The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

Does anyone else realise this is a huge problem for our Defense. Combined, Wynn and Daniels combined for 6 whole sacks. There are some guys who have more than this on their own by week 4. I know you can blitz and get more pressure that way but we still need to really on a bit of a pass rush when we decide to just drop back in coverage. Also, they get destroyed by teams that run the ball well, ie. the Eagles and the Steelers, who we stayed competetive with until they just decided to run the ball down our throats.

Ah...did you watch this D last year? We got great pressure and stopped the run all year. GW D is a system he brings pressure from everywhere.

Phillip Daniels only played in 5 games last year so I'm not sure you should be too concerned with his stats from last year at all. Just hope he is healthy all year this year so he can contribute.

Welcome to the board.

Now, we had the number 2 run defense last year....nuff said.

I do agree that we could stand to improve the talent level at the End position, but I'm by no means upset by the fact that they keep overachieving. When you look at our Defense on paper you see the D-line as a weakness...but then when you watch the Vikings game we were getting good pressure with just four...or sometimes three...guys.

Chad

I wish Chris Clemons could beef up to 275 and play D- End. He is pretty much a speed linebacker, but not quite talented enough to go 3 downs at LB, but his speed and uncanny knack for getting to the quarterback would be excellent if he could somehow put on 30 LBs and put his hand in the dirt....where's Barry Bond's trainer when you need him.

actually, i'll agree with you damimac. williams did a great job of working around the problem last year and he will again this year i'm sure. however, it can be very disconcerting that when we don't blitz, the opposing QB is able to take out his cell phone, order a pizza, wait for it to arrive, eat the pizza, and be halfway through the breadsticks by the time we get anyone near him.

this forces us to blitz too often, which leaves us susceptible to being beat by the "big play" on a backfiring blitz.

our defense will still be great, but it could be absolutely smothering with even just one great pass-rushing DE.

chaddukes wrote:Welcome to the board.

Now, we had the number 2 run defense last year....nuff said.

Chad

Thank You. Nothing to add to that really.

The Hogster wrote:I wish Chris Clemons could beef up to 275 and play D- End. He is pretty much a speed linebacker, but not quite talented enough to go 3 downs at LB, but his speed and uncanny knack for getting to the quarterback would be excellent if he could somehow put on 30 LBs and put his hand in the dirt....where's Barry Bond's trainer when you need him.

Reupping his supply of roids for next year!

Clemons is a key or clue to what Williams has got to do about the DE situation, which shouldn't be taken lightly. I hope to see Newberry and McCune used liked Clemons is used.
I'm a great believer in linebackers as the toughest guys on the field and would love to see wild man linebackers actually go in for DE's in passing situations. Look at the damage Arrington inflicted the year he put his knuckles in the dirt. We're neck deep in nasty linebackers, all of whom can run. Let's use 'em.
I know it's against the prevailing wisdom, but just ask a 250 lb linebacker whether he can he stopped by a fat 300 pounder. You'll get some wierd looks.

chaddukes wrote:Welcome to the board.

Now, we had the number 2 run defense last year....nuff said.

Actually, we had the #1 run defense.

We were number two in the amount of overall yards that we gave up. Our D gave up 1304 yds rushing over the season (81.5 yds per game) compared to Pittsburg's 1299 yds (81.2 yds/game). So, we gave up five more yards than Pittsburg...

...but Pittsburg had a great ball control offense and therefore their D was on the field much less than ours. Yes, we gave up five more yards but we faced 62 more rushing attempts than Pittsburg did! We gave up only 3.1yds/carry! The next best were Pittsburg, the Jets, Buffalo, and Baltimore all tied at 3.6yds/carry. That is a huge difference!

In addition, the longest run we gave up all year was 26 yds. That was best in the NFL as well. Only San Diego did as well, they also only gave up a 26 yarder all year. We ARE NOT the typical blitzing D that gets to the QB but gives up big plays. Quite the contrary, our D gave up fewer big plays than any other team in the NFL!

We were third in the league in rushing TDs given up (7) behind only Houston and Buffalo (4 & 6 respectively).

You put all of that together and we had THE BEST run D in football last year!

Finally, on a side note, we had 40 sacks last year. That's only one less than Pittsburg managed and one more than Baltimore got! We were also second in the league in yards per passing attempt at 6.26 (Buffalo gave up 6.06). So therefore, if our offense had been a little better and stayed on the field we would have had the best defense in the league by far!

What's more, this isn't just a high-risk blitzing D that gives up loads of big plays because we have to bring all-out blitzes to scare the other team. Sure, we do that but we are as solid and STEADY a D as any team in football. Despite blitzing all the time we never leave ourselves exposed, people don't seem to realize this. We never gave up any big plays, did we? So enough with this "we need pass-rushing DEs or we'll get burned" stuff, it just isn't true! Look at the FACTS!

I don't see why everyone seems to think we need to improve our D-line so much. We may not get many sacks from our DEs but our line is THE BEST run-stopping unit in the NFL and it manages to put just enough pressure on that we also give up the second lowest yards per passing attempt too. Looking at all of these FACTS (this is not just opinion) our line isn't just adequate, it's dominating!

Good post hkHog! You make some very good points and supported them well. I think we will remain very solid on this side of the ball and I still think that having a great defence will make the other aspects of the game better this year.

Good D makes for a better chance at success.

Coach Williams has stated on several occasions that our defense is a better when Daniels is on the field. I've seen it for myself. He only played a few games last year and was injured when he did play, yet he was still a force at DE. Wynn is a solid run defender and had one of his best years every last year.

I agree that more pressure on the QB from our front four would be graet for our team, but I really think we are a very good defensive football team and solid at the end posiiton. I look for Arrington to get more looks at Wynn's spot in passing situations with Coach Williams turning him loose.

No dought, when Daniels is healthy, our D-Line is REALLY good. But as hkhog and others have said, Our D-Line AND Defense as a whole was straight up Excellent man!!!

hkHog wrote:

chaddukes wrote:Welcome to the board.

Now, we had the number 2 run defense last year....nuff said.

Actually, we had the #1 run defense.

We were number two in the amount of overall yards that we gave up. Our D gave up 1304 yds rushing over the season (81.5 yds per game) compared to Pittsburg's 1299 yds (81.2 yds/game). So, we gave up five more yards than Pittsburg...

...but Pittsburg had a great ball control offense and therefore their D was on the field much less than ours.


Yes, we gave up five more yards but we faced 62 more rushing attempts than Pittsburg did! We gave up only 3.1yds/carry! The next best were Pittsburg, the Jets, Buffalo, and Baltimore all tied at 3.6yds/carry. That is a huge difference!

In addition, the longest run we gave up all year was 26 yds. That was best in the NFL as well. Only San Diego did as well, they also only gave up a 26 yarder all year. We ARE NOT the typical blitzing D that gets to the QB but gives up big plays. Quite the contrary, our D gave up fewer big plays than any other team in the NFL!

We were third in the league in rushing TDs given up (7) behind only Houston and Buffalo (4 & 6 respectively).

You put all of that together and we had THE BEST run D in football last year!

Finally, on a side note, we had 40 sacks last year. That's only one less than Pittsburg managed and one more than Baltimore got! We were also second in the league in yards per passing attempt at 6.26 (Buffalo gave up 6.06). So therefore, if our offense had been a little better and stayed on the field we would have had the best defense in the league by far!

What's more, this isn't just a high-risk blitzing D that gives up loads of big plays because we have to bring all-out blitzes to scare the other team. Sure, we do that but we are as solid and STEADY a D as any team in football. Despite blitzing all the time we never leave ourselves exposed, people don't seem to realize this. We never gave up any big plays, did we? So enough with this "we need pass-rushing DEs or we'll get burned" stuff, it just isn't true! Look at the FACTS!

I don't see why everyone seems to think we need to improve our D-line so much. We may not get many sacks from our DEs but our line is THE BEST run-stopping unit in the NFL and it manages to put just enough pressure on that we also give up the second lowest yards per passing attempt too. Looking at all of these FACTS (this is not just opinion) our line isn't just adequate, it's dominating!

Absolutely correct. Another thing to consider is that we stayed on the field so long because of the weakness of our offense that we were often playing exhausted. Remember Pittsburg and Baltimore. I have often argued that we were actually No. 1 in D last year if the stats were corrected interpreted.

hkHog wrote:Now, we had the number 2 run defense last year....nuff said.

against one of the weakest schedules in the league

Three things wrong with your assertion:

Our schedule was rated one of the weakest in the league at the start of last season, which has no relevance. What was the rating at the end of the season?

The rating of the teams had no significance anyway. Only the ratings of the offenses have or had significance. What were the offenses we stuffed rated as compared to the offenses our opponents stuffed? We stuffed everybody. We were an equal opportunity stuffer, as you remember.

The defenses we played got statistical gift games when they played us. A significant advantage in regard to defensive stats.They had powerhouse offenses that at least got a few yards and helped pad their differential.

crazyhorse1 wrote:We were an equal opportunity stuffer, as you remember.

Equal Opportunity Stuffers...Hmph!

Typical Liberal blather!

Sorry, I couldn't help it!

hkHog,

Great post!

I'll give it to you. Pretty funny!

By the way, does anyone know if Countney Brown is still anbulatory?

Welcome to the board damimac1! Daniels is fine but he has no great counterpart on the other side. There is no depth at DE in our DL. Sure, great defense but it could be better with some Manley/Mann combos.

Pro Football Weekly wrote:Heart of Redskins’ defense might be right up front

Washington

There certainly are more talented units on the team, but the Redskins’ defensive line might be the most competitive and hardest-working group on the team. Throughout camp, the core group of DTs Cornelius Griffin, Joe Salave’a and Brandon Noble and DEs Phillip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn has displayed excellent hustle, moving quickly between drills and executing even the most minor of exercises with speed and efficiency. With most of the team’s big-name talent lying in the secondary and at linebacker, the line’s play — namely that of Griffin — should not be overlooked in terms of what it meant to the overall success of the NFL’s No. 3-ranked defense last season. If Daniels can stay healthy and Wynn can be productive again, this group should be in fine shape. The depth is also better with DT Ryan Boschetti, a former practice-squad player, coming on and last year’s solid DE reserves, Demetric Evans and Ron Warner, continuing to make progress.

http://profootballweekly.com/PFW/The+Wa ... de=nfceast

From the Post:

Pro Football Prospectus, which publishes a comprehensive statistical analysis, rated Griffin "the best run-stuffing defensive tackle in the league last year," and gave the Redskins' defensive line the second-highest rating in the league.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01270.html