For those disenchanted with Spurrier...

[bubba9497]

glass 1/2 full

[GSF]

Fair enough Art. It seems that we agree that SOS has done a poor job of gameplanning, playcalling, and preparing the team, and that we also agree that last year's defense was not a top 5 defense. I don't think we're doing perfectly fine on run defense though. We are currently 25th against the run giving up 130+ per game. Some of that, like you said, is on the edges and probably is more of the LB's faults, but teams have been running up the gut on us too. Duece and the Saints were shredding us up the middle. The one guy that's been really impressive on run D to me lately has been Holsey.

Anyways, I do respect guys like Bubba trying to see the glass half full, and I myself have tried to be that way these past 2 seasons, even though I never had much confidence in Spurrier. At what point though does being positive turn into sticking your head in the sand?

[DieselPwr44]

I've said it's shocking at just how thoroughly the opposition KNOWS what we're doing so much of the time.

That's not just us Art,it goes on throughout the league. Do you honestly think that there are plays that NFL teams have never seen before? It's all the game of football with that team's personality on it. It's just a matter of who executes and who doesn't. Back in the early 80's,every opponent knew that John Riggins was going to get the ball. Every opponent

also knew they were going to see a good dose of the Counter Trey. It's one thing to know what's coming,it's another thing to stop it. Until we learn to execute plays on a consistent basis,our performance will always be mediocre.

[Art]

DP,

I know there are plays that the NFL teams have seen before. Every single one we run is one every NFL team has seen before. Every play by everyone at this point is a play every NFL team has seen before. I'm not asking for Spurrier to design a series of new plays never before tried to see how they do.

I'm saying that ALL too often the opposition knows PRECISELY what we're about to do. We're tipping something off. Whether it's how the offensive line sets or how fast we come to the line or whether a running back leans one way or the other at the snap. Whatever. Teams just seem to really know what we're doing. We rarely seem to have a play on they aren't in position for anymore.

The difference between the country trey and now is that teams knew it was coming and to expect it, but if they overplayed it, the play would have gone for 20 on the other side because that's when Gibbs had you going. You couldn't really sell out to stop us on that play because Gibbs made you pay. Spurrier hasn't done that as consistently.

There was NO way to execute on the goal line on any of those three plays. They had the hole filled on first down with more players than we could block. They knew where we were running. On second down they jumped the sweep. If we'd run up the middle again it's a touchdown. But, they jumped the sweep. There was no where to go.

On third down not only did the DOUBLE our tight end, but they also doubled the hole the back play actioned into AND sacked our QB. That's just as bad a series as you'll ever see. Spurrier's had better series. But, one thing I've noticed for several weeks now, even in victory, too often everything we do is hard. The opposition is in good coverage. We have to make a tough catch. Or break a tackle at the line to do anything. We've not had many free runs at things lately while other teams still have at us. The Seattle game was like that. We had to have tight throws into tight coverage all game -- save the nice bomb. Even our biggest running plays came when they stuffed us, but couldn't hold onto the Rock.

Meanwhile, they had play after play of open receiver and easy yards. We won but it struck me as living on the edge. We had to play near perfect to win because everything for us seems sniffed out and so little of what the opposition does seems so.

[SonnyJ]

I'm not unhappy with the run defense. It would be fine if the defense would make plays on third down to GET OFF THE FIELD.

Case in point - last Sunday against the Giants on one of their first possessions, the D had the Giants in 3rd and 15. They jump offsides, Collins knows he has a free play, and drills a pass to get the first down. Barber proceeds to add about another 30-40 yards on the ground. They missed the FG, but that's not the point.

If they had just held on that third down, those rushing yards never would have occurred. The lack of a credible pass rush on this team just kills it. Far too frequently, they play fine on 1st and 2nd down, especially early in a drive. But, then they proceed to give up a third down conversion. A pass rush would greatly help their cause in not giving up so many rushing yards.

BTW, McCallister gained 165 on 30 carries. He had one 55 yard run. That means he had 110 on the other 29 carries, < 4 yards a carry. I'll take that. McCallister breaks a long one every game - he's a good back. The problem was that he got the ball so often because they weren't GETTING OFF THE FIELD on third down.

Sure, I'd love for the Redskins to have a stone wall up front, one that other teams knew it was futile in challenging. The run defense could be better, and has looked poor at times. But a legit pass rush could really hold down the other teams rushing attempts/yards.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Very good post Sonny. I agree with what you're saying.

[DeathByLinebacker]

I agree SonnyJ. Quality pass-rush from the ends would have really made the defense and probably the season much better.

It would have been nice if Bowen had saved like 20 yards of that 165 by going for the tackle instead of the strip when he was alone with Duece also.

[Art]

Sonny,

I think yours is a good post and I'm not going to diminish the importance of a credible pass rush from the line. I would just like to point out that with Marty here we had 20 or so sacks on the year. We had no pass rush to speak of. Yet, for the final 11 weeks or so, we had as fine a defense as we've EVER seen here.

I think our defensive line has gotten very consistently good pressure on the QB the last few weeks. Since Seattle really. Carolina was probably the best game we've had all year with pressure and we got NO sacks. The difference to me seems to be that we are playing a far too passive defensive scheme that seems scared to death of the big play to the point that we don't challenge more on third downs.

Obviously, a legitimate double-digit sack guy on the defensive line would improve the whole team immensely. In the end though, as bad as that's been for us, I think the problem is that we allow such wide coverage areas that we are easier to pick apart than we should be.

[SonnyJ]

I pretty much agree with that, Art. We saw that illustrated perfectly when Bailey got beaten twice against Carolina on plays where Delhomme was getting crushed as he was releasing the ball.

Without trying to oversimplify the defensive issues, I just wanted to point out that the run defense would SEEM (I say seem because I think it seems worse than it really is) a lot better if the rushing attempts could just be decreased, which they would be if this defense made plays on third down to get off the field. This is why I'm not so concerned about getting DT help as getting studs on the outside.

Still, I'd love to see a pedal-to-the-metal type of defense that forced offenses to make good plays on the Redskins terms, rather than their own. If Edwards sticks around, I hope the defensive results this year are just the byproduct of his lack of experience, rather than this being the best he can do.

[Sonny Joe Hog]

Originally posted by Cskin

Also, remember..... Spurrier has promised he's going to be tougher on them next year.. concentrate more on discipline and accountability.... attention to detail.

I'l looking forward to a good year next year and a return to the playoffs.

If he said that, I give up on him altogether. Next year?! WTF is wrong with him? Players need to be more disciplined NOW. They need to be held accountable NOW. The way to correct undesirable behaviors is to address them when they happen - not next year! What a loser!