Impressive Defense

HEROHAMO · Post by **HEROHAMO** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 4:03 pm

I am particularly impressed with the Dline.We have depth at the DE position. Not sure if we have the permanent solution at NT. Still there are no glaring weaknesses. Cofield looks stout at the point of attack. Jenkins already looks ready to step in and play. That is great considering he is a rookie. Carriker, Bowen, Jenkins, and Cofiled that is a pretty good front three rotation. I am missing a couple names here but those I have mentioned are solid.

Linebackers are a strength. We are thin at the ILB position but London Fletcher looks like he is still 25. Outside linebackers I believe is going to be a huge plus. Orakpo and Kerrigan should get plenty of sacks this year.

The secondary also looks strong. Deangelo Hall has his moments yet he is still a solid cover guy. Our saftey tandem should be close to tops in the league if they can stay healthy and gel. Only weakness "may" be our number two corner as far as personnel is concerned.

This could be a top ten defense. Maybe even better. I know its just preseason but the talent is there. The scheme is in place. The desire and discipline also seem to be there. Which really hasnt been there for years.
For once we have plenty of youth and home grown guys. Yup I am feelling good about this defense.

Red_One43 · Post by **Red_One43** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 4:58 pm

markshark84 wrote:Both QBs have at times looked good in the offseason, but they are seeing vanilla defensive packages. .

Don't forget both QBs are running vanilla offenses as well. Vanilla against vanilla, they have come out ahead and that is what one would want to see.

yupchagee · Post by **yupchagee** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:30 pm

markshark84 wrote:Honestly, I do feel the defense looks solid -- but it is the PRESEASON!!! That is the end of story!! Not only did Zorn go 4-0 in the preseason, but Spurrier did as well.

That being said, we do have a greatly improved defensive line-up, a defense that is no longer "transitioning" into a 3-4, a DC with one more year under his belt, and players that are better fitted for the system. There are a good number of reasons to be excited about this defense -- I (the skins pessimist) myself am even excited after watching the preseason games.

But we have to keep in mind that it is stil the preseason. Right now everyone is healthy and playing for their jobs. The ability to be competitive over the course of a season comes from having depth --- which I also think was tremendously improved over the offseason.

The biggest concern is not our D -- which I agree looks great -- it is with our QB position. Both QBs have at times looked good in the offseason, but they are seeing vanilla defensive packages. There is no way to know if they will be able to perform this way in real games. That is my #1 concern right now -- but I must say I have been pleasantly surprised while watching the first 2 preseason games.

Except for Landry, Atogwe, Moore, Cool

ey, & I'm probably missing a few.

andyjens89 · Post by **andyjens89** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:39 pm

yupchagee wrote:Except for Landry, Atogwe, Moore, ey, & I'm probably missing a few.

Fletcher, Carriker, and J Wilson missed the last game

yupchagee · Post by **yupchagee** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:54 pm

andyjens89 wrote:
yupchagee wrote:Except for Landry, Atogwe, Moore, ey, & I'm probably missing a few.

Fletcher, Carriker, and J Wilson missed the last game

That's 5 starters on D + Moore who would have started if healthy.

Irn-Bru · Post by **Irn-Bru** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 11:08 pm

markshark84 wrote:Honestly, I do feel the defense looks solid -- but it is the PRESEASON!!! That is the end of story!! Not only did Zorn go 4-0 in the preseason, but Spurrier did as well.

But we're not talking about raw W-L numbers. We're talking about execution. Yes, it's preseason, but that doesn't mean we can't glean some insights from the team.

SkinsJock · Post by **SkinsJock** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:16 am

^^ +1

I could care less about what teams OR players OR coaches did over the past 20 years - means NOTHING today
stats and what happened last year or last week are ONLY important in baseball
the NFL is about what is happening NOW - this week, this game
NFL coaches do whatever it takes to be successful - if they tried something and it did not work they WILL try something different - the media however will say "this coach did this back in 1988 and it didn't work then, and it will not work now" when in fact, that same coach knows that it did not work then so WHY would he do it again
I hate the way that the media (and fans) use stats and the mistakes that happen to everyone to 'make their case'
Good coaches learn from their mistakes

we are seeing this FO bring in schemes and players that suit those schemes
this all about what we are seeing on the field - NOW

I TOTALLY agree that the preseason does not mean much but what we are seeing and what is reportedly happening at practice indicates to me that this franchise is moving ahead

I know that some are really excited about our prospects this season - I'm encouraged and I think we'll be better but we still have some issues and I think this FO and the players and coaches just need a little more time and a couple more players in order for us to have the depth needed to be able to have a consistely competitive product

WE ARE GETTING THERE - the preseason play is just an indication that we continue to make progress

Skinsfan55 · Post by **Skinsfan55** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:32 am

Yes, we can glean insight about the team from pre-season but I can still remember Danny Wuerffel threading the needle during the 2002 pre-season on a deep TD pass.

People have a tendency to take what they see and blow it out of proportion. The things you can take away from pre-season are the broader things. The QB's appear to be making good decisions, the line is playing as a cohesive unit that's largely penalty free, the defensive line looks deep.

Needless to say, I'm excited to see how we perform once the REAL season starts, but let's not get all wrapped up in pre-season, and especially not on our W-L record.

Chris Luva Luva · Post by **Chris Luva Luva** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:55 am

Irn-Bru wrote:
markshark84 wrote:Honestly, I do feel the defense looks solid -- but it is the PRESEASON!!! That is the end of story!! Not only did Zorn go 4-0 in the preseason, but Spurrier did as well.

But we're not talking about raw W-L numbers. We're talking about execution. Yes, it's preseason, but that doesn't mean we can't glean some insights from the team.

We're seeing execution, basically zero penalties and 100% effort. We're seeing progress and what is more assuring than sizeable and tangible progress on a team that is rebuilding? Last year the team was competitive and fun to watch. They're better this year and should be fun to watch. Hopefully the progress continues next year and so on.

SkinsJock · Post by **SkinsJock** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:55 am

Wuerffel was truly awful and Gibbs was wrong to put so much trust in Brunell

NOBODY that knows aything about the game places any credence at all in the W-L record of preseason

markshark84 · Post by **markshark84** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 12:24 pm

Irn-Bru wrote:
markshark84 wrote:Honestly, I do feel the defense looks solid -- but it is the PRESEASON!!! That is the end of story!! Not only did Zorn go 4-0 in the preseason, but Spurrier did as well.

But we're not talking about raw W-L numbers. We're talking about execution. Yes, it's preseason, but that doesn't mean we can't glean some insights from the team.

I do agree with that. This team is executing very well, but we thought it was with Zorn and Spurrier as well. In terms of gaining insight into regular season performance based on how they performed in the preseason, it is difficult to judge depending on the position, IMHO. For example, at QB, you can take a guy like Colt Brennan who was a preseason all-star but never was able to get on the field in the regular season. I also believe that OL is difficult to judge seeing that there aren't as many blitch packages run in the preseason.

In terms of the defense, I honestly haven't seen anything to be upset with. They look solid. The offense, although generally playing well, is having issues scoring TDs. We'll see how that plays out in the regular season. This could be a result of a vanilla red zone offense, but who knows.

yupchagee · Post by **yupchagee** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:46 pm

markshark84 wrote:
Irn-Bru wrote:
markshark84 wrote:Honestly, I do feel the defense looks solid -- but it is the PRESEASON!!! That is the end of story!! Not only did Zorn go 4-0 in the preseason, but Spurrier did as well.

But we're not talking about raw W-L numbers. We're talking about execution. Yes, it's preseason, but that doesn't mean we can't glean some insights from the team.

I do agree with that. This team is executing very well, but we thought it was with Zorn and Spurrier as well. In terms of gaining insight into regular season performance based on how they performed in the preseason, it is difficult to judge depending on the position, IMHO. For example, at QB, you can take a guy like Colt Brennan who was a preseason all-star but never was able to get on the field in the regular season. I also believe that OL is difficult to judge seeing that there aren't as many blitch packages run in the preseason.

In terms of the defense, I honestly haven't seen anything to be upset with. They look solid. The offense, although generally playing well, is having issues scoring TDs. We'll see how that plays out in the regular season. This could be a result of a vanilla red zone offense, but who knows.

The only negative I've seen in the D is that we need more takeways.

Irn-Bru · Post by **Irn-Bru** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:44 pm

markshark84 wrote:This team is executing very well, but we thought it was with Zorn and Spurrier as well.

I never thought it did with Zorn. At its best, Zorn's team was edging out teams by heroic individual efforts. What I'm seeing with the Skins right now is an offensive and defensive machine, a unit, that is making things happen.

And while Spurrier did make a splash in preseason, he never ran an actual NFL offense. His blocking schemes, it turned out, were laughably amateur. (And we . . . along with Patrick Ramsey . . . got to suffer for it.) I think we are safe to say that Shanahan will avoid that pitfall.

BigRedskinDaddy · Post by **BigRedskinDaddy** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:33 am

HEROHAMO wrote:I am particularly impressed with the Dline.We have depth at the DE position. Not sure if we have the permanent solution at NT. Still there are no glaring weaknesses. Cofield looks stout at the point of attack. Jenkins already looks ready to step in and play. That is great considering he is a rookie. Carriker, Bowen, Jenkins, and Cofiled that is a pretty good front three rotation. I am missing a couple names here but those I have mentioned are solid.

Linebackers are a strength. We are thin at the ILB position but London Fletcher looks like he is still 25. Outside linebackers I believe is going to be a huge plus. Orakpo and Kerrigan should get plenty of sacks this year.

The secondary also looks strong. Deangelo Hall has his moments yet he is still a solid cover guy. Our saftey tandem should be close to tops in the league if they can stay healthy and gel. Only weakness "may" be our number two corner as far as personnel is concerned.

This could be a top ten defense. Maybe even better. I know its just preseason but the talent is there. The scheme is in place. The desire and discipline also seem to be there. Which really hasnt been there for years.
For once we have plenty of youth and home grown guys. Yup I am feelling good about this defense.

I second this. Couldn't have said it better myself. I know it's just the preseason, but doggone it I'm getting fired up! Bring on the gmen already!

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Impressive Defense

Are you impressed with this defense?