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Defense - From Weakness to Strength to Weakness to etc...

goskins10

By goskins10
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goskins10

goskins10

Posted
Posted

I could not find a defense only thread (at least not one very recent) and I thought it might be time they get a thread of their own. Their play this year I believe deserves it. 

 

First let me start by admitting I was completely wrong about Joe Barry. In fairness I was not ever saying he was great, but thought most of his and the defenses problems were due to a lack of talent. Until the last couple of weeks I was still thinking that much of the improvement came from better talent. I was dead wrong here. Despite a myriad of injuries the Def has barely missed a step this year, maybe even getting stronger. That is primarily due to coaching. That includes better position coaches - looking at you Torian Gray and Mike Tomsula. But those are Greg's guys, they report to him. And wow, what a job! Now there are certainly some key players that have been added - more on that later. But after watching their performance I am 100% certain Joe Barry would not be getting the same level of production as Greg Manusky and his staff have produced. So hats off to those who got there much faster than I did. 

 

Ok, now that we got the mea culpa out of the way - the meat of this thing. First, a look the statistics.  

 

2106 - pts/gm - 23.9 (19th),  yds/gm - 377.9 (28th),  passing - 258.1 (25th),  rushing - 119.8 (24th), yds/def drive - 36.38 (31st), 3rd dw% 47% (32th), DVOA - plus 6.8% (25th), variance from week to week - 1st, opponents strength of schedule - 13st

 

2017 - pts/gm - 24.2 (24th),  yds/gm - 336.9 (18th),  passing - 226.4 (16th),  rushing - 110.5 (16th), 26.84 (11th), 3rd dw% 40% (17th - tied), DVOA - minus 7.4% (12th), variance from week to week - 31st, opponents strength of schedule - 1st

 

Sources: NFL.com and Football Outsiders (http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef2016) 

 

Interestingly the pts are almost identical. But as we all know you can't measure any person or unit by one metric. Yards are all incrementally better. But of course the #1 indicator here is 3rd dw%. The team was really bad last yr earning worst of the NFL. This year it is a getting closer to respectable 19th. Not surprisingly the defensive yds/dr have gone from 36 yds good for 31st in 201 to 27 yds and 11th for 2017! That shows the impact of getting off the field. The DVOA (situational defense) is also much better - going from 25th to 12th, again a deflection of getting off the field on 3rd dn more often. 

 

I added the variance more for fun. Last yr the Redskins were #1 in variance, meaning they were the most consistent defense statistical speaking - yes that shows they consistently were really bad. This yrs it's been a bit all over the place - something you expect with so many new players and a new system. Also notice the #1 strength of schedule. Last but not least, this is all despite the drop in STs performance. The Redskins are 30th in Los/dr at an average starting LOS of the 30.5 yd line (last yr they were 15th at an average starting LOS of 27.75 yd line) - not above but in the Football Outsiders data.

 

We got pretty beat up with some garbage pts and some offensive giveaways that skew the pts. But if they keep playing like this I would expect the pts/gm to go down.  

 

Now some individual guys. Not as stat heavy, more my own observations. The impact of DJ and Zach Brown cannot be over-stated. I think it's obvious to the most casual fan that they have had such a positive impact on the team. This is the type of talent in the middle of the defense we have been lacking since quite frankly Sean Taylor. Also there are clear hold over standouts like Josh Norman (yes, he was definitely worth the money), Ryan Kerrigan (who sometimes does not enough credit for his contribution), and Preston Smith who is really playing well. But I want to talk more about a few guys making a less visible but important impact. 

 

Kendall Fuller - He has just grown leaps and bounds from last year. Last year he was not as bad as people made him out to be but, he did struggle in some coverage and seemed to get lost on some plays. He has all over the place this year and in a good way. Providing tight coverage, but more importantly knowing where he needs to be and greatly improvement his technique. Hats off to Torian Grey here.  BTW: He is tied for 3rd in the NFL with 3 interceptions. 

 

Stacy McGee - This pick-up was universally panned as over-paying (although full details of the contract show it's actually very reasonable when you consider guaranteed money, but I digress). With Allen and Iaonnidis playing so well, he was not getting much chance to even play and when he did, he was just OK. But last week he played like a man possessed, more than making up for the injuries on the dline (thank you Mike Tomsula!). Here is a film breakdown for the Vikings as they prepare for the Redskins today that shows it much better than I can. This shows the potential he has and what good coaching does to average players. 

 

 

 

 

Ziggy Hood - He is quietly having a really good season. The entire Dline is playing at a very high level. That's a lot due to Torian Gray but the players are buying in and it's showing in their play. Hood is a really good example. 

 

Hopefully this trend continues. Let's have a great game today against a sneaky decent Minn offense. 

 

 

 

 

 

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skinfan2k

skinfan2k

Posted
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I really wanted to make a thread on which assistant between Jim Tomsula or Bill Callahan has done a better job this year.

 

Ziggy Hood doesn't look like a push over like last year.  I know this line wont play as well against a unit like the cowboys but against any other unit i have great confidence without Allen 

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goskins10

goskins10

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24 minutes ago, skinfan2k said:

I really wanted to make a thread on which assistant between Jim Tomsula or Bill Callahan has done a better job this year.

 

Ziggy Hood doesn't look like a push over like last year.  I know this line wont play as well against a unit like the cowboys but against any other unit i have great confidence without Allen 

 

Let's see how dallast does without Elliott or their starting LT, Tyron Smith.

 

We have 3 gms in 11 days. They will decide if we have meaningful games in Dec. Have to win 2 of the 3 at least I would think. 

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Taylorcooley1

Taylorcooley1

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Good stuff as always goskins10...I believe it was due for a thread about the current defense. There playing together as a unit and like you said its amazing they haven't missed much of a beat being down some players.. hats of to tomsula for sure as well as manusky and the rest of the staff...Go skins!

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wit33

wit33

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It’s been a lot of fun seeing the schemes change game in and game out. It’s interesting, some were saying Greg was just going to be smash mouth and not have much creativity, but it appears the defense is making many adjustments and being unique with “looks” and post snap disguises.

 

The Skins have a chance this week because of the defense, not the offense. How about that!! 

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Peregrine

Peregrine

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Its so impressive what the defense has done.  Its even more impressive when you consider:

 

A. They have played THE toughest schedule in the NFL.

B. They have been decimated by injuries unlike any other team in the NFL.

C. Of the 194 points they have allowed, 30 have been directly scored when they werent even on the field.  Another 30 were scored from either turnovers by our offense inside our own 10 yard line, or inside FG range where they didnt give up a single first down.  

 

That means if it wasnt for the worst of the turnovers, the defense has allowed 16.7 points per game when on the field, even counting the big plays they have given up when dominating the rest of the game.  And they have scored 2 TDs.

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Diehard Otis

Diehard Otis

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2 hours ago, wit33 said:

It’s been a lot of fun seeing the schemes change game in and game out. It’s interesting, some were saying Greg was just going to be smash mouth and not have much creativity, but it appears the defense is making many adjustments and being unique with “looks” and post snap disguises.

 

The Skins have a chance this week because of the defense, not the offense. How about that!! 

Truthfully, the Seattle game woke my up to the reality:

 

The Washington Redskins are a Defensive Team.

 

How else could we have been competitive through such a brutal stretch?

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zoony

zoony

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We kind of knew we couldnt stop the run.  Dallas proved that.  Weve just been lucky that teams have wanted to pass more.  

 

The play action is absolutely humiliating this defense today.  Also, Norman needs to donate his game check to charity tonight

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goskins10

goskins10

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Well, I should have known better than to start believing, even if that's what the data suggested. They just can't be consistent. I still believe this is a much better unit. But they have to be more consistent, something that showed up in the Football Outsiders data. 

 

The title has been changed appropriately. 

 

 

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