SkinsJock wrote:Deadskins wrote:SkinsJock wrote:we are not a playoff caliber franchise yet.
Boo, sir. Boooooooooooooooooooo!

I hear you ....
I will say this - if the giants, eagles and pukes keep playing the way they have, we're going to score some points
not sure we can keep the scores down though

What we've seen from the Redskins so far is a total transformation ... a 180 degree swap from a good defense/putrid offense ... to the reverse. I expected the defense to improve, not disintegrate .... but the loss of two key players in the secondary (one injury, one suspension) in an already marginal group, coupled with the loss of two valuable defensive players in the front 7, has had a devastating impact so far.
Rak's loss is probably the biggest one, because regardless of the number of sacks he gets ... he generates a lot of pressure and draws a lot of holding penalties. And the combination of Rak and Kerrigan helps both players ... while the loss of one, hurts the other. And nothing helps a suspect secondary better than good pass pressure.
The next biggest help to struggling secondaries is the safety ... and our safeties aren't that good ... with Meriweather probably the best we have, injured. Gomes has been a disappointment so far, Williams is marginal at best, and Doughty is decent in the run game, but struggles in coverage. Wilson and Hall are decent corners, but look worse than they are given the lack of safety help ... Wilson seems to do a pretty good job in coverage, but blows a couple of big plays each game, while Hall draws the #1 guy each week, and he's not Revis Island. So you have to expect that Hall is going to get beat occasionally, and he has no safety help.
The Redskins need a play maker at FS ... and Wilson needs to eliminate the mistakes, and somebody needs to step up and fill in for Rak.