities thrown their way. The secondary has to actually disrupt the receivers, break up the routes and their timing and/or physically knock the ball to the ground for an incompletion.

 

That will allow for our O to stay on the field, eat clock and most importantly (hopefully) score.

And score a lot.

[Leonard Washington]

The skins need to score every time they get the ball and hope the defense can get a few stops and limit the broncos to field goals.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Amerson, D Hall and Rambo have above average ball skills.  Will they ever get around the ball?

 

We know that scheme has been the problem on defense for a while.  Scheme and execution is what wins football games.   We lack both.

 

This game is Peyton Manning vs. Jim Haslett........ History says that match-up is a joke.

 

 

All we can do is press everyone at the LOS and pray to make a play or two.

 

I really think we will have our work cut out for us. If we stay in the game it will have to be because we're scoring a lot on offense and our defense forces/capitalizes on 2-3 mistakes.

 

If we can keep up for a while and then make them uncomfortable in the second half, it could be a fun game to watch. Otherwise, it will probably end up a 40-something to 20-something debacle.

[Riggo#44]

Two things here:

 

-- 33. That's the fewest points Denver has scored--that was last week against the Colts. The next lowest? 35 in a win over the Jags and 37 against the Raiders. Three weeks they've been over 40; two over 50.

 

-- Manning's lowest output was 295 yards and 2 TDs against the Jags. In an "off" week against the Colts he still threw for 386 and 3 TDs

 

The idea that our tickle-**** secondary can keep pace is laughable. Hall is playing great, and I really like David Amerson. But the rest are just dreadful. I cannot wait to replace Josh Wilson. The defense is allowing a whopping 65% completion percentage and 282/gm, 11 TDs and 4 INTS. Essentially, we are allowing every QB to be Aaron Rodgers. 

 

Yes their offensive line is not good. But our offensive line allowed the Dallas backups to harass Griffin all game. They played better against Chicago--mostly because of Griffins improving mobility--but the Bears only have 9 sacks on the year. Denver is about as good at getting to the QB as Dallas is and the Skins are.

 

Every statistical reasoning points to this being a laugher. I'd be ecstatic if I am wrong, but I have 0 hope of this one being close.

[jfr3ek]

Peyton is mortal and can be stopped. Rak and Kerrigan need to get in that grill every single snap. I believe this team CAN win with a little help from the football gods. Put on your hard hats, boys. This is going to be closer than everyone thinks.

[Brokenstriker]

the way I see it ... if we sit back and watch him work Manning will tear us apart so I'd go all in to knock him down early and often.  Worst case is he burns the blitzes for big plays ... which frankly he would probably do even without the blitz.  I think it ought to be self evident that Manning plays dramatically worse than normal when he gets knocked down

 

I hope to see blitzes and stunts and Manning on the ground at least twice in the first 2 possessions.  There's some good reasons to think the D can manage that if they get creative and unleash our playmakers.  They need to keep at it until he's nervous about the rush ... even if he lights the all out rush up a couple of times.

[DM72]

Peyton did miss practice today. They say it's from a previous ankle injury from the Jacksonville game. They say it's his ankle, but after that sack on his throwing arm against the Colts, his throws didn't have the same zip.

[slaga]

http://www.csnwashington.com/football-washington-redskins/talk/manning-misses-broncos-practice

 

Maybe the Skins D won't play the entire game against the Elder Manning, not that I want him to get hurt? (and I am not being sarcastic)

 

Who is the backup QB?

[kingdaddy]

This was probably said by someone in this thread but I believe Manning suffered his neck injury against the Skins a few years ago that caused him to miss a full season.....we must have gotten to him then. Maybe he'll see ghosts when he sees the Skins again? Boo!

[Commander PK]

our only chance at winning this game is for Manning to spend most of the game being chased out of the pocket.  Constant blitzing and pressure coming from all sides will rattle him.  He has shown this to be the case in the past.  

 

that and our offense needs to put up at least 30.  A defensive score would also be a big help.  The offense needs to score touchdowns early and often.  If we have a lead at halftime, they need to keep their foot on the gas.

[ArmchairRedskin]

If I remember right the last time Haslett faced Manning he went with the amoeba look on D and Manning countered with a super fast hurry up offense. 

 

I also remember a Pierre Garcon circus catch somewhere in there. 

[The Trashman]

While worrying about the Broncos this Sunday, let's not lose sight of their biggest weapon on special team...Mr. Trindon Holliday.

 

He is arguably the most dangerous kick returner in the game today. Sure, Hester has all the records and is great but Holliday is super fast (possibly fastest human in football pads currently). The Broncos are blocking well for him and once he gets in the open you can forget it.

 

Let's keep an eye on him, please.

[Commander PK]

While worrying about the Broncos this Sunday, let's not lose sight of their biggest weapon on special team...Mr. Trindon Holliday.

 

He is arguably the most dangerous kick returner in the game today. Sure, Hester has all the records and is great but Holliday is super fast (possibly fastest human in football pads currently). The Broncos are blocking well for him and once he gets in the open you can forget it.

 

Let's keep an eye on him, please.

 

the solution is don't kick it to him.  Absolutely, don't kick it to him.  Hell, the way things are going I'd rather them start on the 40 every single drive than kick it to him.  lol   

[The Trashman]

andddd, of couse the Skins will find a way to kick it to Holliday...they never fail..lol

[Commander PK]

If I remember right the last time Haslett faced Manning he went with the amoeba look on D and Manning countered with a super fast hurry up offense. 

 

I also remember a Pierre Garcon circus catch somewhere in there. 

yup

 

The bottom line I think is the Broncos will score...a lot.  No matter what we do.  If we can score like Colts and Cowboys did on them, and slow them down on offense just enough to keep them under 30 points...we definitely have a good chance.

 

Our defense has been playing better lately, but they have not faced a Peyton Manning led offense yet.  They will not win this game by sitting back and letting him pick them apart.