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Do We Suddenly Have a Dominant Defense?

Going Commando

By Going Commando
in The Stadium

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Darth Tater

Darth Tater

Posted
Posted

Do we?  Don't really know and I'm not a man to take on that much risk and say yes.  We have gone from very bad defenses to dominate ones over just one off-season.  The 1999 defense was one of the worst defenses we've ever had and the 2003 defense would make our 2016 defense look acceptable.  In 2000 though our defense was pretty stout and 2004 defense may have been the single best defensive performance since some of the George Allen defenses.

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TD_washingtonredskins

TD_washingtonredskins

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I looked at NFL.com and we are ranked 12th in yards per play. To me, that seems perfect for where I feel we are. We won't ever match Sunday night's level of domination again this season. That was a close to historic game for this franchise. But if we maintain being in the top third to half of the league, we'll be in most games. 

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skinny21

skinny21

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Tons of great points made.  I'm very high on this defense.  Night and day from last year.  I said in the Assessment thread - I think Oakland faced the perfectly wrong matchup (at the perfectly wrong time).  We obviously have a lot of talent in crucial areas (pass rush and corners especially).  I think teams with good olines, that commit to the run, and have good TEs might give us problems.  

 

 

I love what Manusky has done, so this feels wrong to say... I'm not sure how he will fare in more of a chess match situation.  

 

If I were KC, I'd force us into our base D (maybe especially if Everett subs for Nicholson) and get the ball to their TE and backs.  Test our safeties and ILBs in coverage.  

 

Still think that with the talent we have, we're going to be one of the better defenses in the league.  Other Ds might have better players at certain positions, but I'm not sure how many have as many very good players at so many positions.  I think we've got a legitimate chance at a top 5 D (barring injuries).  

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RandyHolt

RandyHolt

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@skinny21 Another good post.

 

I too would do whatever is needed to get us into our 3-4, and go pass happy / hurry-up. Pass to Hunt and Kelce, and see how well we do having to call plays to get the correct OLB to blitz on every down, which also forces one of our stud pass rushing OLBs into pass coverage. In fact, anytime we sit Allen or Ioann go hurry up to keep them on the sideline.

 

It has only been one game, and we may have set an expectation bar on our defense that will be tough to match.  But no matter what happens, we had that one game.

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beachboy757

beachboy757

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Skrrrrt! The OP made some great points but I think we need to see a bigger sample before calling them dominant. What is clear is that they are much better stopping thee run. The pass defense looks much better, however you can make an argument that we haven't faced an experienced QB (except  Carr)  yet. 

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Saeth29

Saeth29

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52 minutes ago, TD_washingtonredskins said:

But if we maintain being in the top third to half of the league, we'll be in most games. 

We were in most games the last two years with a defense in the bottom third of the league.  If we're in the top third for defense I think we should be winning most games (based off the premise everything else stays around the same).

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TD_washingtonredskins

TD_washingtonredskins

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5 minutes ago, Saeth29 said:

We were in most games the last two years with a defense in the bottom third of the league.  If we're in the top third for defense I think we should be winning most games (based off the premise everything else stays around the same).

 

I'd agree if I was confident in that premise. I think our offense is less explosive and less consistent than the past couple years. We almost had to make some gains on D to off-set that. 

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NoCalMike

NoCalMike

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There are to many factors that go into a single game to draw too many conclusions from it.  Let's say the Chiefs put 35 points, 450 points of offense on our defense on Monday Night, does that mean our defense is mediocre again?

 

We need to wait for longer term trends but in the mean time be very happy it has at least improved a great deal.

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CTskin

CTskin

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Our B&G colored glasses are obviously extra rosy after the performance on Sunday. It's hard for me to believe that we will repeat that type of dominant performance again, but I certainly believe that this can be a top-10 defense.

 

Look back at the previous two games- we held Philly to the same amount of points as the Giants and Chiefs (two respectable Ds) did. Then there were the Rams who put up 40 in the two games that they didn't play us. My point here is that although the first two games weren't nearly as dominant, they still garner optimism.

 

I, like many, initially felt great about this win and then looked ahead to the Chiefs game thinking that will be the "true test." Well, if we're doing the litmus test for being top-3 type of defense, then yes, this game should serve it's purpose. But like I said earlier, I believe this D can be top-10, but even top-10 Ds can struggle against the #1, gimmicky type of offense like KC has; holding them to low 20s would be right in line. The Bills just put up 26 on Denver, great Ds don't pitch shutouts every week.

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Est.1974

Est.1974

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Front 7 is very solid now, potentially got a great group at CB with Breeland proving me very wrong so far. Seem to have fallen nicely at Safety which is a bonus as well. We've certainly upped the physicality level a few notches across the board.

 

Brown has to be retained. Not sure Breeland will be affordable if he posts a good season. Looking forward we may be in a great position whereby next offseason we could only need a couple of pieces to set us over the edge. 

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Riggo'sRangers

Riggo'sRangers

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I am bullish on our defense & coaches as we are definitely trending up, but I need more proof.  Everyone knows those games where everything just "works".  I present exhibit A; Chiefs vs the Patriots, game one.  AMAZING performance against NE in NE.  Thing is, give me that game in Dec, Jan and I will pick the Patriots 10 out of 10 times.  It was the Chiefs night, and they ARE good as well.  Then the Chiefs won against Philly, but did not dominate (at home). They beat SD (0-3 for those keeping count) and it honestly wasn't an easy game.  Was our game one of those "Perfect Storm" games where is just falls right?  I honestly DON'T think so because of a variety of reasons, but we have to be level....this coming from the "Common Kirk" guy, but we do. We have to go game by game.  To be labeled "dominating" is just not right to me, yet.  I have to see more.  The Roman Emperor Hadrian Had a quote that said "Brick by brick my citizens, brick by brick."  It is one of the greatest quotes in history and definitely applies to us; "Game by game my faithful, game by game" (our empire shall be built). Hail

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crabbypatty

crabbypatty

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Posted

I think they have the potential to be a dominant defense, there seems to be quality depth at all positions. DL, LB, CB. Safety is a bit thin but again serviceable.

That raiders game was no fluke, even if the other team has an off day you still have to perform.. which they did. We have talent and speed at all 3 levels of the defense, and that speed and talent is apparent.

So While I think not dominant yet, I think they're well on their way. Granted we're only in the first month of the season, but there are some interesting defensive team stats on nfl.com

 

total yards per game - 5th

rushing yards per game - 2nd

avg yards per play - 12th

1st downs allowed/game - 1st

3rd down conversion allowed % - 12th

ppg allowed - 9th

time of posession/game - 3rd

fumbles forced - t 2nd

sacks - 11th

interceptions - t 3rd

passes defensed - t 8th

 

A pretty good pile of statistics thus far, if you ask me.

especially since we're used to being 28th or worse in pretty much every defensive category except sacks

 

 

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justice98

justice98

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That Oakland game skews the results because they were so dominant.  I dont think that's our real defense by any stretch.  I almost am inclined to throw that out cuz it was so abberational. The Raiders arent that bad and we arent that good.

 

The D was meh vs the Eagles, they were better against the Rams, but the offense controlled the ball. 

 

Our D is probably an average D when it all shakes out.  I'm fine with that, cuz that's a big inprovement and you can win with that.

 

I think the big thing is they're taking the ball away.  

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RandyHolt

RandyHolt

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I don't think it is easy to grade our performance by looking at how a team we played, played against another team. There are too many times a team or coach just comes out flat. Lose mo from an early turnover and never recover. The QB is hungover... err I mean sore from the previous week.  Home and road are also big factors,

 

But the biggest factor of all are those individual matchups, The game within the game.

 

Specifically this past week, I think our DL just matched up very well with the Raiders who we caught off guard, and Carr checked out / played in fear the rest of the game. Their game plan likely got scrapped, and we demoralized there entire team who then quietly questioned their coach. Rest assured if we played the Raiders again, their OL would be much better prepared. Practice their hand fighting, and have a better game plan. We all know that our 2 DL were total studs, but the rest of the league is still learning.

 

KC will be more prepared and get old man Alex on the move early. Or they will double our stud of the day or try to run at them. Maybe try FB dives repeatedly, like we did to Oakland to soften up our D.

 

Giving up 125 yards will not happen again and that is ok. We put the league on notice and now Manusky has to be ready to adjust.

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skinsfan4128

skinsfan4128

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To say the least, we have some good talent that are being molded into something special defensively. However, I think it's too early to speculate on how dominate they will be based on one (albeit fantastic) performance.

Also, while I do think Manusky deserves credit obviously; I'd like to give a shout out to Tomsula and Gray. It's amazing what those two have done in such a short time with their respective groups as compared to last year.

 

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AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy

AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy

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I'm not sure if I agree with how good the OP thinks we are, but we absolutely imposed our will on another team for the first time in forever.  That should give us some much needed confidence.  

 

Manusky deserves some credit for inspiring those guys, but at some point the players have to stand up and take some pride in how they play.  They looked absolutely fed up on Sunday night and played with an edge.  Can they keep it going?  We shall see.

 

 

 

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