Is this the most talented yet misused defensive front we've had in years?

[Rex Tomb]

Well, if you look at the Saints and the Rams, the Saints are absolutely shredding the Rams defense.  It happens.

[Morneblade]

Just now, Rex Tomb said:

Well, if you look at the Saints and the Rams, the Saints are absolutely shredding the Rams defense.  It happens.

 

The difference is that the Rams are not out of it yet. While we would have been out of it by the end of the 1st quarter.

[Malapropismic Depository]

I expect Norman to be gone next season.

[Warhead36]

Just now, Morneblade said:

 

The difference is that the Rams are not out of it yet. While we would have been out of it by the end of the 1st quarter.

But that has nothing to do with the defenses.

[Morneblade]

8 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

But that has nothing to do with the defenses.

 True enough. I'll keep that in a different thread.

[Leonard Washington]

It’s seems that teams have decided to double Allen and Payne and letting Kerrigan and Smith run out the play. 

 

 

[Malapropismic Depository]

32 minutes ago, Leonard Washington said:

It’s seems that teams have decided to double Allen and Payne and letting Kerrigan and Smith run out the play. 

 

 

 

Maybe we should start running more stunts ?

[Rex Tomb]

1 hour ago, Malapropismic Depository said:

 

Maybe we should start running more stunts ?

That would require adjustments, something we have shown ourselves to be absolutely incapable of.  I miss the days of halftime adjustments.

[Rskins91]

Of all the areas we lost in today, it’s disappointing we were beaten in the trenches. That said, we keep saying how young this line is, and with that comes growing pains. Allen and Payne haven’t even played a full 16 games a piece, and are going to have bad days as a result. 

 

I believe in their ability to get it fixed and grow. At least as far as the D-line is concerned.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

I’ll be interested to hear from those breaking down the film, why exactly we didn’t see the type of pressure you should expect with both starting guards out for the Falcons.

[Cooleyfan1993]

7 hours ago, Rex Tomb said:

That would require adjustments, something we have shown ourselves to be absolutely incapable of.  I miss the days of halftime adjustments.

You’d have to go back to the 1990’s to find out when we last had halftime adjustments ? (ok, maybe a slight exaggeration...) 

[skinzplay]

37 minutes ago, Cooleyfan1993 said:

You’d have to go back to the 1990’s to find out when we last had halftime adjustments ? (ok, maybe a slight exaggeration...) 

Somebody queue Jim Mora saying adjustments.....adjustments?! Man, you're right. This dude doesn't know anything about halftime or in-game adjustments, at all. Gibbs would come out of the half and slice your team up with all kinds of new cutlery. Good coaches do that.

[Going Commando]

They crushed us.  Superior preparation and gameplanning.  We were reading pass when they ran it so many times.  We were stuck off balance and guessing.  The blitzing didn't work either.  They figured out where almost every one was coming from and picked them up with a vengeance.  It also didn't help that we had so much trouble getting matched up in the secondary and our zones were bad.  Two guys covering one zone and leaving the flat open for a receiving RB.  No ability to cover pick plays. we simply weren't ready for those.  Zach Brown stuck single covering Julio Jones in the slot.

 

We got thoroughly outschemed and outprepared and outcoached.

[Going Commando]

In a game like that, where the opposing offense had our defense figured out and came with a superior gameplan and week of prep, that's when you need your offense to step up and take the pressure off of them.  Play some ball control.  Keep pace.  Unfortunately our offense just isn't good enough to do that.  Not with a duct taped line and a 33 year old RB who looked depressingly slow and banged up.

 

With our OL in this state moving forward, it's going to be extremely hard for the defense to cope with the lack of balance in the roster.  Half of smashmouth football is being able to possess the ball.

[Mr. Sinister]

8 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

In a game like that, where the opposing offense had our defense figured out and came with a superior gameplan and week of prep, that's when you need your offense to step up and take the pressure off of them.  Play some ball control.  Keep pace.  Unfortunately our offense just isn't good enough to do that.  Not with a duct taped line and a 33 year old RB who looked depressingly slow and banged up.

 

With our OL in this state moving forward, it's going to be extremely hard for the defense to cope with the lack of balance in the roster.  Half of smashmouth football is being able to possess the ball.

 

So basically.... "Hold onto your butts"

 

- Jurassic Park Sam Jackson

[Skinsinparadise]

I like this D line but wow what an off day against a banged up offensive line who previously was struggling to run the ball.

 

 

t talk about an off day against

[Going Commando]

5 minutes ago, Mr. Sinister said:

So basically.... "Hold onto your butts" 

 

- Jurassic Park Sam Jackson 

 

What I'm clinging to right now is that the schedule is soft and maybe the injuries that the OL suffered weren't as devastating as they looked.  There are only three games against dynamic QBs left: Houston and the two Philly games.  Figure we'll lose those, but we can tilt with all of the other QB matchups if Alex steps up.  He's capable of doing it.  That's 10-6, which I'd bet on being good enough to win the division.  9-7 might still do it.

 

I know we're not good enough to make a run, especially without an OL.  But it'd be really nice to win the division.

[Skinsinparadise]

Brewer roasting the team some in a column he just put out.  And again I do like this D line.  But he has a point about who they've played.  Hopefully they can step up against the next two opponents who also have good passing games.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2018/11/05/by-choosing-building-blocks-over-playmakers-redskins-created-big-imbalance/?utm_term=.9766ab3c1fc5

The 38-14 home loss to Atlanta on Sunday served as a warning. Led by its great young defensive front, Washington managed to remain a top-five defense for most of the season’s first half. But after allowing 491 yards to the Falcons, you should’ve remembered not only how far the defense has come, but how probable a little slippage figures to be. The unit isn’t as spectacular as its statistics look. Consider that four of the defense’s strongest performances have come against offenses ranked in the bottom half of the 32-team NFL: Arizona, Carolina, Dallas and the New York Giants. On the other hand, the defense has shown major blemishes in three of four games against offenses ranked in the top half of the league. Atlanta and New Orleans embarrassed Washington. Indianapolis burned the Redskins in key situations. The one quality effort came against Green Bay, but that game was in the rain, and Aaron Rodgers was playing on one good leg.

[skinzplay]

There is much gold in that Brewer column. I agree with almost everything he says in there, though I take exception to what is becoming a ridiculous over-reliance on stats when evaluating performance. Even our boy Keim (who's the best in the business, in my opinion) is starting to do it too much. On days when an in-law has a birthday, the completion percentage is 45%. On days when orcas eat more salmon than sea lions, the defense gets 2.6 more sacks. It's nuts. But anyway, I don't think Brewer can really argue with any authority that our defense is not really good simply because we've played teams whose offenses are ranked low. Maybe those offenses are ranked low because our defense shut their asses down, perhaps even skewing their numbers more than they otherwise might be.

 

As for the rest, amen Brewer! Stiff, slow Mo is not going to cause any sleepless nights for DCs. And if you jump out to a lead against a Gruden squad, you put the team in virtual meltdown mode. The HC doesn't know how to adjust-to-win. He abandons the run early. A key point made in the article: "A regression of strengths is more likely than a substantial improvement of weaknesses". Preach!! This is what you get with Gruden. There is no sustained development of talent. So if you don't want to jeopardize the professional development and growth of these young kids, you send Gruden packing.

[RandyHolt]

Remember the Swearinger INT 2 weeks ago? He dumped his responsibilities (or passed them off), and jumped another DBs man, to get an INT.  Yesterday, we saw Dunbar in the left flat, left Coleman wide open to instead double an inside route that was properly covered.  Everyone and Burkheads mother was proclaiming how can we leave Coleman uncovered on 3rd down??? 

 

Well I think its obvious, the defense is trying to force turnovers. We are doing it with the DBs close to the LOS, so even if it fails, its not going to be a huge play.   Reading eyes or randomly doubling at the last moment.  Later, Dunbar had an INT that looked to be unrelated (Ryan was having a meltdown), but still Dunbar got one.

 

Is this a common thing DCs try?  I remember all our garbage DCs we have brought in over the decades, failing miserably but saying we were going to be aggressive and force turnovers. Instead we gave up 9 yards on first down, and 99 yard drives for a decade +, and rarely got turnovers. They should have tried this.

 

Since there is not DEF/DB thread I posted here. Maybe this can act as the all things defense thread since it all starts up front.

[Skinsinparadise]

2 minutes ago, skinzplay said:

 

As for the rest, amen Brewer! Stiff, slow Mo is not going to cause any sleepless nights for DCs. And if you jump out to a lead against a Gruden squad, you put the team in virtual meltdown mode. The HC doesn't know how to adjust-to-win. He abandons the run early. A key point made in the article: "A regression of strengths is more likely than a substantial improvement of weaknesses". Preach!! This is what you get with Gruden. There is no sustained development of talent. So if you don't want to jeopardize the professional development and growth of these young kids, you send Gruden packing.

 

Off topic but since you brought it up, Brewer doesn't say Jay's teams struggle to come back, he is saying THIS version of Jay's team does.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2018/11/05/by-choosing-building-blocks-over-playmakers-redskins-created-big-imbalance/?utm_term=.9766ab3c1fc5

“It’s tough to play against a good football team when you’re multiple scores down, period,” Smith said. “As much as you’d like to come back and do that, it’s just rare.”

Um, no, it’s not that rare in modern, pass-happy football. It’s not that rare against Atlanta, which since that epic Super Bowl meltdown, has spent the past year and a half blowing leads. If there’s one thing you should miss about the soft ol’ Redskins of the previous three seasons, it’s that they could come back. They could give up leads, too. But at least the score at the end of the first quarter didn’t always tell most of the story.

[RedskinsLegacy]

9 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

“It’s tough to play against a good football team when you’re multiple scores down, period,” Smith said. “As much as you’d like to come back and do that, it’s just rare.”

Um, no, it’s not that rare in modern, pass-happy football. It’s not that rare against Atlanta, which since that epic Super Bowl meltdown, has spent the past year and a half blowing leads.

Exactly! This team looked defeated after falling only 14 points behind in the 1st quarter. That starts with coaching and definitely leaders of the team, Smith being an example.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

3 minutes ago, RedskinsLegacy said:

Exactly! This team looked defeated after falling only 14 points behind in the 1st quarter. That starts with coaching and definitely leaders of the team, Smith being an example.

 

Be rest assured, nobody on that squad believes Smith has the ability to bring the team back from 14 down.  They’ve watched him play, they know.  Can’t blame them for not believing in fairy tales.

[skinsmania123]

20 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

Off topic but since you brought it up, Brewer doesn't say Jay's teams struggle to come back, he is saying THIS version of Jay's team does.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2018/11/05/by-choosing-building-blocks-over-playmakers-redskins-created-big-imbalance/?utm_term=.9766ab3c1fc5

“It’s tough to play against a good football team when you’re multiple scores down, period,” Smith said. “As much as you’d like to come back and do that, it’s just rare.”

 

And this IS the belief system of Alex Smith running onto the field leading his team down a couple of scores.  It is a ****ty mindset.  You listen to other QB's in the league that are down and they don't say these things.....EVER. 

 

I don't know who posted it but I think you dump Norman, and take the cap hit and just dump Smith in June.   He is so damn soft in terms of his mindset.   You are NOT coming back in a game with him.  He is telling you that. 

 

And as an aside anyone who thinks the Bucs and Texans can't put up points think again.  Fitz is going to throw deep on us and he is going to connect.  He gets his 28-30 points a game.   Fitz is coming after the  "Mouth Norman" and DJax is going to burn his ass at some point, perhaps our whole secondary.  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RandyHolt]

5 yards before contact screams scheme fail.

 

I'd guess with 2 new guards in there, they did new things (presumed to their strengths) that we didn't game plan for.