All things defense

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

[Conn]

 

Pretty crazy that Kerrigan ended with 95.5 sacks and doesn’t even make this list from his draft class. Epic class of pass rushers 

[Going Commando]

2 hours ago, Conn said:

Pretty crazy that Kerrigan ended with 95.5 sacks and doesn’t even make this list from his draft class. Epic class of pass rushers 

 

Best DL class in post-merger history IMO.  Maybe best class period.  There were other stud DLs in addition to Kerrigan too like Muhammad Wilkerson and Jurrell Casey and Aldon Smith. 

 

Justin Houston is the one from that list that surprises me the most.  He had like 50 sacks in his first four years but then you didn't hear about him for a long time after that.  Didn't even realize he was still playing TBH.  But he's been steadily productive all these years.

 

I'll be curious to see which of these dudes get into the Hall.  Miller and Watt are locks, but Jordan feels like a fringe candidate somehow.  And I would be surprised to see Houston or Quinn get in despite putting up such special numbers.

 

Also crazy that Cameron Heyward doens't factor into that list either and he's arguably the third best DL from 2011.  And also crazy how good the rest of the class was too.  Julio Jones and Patrick Peterson and Jason Kelce and Richard Sherman and AJ Green all from the same group.  Speaks to how good Cam Newton was that he dominated a lot of these dudes in college and was the biggest star from the class for a minute before he started to fall apart.

[Leonard Washington]

I really wanted our defense to take this game over. It seems that once a team takes us seriously, we can’t step up. 

[Warhead36]

Defense didn't necessarily suck tonight but they basically failed in every big spot(4th and 9 on the 95 yard TD drive, not able to stop Barkley on the 2nd to last drive). They also didn't make ANY big plays like sacks or takeaways. 

 

Just a "meh" performance. They aren't as much to blame as the offense but they do deserve a good chunk of it.

[Skinsinparadise]

If Curl returns, it’d be a big boost for the Commanders. Rivera called him “an air traffic controller” who can play multiple positions on consecutive plays and help line up teammates. The matchup nightmares Curl would normally cover, including Kittle and 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, excelled Saturday, and Rivera conceded the team felt his absence.

“We tried to match it through substitutions,” Rivera added, but it was clear that, though safeties Percy Butler and Jeremy Reaves played hard, it wasn’t the same.

After the lull, Curl said, he and the defense have something to prove. The final two games will make or break the Commanders season.

“We hold our own destiny, so we just got to handle our business,” he said.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/29/commanders-defense-explosive-plays/

[Warhead36]

Need to give Curl a long term extension this off season when he'll be eligible. 4+ years at least.

[Simmsy]

How come whenever another team has a starter out, they seem to make due. When we get a starter out, the whole side of the ball on our team just completely collapses. I don't know, maybe I'm just to close to the situation.

[Koolblue13]

4 minutes ago, Simmsy said:

How come whenever another team has a starter out, they seem to make due. When we get a starter out, the whole side of the ball on our team just completely collapses. I don't know, maybe I'm just to close to the situation.

I wouldn't say collapsed, but the level of fall off between Curl and Reaves is enormous and this was about two of the most elite players in the league. 

[WilberMarshall]

11 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

I wouldn't say collapsed, but the level of fall off between Curl and Reaves is enormous and this was about two of the most elite players in the league. 

It wasn't the absence of Curl that hurt them. 

 

They just need another LB who can run next to Davis. Bostic and Mayo are painfully slow both in play recognition and getting to the position. Even when they recognize the play, they are slow in getting in position. 

 

The team might just have to use Safeties to play linebacker.  

[Koolblue13]

1 minute ago, WilberMarshall said:

It wasn't the absence of Curl that hurt them. 

 

They just need another LB who can run next to Davis. Bostic and Mayo are painfully slow both in play recognition and getting to the position. Even when they recognize the play, they are slow in getting in position. 

 

The team might just have to use Safeties to play linebacker.  

You wont see me disagree. Davis is a stud and is now our green Dot. So we have our Mike. Now we Need to draft the guy next to him. 100%

 

But Curl is a huge deal. Top 3 important player team wide.

[AlwaysBeRedskins2Me]

1 hour ago, WilberMarshall said:

It wasn't the absence of Curl that hurt them. 

 

They just need another LB who can run next to Davis. Bostic and Mayo are painfully slow both in play recognition and getting to the position. Even when they recognize the play, they are slow in getting in position. 

 

The team might just have to use Safeties to play linebacker.  

There is no way Curl would have allowed Kittle to literally run free, wide open, seemingly the entire game. It was beyond absurd. Kam is absolutely pivotal to our team.

[method man]

14 hours ago, Koolblue13 said:

You wont see me disagree. Davis is a stud and is now our green Dot. So we have our Mike. Now we Need to draft the guy next to him. 100%

 

But Curl is a huge deal. Top 3 important player team wide.

Davis is the green dot but you may have noticed Bostic still moving him around presnap when he was in the field. Agreed with the poster who mentioned that we should use extra safeties with Davis as the only LB in most situations. 

[Koolblue13]

I thought this was going to be us last year. First team with 4 10+ sack players. Eagles are set up a lot like us, only they added Hasaan Riddick who is an elite pass rusher on top of what they already have. With offensive production and scoring more than 20 points, we add a pass rushing LBer and a CB to our defense and it's elite.

 

[method man]

13 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

I thought this was going to be us last year. First team with 4 10+ sack players. Eagles are set up a lot like us, only they added Hasaan Riddick who is an elite pass rusher on top of what they already have. With offensive production and scoring more than 20 points, we add a pass rushing LBer and a CB to our defense and it's elite.

 

As Cooley pointed out, they play Reddick like a LB vs a DE and this is one of the reasons for their subpar pass D because they have 3 down linemen for the most part

[Koolblue13]

11 minutes ago, method man said:

As Cooley pointed out, they play Reddick like a LB vs a DE and this is one of the reasons for their subpar pass D because they have 3 down linemen for the most part

I'm confused. Who's subpar pass rush? Our 37 sacks? Because the Eagles as a team have 10 more than the second closest Cowboys and Riddick alone has 14. 

[method man]

5 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

I'm confused. Who's subpar pass rush? Our 37 sacks? Because the Eagles as a team have 10 more than the second closest Cowboys and Riddick alone has 14. 

Meant run D. They’ve sacrificed there to have elite pass rush

[skinny21]

28 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

I thought this was going to be us last year. First team with 4 10+ sack players. Eagles are set up a lot like us, only they added Hasaan Riddick who is an elite pass rusher on top of what they already have. With offensive production and scoring more than 20 points, we add a pass rushing LBer and a CB to our defense and it's elite.

 

 

I’d have liked the staff to put Toney into that pass rushing LB role you’re talking about - which would have (I think) given him a somewhat similar role to the joker position he played at Michigan.  Give him something familiar (situationally) while developing his line backing skills.

 

 

[Koolblue13]

28 minutes ago, skinny21 said:

I’d have liked the staff to put Toney into that pass rushing LB role you’re talking about - which would have (I think) given him a somewhat similar role to the joker position he played at Michigan.  Give him something familiar (situationally) while developing his line backing skills.

 

 

I thought that would have been something too, but I guess Jack don't dig it. Something is off with him. Maybe with Chase back, we'll see something like that. Rotating Toohill who is a good PR end and JSW who is more stout against the run.

48 minutes ago, method man said:

Meant run D. They’ve sacrificed there to have elite pass rush

Oh yeah haha, that makes way more sense, but then they went out and got the dogs to stomp the run when needed too. 

[method man]

18 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

I thought that would have been something too, but I guess Jack don't dig it. Something is off with him. Maybe with Chase back, we'll see something like that. Rotating Toohill who is a good PR end and JSW who is more stout against the run.

Oh yeah haha, that makes way more sense, but then they went out and got the dogs to stomp the run when needed too. 

Toohill and Toney would be better fits in a 3-4 as OLBs

[skinny21]

16 minutes ago, Koolblue13 said:

I thought that would have been something too, but I guess Jack don't dig it. Something is off with him. Maybe with Chase back, we'll see something like that. Rotating Toohill who is a good PR end and JSW who is more stout against the run.

 

Yeah, while I give credit to Del Rio for things like moving McCain to nickel, putting in 3 safeties, having Collins play dimebacker, etc., he doesn’t strike me as (and I could well be wrong) as all that creative/innovative, but rather more adaptive (“This isn’t working, so I’ll try x now”).  Of course, this is the same guy that, if memory serves, moved Vaughn Miller into a SLB role, so what do I know.  

 

“Something is off” with who?  Toney?  Del Rio?

[Koolblue13]

22 minutes ago, skinny21 said:

Yeah, while I give credit to Del Rio for things like moving McCain to nickel, putting in 3 safeties, having Collins play dimebacker, etc., he doesn’t strike me as (and I could well be wrong) as all that creative/innovative, but rather more adaptive (“This isn’t working, so I’ll try x now”).  Of course, this is the same guy that, if memory serves, moved Vaughn Miller into a SLB role, so what do I know.  

 

“Something is off” with who?  Toney?  Del Rio?

I'd assume Toney for sure.

[method man]

Very cool that Bada is now on the roster after having been on the PS for three seasons. They cut Daniel Wise to add him, which says something. They must like how he has progressed

[Koolblue13]

55 minutes ago, method man said:

Very cool that Bada is now on the roster after having been on the PS for three seasons. They cut Daniel Wise to add him, which says something. They must like how he has progressed

That's kinda surprising. Wise looked really good getting penetration early in the year.

[FootballZombie]

Is Chase gonna be on another pitch count or is he full tilt?