All things defense

[RandyHolt]

Our front 4 cannot take out 5 alone often enough to change games.

 

I hadn't seen this typical NFL aggressive D play all year. You could show me only this tweet and I'd predict we generated turnovers and won.

 

https://x.com/Tiller56/status/1713638992405500227?s=20

 

Edited October 15, 2023 by RandyHolt

[Barry.Randolphe]

Barton was playing the ball, but it's a stupid penalty on him...he clearly hit Ridder in the head and knocked his helmet off

[Redd]

48 minutes ago, Barry.Randolphe said:

Barton was playing the ball, but it's a stupid penalty on him...he clearly hit Ridder in the head and knocked his helmet off

I was mad but agree.

[Redskinscub]

On 10/13/2023 at 3:54 PM, tomwvr said:

Before game one Allen was reported to have plantar issues in one of his feet. This is not a fun thing constant pain, cramps and discomfort. Only time and treatment can fix it. Havent heard anything since the first report , but it doesnt go away that quickly.

 
 

Allen has been dealing with plantar fasciitis, Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post reports. Head coach Ron Rivera indicated the issue is not serious.Aug 19, 2023

I think it was announced that he has been dealing with it all season

[CRobi21]

It was weak contact to Ridder's head, but much weaker has been called. You give the QB an affectionate embrace you're still getting flagged.

 

 

[skinny21]

On 10/14/2023 at 9:38 AM, skinny21 said:

I expect a lot of 5 man fronts, Curl to be in man coverage on Pitts pretty often.  If we do play man, I feel like St Juste is the best fit against London.

 

Personally, I’d consider playing Mayo a bunch this week (probably our best LB in run defense), and utilizing Hudson in a Joker role at times, similar to what he played in college.  Toohill should probably get plenty of reps as a plus run defender, ditto Ridgeway, especially as a nose in 5 man fronts.  Maybe put Butler into shallow zones more often to use his speed to blitz and/or to try to beat blockers on run plays… I don’t really trust him deep at this point.  Seems counterintuitive to get Jones a good amount of snaps - I could be wrong, but I get the sense he’s better pass rusher than run defender - but in a 5 man front, take away contain responsibilities and let him get after the backfield (letting him and Toohill keep Young/Sweat fresh).  

 

I could be way off base with all of that, but regardless, I’d like to see us using guys to their strengths vs forcing them to fill a role they’re not necessarily ready/cut out for.  Easier said than done though if that forces scheme tweaks that the D hasn’t practiced much.

 

Feel a little weird quoting myself, but… I noticed Mayo exactly once - defending a pass in the EZ of all things.  Hudson flashed.  It’ll be interesting to see how many snaps those two played.  Toohill looked good, Ridgeway looked good vs the run and (similar to Mayo), had an improbable play tipping the ball outside the tackle box.  I kind of wanna catch the play again to see why/how he wound up out there.  Didn’t notice Jones (might have been inactive with Obada returning?

 

St Juste on London, wasn’t pretty, but he had at least those two that were wrenched out of his grasp.  Was his int in the EZ vs London?  Didn’t notice.

Butler with a td saving tackle, but once again letting a guy get behind him.  Dude has got to figure out how to stay over the top.  Blah.

 

Overall, a tough performance.  Kudos for the 2 4th down stops, the stop on the 2pter and of course the ints.  And doing that with the offense performing completely ineffectually for most of the 3rd and 4th quarters, against an O that looks to wear you down.  Still not good enough though IMO.

[Warhead36]

This isnt a good defense at all. Its schematicly broken and the only solution is a complete overhaul in 2024. 
 

All the resources spent and our most effective pass rusher is Casey Toohil. What a joke.

[RWJ]

1 minute ago, Warhead36 said:

This isnt a good defense at all. Its schematicly broken and the only solution is a complete overhaul in 2024. 
 

All the resources spent and our most effective pass rusher is Casey Toohil. What a joke.

Maybe a new DC.

 

[Warhead36]

If Wink Martendale were our DC wed be a top 5 unit

[RabidFan]

55 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

If Wink Martendale were our DC wed be a top 5 unit

No Whammies.   Man I was crushing for Todd Bowles to come back when first available.  Love his D

[Playaction2Sanders]

It was the kinda turnover game this D needed. However, when you see what Cleveland is doing this season, and the Jets, especially today with both their CB's out you're like Dam we should be in that conversation. Hell we've been building this D longer than those two teams combined... Cleveland is doing something with yards given up per game that hasn't been seen since Unitas was playing. They have a Super Bowl defense.

[Hogs86]

Any word on Phidarian Mathis return? I know he was put on the short-term list he would be eligible for return after game four. 

 

[DWinzit]

^^^ He seems very comfortable on the IR. It will be interesting to see if his presence can bring new energy to the DL.

[CjSuAvE22]

lol ppl keep complaining about JDR but the reality is all the players that are strong points of this defense were brought in by the Bruce Allen regime…Rivera has brought minimal talent to the defense in 4 years and it’s showing now, this is the reality no matter how bad people want to tip toe around the DC and scheme.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

2 minutes ago, CjSuAvE22 said:

lol ppl keep complaining about JDR but the reality is all the players that are strong points of this defense were brought in by the Bruce Allen regime…Rivera has brought minimal talent to the defense in 4 years and it’s showing now, this is the reality no matter how bad people want to tip toe around the DC and scheme.

From all I’ve absorbed, JDR gets what he wants from a talent perspective.  Plenty of reporting attaching JDR to the likes of Jamin Davis, Forbes, and FA’s like Barton.

 

 

[CjSuAvE22]

16 minutes ago, BatteredFanSyndrome said:

From all I’ve absorbed, JDR gets what he wants from a talent perspective.  Plenty of reporting attaching JDR to the likes of Jamin Davis, Forbes, and FA’s like Barton.

 

 

I’m sorry but who is head of player personnel? Last I checked it’s not Del rio, this was a top ten defense last year and ppl still gave JDR crap, ppl can report all they want at the end of the day Rivera pulled the trigger on these guys.

[Warhead36]

Im also so sick of hearing about pass rush win rate and pressure rate. Garbage stats. Effing bring the QB down.

[Riggo#44]

9 hours ago, Warhead36 said:

If Wink Martendale were our DC wed be a top 5 unit

Hell, the game show host would have us top 20

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

17 minutes ago, CjSuAvE22 said:

I’m sorry but who is head of player personnel? Last I checked it’s not Del rio, this was a top ten defense last year and ppl still gave JDR crap, ppl can report all they want at the end of the day Rivera pulled the trigger on these guys.

You must have me confused for someone defending Rivera.  I’m not sure there is a soul left defending Rivera in any capacity for any of the hats he wears.

 

But facts are facts, Jack has the majority of resources on his side of the ball and Ron has given him pieces he’s asked for.  His defenses have feasted on the talent of the front 4 against bad QB’s and OL’s that hold the ball too long.  Very rarely does he ever dial up anything special against the upper echelon of QBs.  
 

JDR sucks as does the guy who hired him.

20 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

Im also so sick of hearing about pass rush win rate and pressure rate. Garbage stats. Effing bring the QB down.

These stats correlate for some, but not so much for us.  I think when coverage on the back end is good, win and pressure rates mean more.

[Ball Security]

30 minutes ago, CjSuAvE22 said:

I’m sorry but who is head of player personnel? Last I checked it’s not Del rio, this was a top ten defense last year and ppl still gave JDR crap, ppl can report all they want at the end of the day Rivera pulled the trigger on these guys.

I’m going to ignore the idea that he hasn’t had talent to work with. But like you said, it was a top 10 defense last year. Why has it regressed so much this year? There wasn’t some massive talent exodus this year. The guys are not old and on the downside of their career. Why are they so bad this year when it’s the same group of guys?

[samy316]

16 minutes ago, Ball Security said:

I’m going to ignore the idea that he hasn’t had talent to work with. But like you said, it was a top 10 defense last year. Why has it regressed so much this year? There wasn’t some massive talent exodus this year. The guys are not old and on the downside of their career. Why are they so bad this year when it’s the same group of guys?

 

It was only a "top 10" defense last year, because of the schedule we faced and the horrible QB's that we played.  We played the AFC South with terrible QB's like Davis Mills, Sam Ehlinger, and then we had other terrible QB's we faced like Marcus Mariota, and Ryan Tannehill.  We always seem to have inflated defensive rankings against the bad QB's/Teams, but when we play a halfway decent QB or an elite QB, we get trounced.  The only example of this not occurring was against the Eagles on MNF.  I can't remember the last time we were a legit Top 10 defense that all teams feared.  2020 was like this too, when we won the division at 7-9.  We played against 4-5 backup QB's that year, and got destroyed against the legitimate QB's that we faced.  This defense is smoke and mirrors until proven otherwise.

[Thinking Skins]

22 hours ago, Voice_of_Reason said:

So I'm going to take the other side of this VERY SPECIFIC exchange, and FWIW, Bram did as well. And I grant Bram is the play-by-play voice, but he's also EXTREMELY critical of the team, specifically Ron and Jack, A LOT on the radio.  But he's not defensive of the staff like Larry Michael was at all.  

 

I like Ben Standig enough. I listen to his podcasts, and he's generally informed and somewhat entertaining.   Ben is CLEARLY writing a piece on off-season transactions and how they failed miserably. He asked this question of Barton to Jack.  He's also the one who asked Rivera the Draft Class question which Rivera answered with "change the subject I'm going to talk about Howell."  

 

This is a story that needs to be written. I expect it will come out Monday or Tuesday (if it hasn't already) especially if they lose to Atlanta.  Or it might be held until the next loss.  And Bram piped in this was a story which needs to be written, and even in his response to this exchange, went on a little tangent saying how bizarre the draft appeared to be when it happened, how he questioned the picks at the time, and how it's not looking good. So, even while he was criticizing Ben in his asking of the question, he was validating the question needed to be asked and the answer isn't a good one.  

 

But Ben tried to have his cake and eat it too with the way he went about the question.  And I don't blame Jack for pushing back on "which people" and "what missing piece" and "Who's saying what."    Ben needed to just come out and ask the question directly instead of dancing around it. "I think Barton is playing badly.  Tell me where I'm wrong."  Be direct.  But he wasn't. He invoked the Junior High "Some people are saying" and Jack, I think, was right to ask, "ok, who's some people?"  

 

Apparently, and this is from Bram, Jack takes issue with PFF grades, and what Ben was trying to do was say "the PFF grade says Barton isn't playing well" without saying PFF because he was fearing it was going to derail the answer. So he went with this nebulous "some people" thing which Jack pushed back on.  

 

It's bad journalism.  Again, from Bram's show, and for what it's worth he teaches journalism courses at the University of MD, he said he was going to go "full Professor Weinstein" and critique the way the question was asked.  

 

What I wish Ben would have asked is either:

 

Option 1: (which includes reference to PFF) "Based on film study from the media and the PFF grades, it does not look like Barton is playing at a very high level. Can you please tell us what you are seeing and if you disagree, what you are seeing which the media/PFF is not catching."  NTOE: According to Bram, who was there, it appeared as though Jack was ready to respond to the PFF thing and that was going to maybe derail the question. But it's the truth and the direct question, so go with it and let Jack respond.  That's option 1. .

 

Option 2:  "In the off-season, the team let Holcomb go and signed Barton.  He is playing on 100% of the snaps, but there seems to be problems stopping the run and the shorter passes which weren't present at the end of last year, even when Holcomb was out with injury.  Can you comment on what you see out of Barton's play, and if you're still confident with him playing on 100% of the defensive snaps."

 

Option 2 takes out the "People said" and "PFF" and "media film study" stuff.  Maybe that gets a better answer. 

 

Either of these would have worked.

And NOTE: I wanted Jack fired 2 years ago and think he's an insufferable know-it-all jack ass ass hat who's not doing a good job, and I would love to see him escorted out of the building wearing a donkey costume.  So I'm not defending his coaching or approach, or even his general demeanor or ass-hattery in press conferences in general.

 

But in THIS SPECIFIC INSTANCE, I think Ben did a terrible job at journalism. 

 

Also, this isn't a PFF rant.  The PFF stuff was what Bram said and I am just regurgitating. I have no idea what Jack or anybody else in the organization thinks of PFF.  Bram joked that Jack hates the grades and bristles every time they are brought up, and Rivera likes to quote them.  So, take that for whatever you like.  It was Bram's message, not mine.  

SO MUCH THIS

 

I was defending Jack with the loudest voice possible on twitter to everyone possible because they were saying he was a Barton defender and I was saying, no Ben didn't ask a direct question. I think it was Jamaul, and Craig Hoffman and a few other media personalities who wanted him to go in on Barton and I was like thats all well and good but give a direct question.

 

Option 2 is a great question. Option1 is that is easily avioded kinda similar to how people were asking about the man vs zone last year with the WJ3 signing and he was bringing up people not knowing what defense they run (not really talking about WJ3 though) and saying that sometimes it looks like zone but its really man other times it looks like man but is really zone and its hard for the untrained eye to see it. Option 2 talks about things like missed tackles (you can also bring up TFL and big plays which he used as a metric for Davis) and ask what the measuring stick of performance is for Barton? 

[Thinking Skins]

16 minutes ago, samy316 said:

 

It was only a "top 10" defense last year, because of the schedule we faced and the horrible QB's that we played.  We played the AFC South with terrible QB's like Davis Mills, Sam Ehlinger, and then we had other terrible QB's we faced like Marcus Mariota, and Ryan Tannehill.  We always seem to have inflated defensive rankings against the bad QB's/Teams, but when we play a halfway decent QB or an elite QB, we get trounced.  The only example of this not occurring was against the Eagles on MNF.  I can't remember the last time we were a legit Top 10 defense that all teams feared.  2020 was like this too, when we won the division at 7-9.  We played against 4-5 backup QB's that year, and got destroyed against the legitimate QB's that we faced.  This defense is smoke and mirrors until proven otherwise.

That doesn't matter. NFL Coaches choose to play them. If we play Mac Jones and he lays a dud he's on our schedule too. 

[philibusters]

20 minutes ago, samy316 said:

 

It was only a "top 10" defense last year, because of the schedule we faced and the horrible QB's that we played.  We played the AFC South with terrible QB's like Davis Mills, Sam Ehlinger, and then we had other terrible QB's we faced like Marcus Mariota, and Ryan Tannehill.  We always seem to have inflated defensive rankings against the bad QB's/Teams, but when we play a halfway decent QB or an elite QB, we get trounced.  The only example of this not occurring was against the Eagles on MNF.  I can't remember the last time we were a legit Top 10 defense that all teams feared.  2020 was like this too, when we won the division at 7-9.  We played against 4-5 backup QB's that year, and got destroyed against the legitimate QB's that we faced.  This defense is smoke and mirrors until proven otherwise.

 

I agree with your point (though I wouldn't call Ryan Tannenhill terrible--he is like Daniel Jones, put him in a decent situation and he can be good, but in a bad situation he can be bad--we had the bad luck to play the Titans before their O-Line got decimiated by injuries in the second half of last season).  For what its worth we also beat Aaron Rodgers, Trevor Lawrence, Dak Prescott last year in addition to the MNF win against the Eagles.   But in terms of your big point about the defensive stats looking good because we played a slightly softer schedule I do agree.

[Ball Security]

27 minutes ago, samy316 said:

 

It was only a "top 10" defense last year, because of the schedule we faced and the horrible QB's that we played.  We played the AFC South with terrible QB's like Davis Mills, Sam Ehlinger, and then we had other terrible QB's we faced like Marcus Mariota, and Ryan Tannehill.  We always seem to have inflated defensive rankings against the bad QB's/Teams, but when we play a halfway decent QB or an elite QB, we get trounced.  The only example of this not occurring was against the Eagles on MNF.  I can't remember the last time we were a legit Top 10 defense that all teams feared.  2020 was like this too, when we won the division at 7-9.  We played against 4-5 backup QB's that year, and got destroyed against the legitimate QB's that we faced.  This defense is smoke and mirrors until proven otherwise.

I mean, we’ve played Dobbs, Wilson, Fields and Ridder this season. Not exactly a murderers row of QBs. We’ve played mostly bad QBs this season and are tied for 30th in points allowed (I understand offensive turnovers for scores are baked in this number, but still).