What Is Up With The Defense

[Tdog21Skins]

What is up with the defense and all of these missed tackles? And what the heck is up with our run defense?

 

[j_y19]

That's the million dollar question. Part of the issue with our run defense I think is that they are so set on getting after the qb that they are leaving huge holes in the line. This is compounded by the fact that fletcher has lost a couple of steps and just can't keep up with the RB.

As far as the tackling, I have no clue.

 

[skinsdad62]

What is up with the defense and all of these missed tackles? And what the heck is up with our run defense?

tackling and penalties . poorly coached at this point

 

[Sharkinva]

What is up with the defense and all of these missed tackles? And what the heck is up with our run defense?

Once again.. .we have no defense. Haslett is on the short list of those that need fired. Thinks look bad facing the Lions next week.

 

[j_y19]

The question is who do you replace him with?

 

[Tdog21Skins]

We have to put a end to falling behind big early in these games, and then trying to come back in the second half when the game is out of reach.

 

[hokiehi21]

To be fair, the first 2 teams we played will most likely be in the top 5 in total offense at the end of the year. I expect the D to play better against Detroit and Oakland coming up and get to 2-2 at the bye.

 

[Caliskinsfan]

Whats wrong? Pathetic Execution, poor tackling, out of position, penalties, game plan. Kerrigan remains a lone bright spot. That's my two cents. I can only hope they get this turned around, and soon.

 

[gkekoa]

The tackling is atrocious and so is the play-calling. Overall, the problem with the defense is the offense though. If you can't sustain drives, it puts to high a burden on the defense.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

The tackling is atrocious and so is the play-calling. Overall, the problem with the defense is the offense though. If you can't sustain drives, it puts to high a burden on the defense.

The problems are everywhere in all three phases of the game so the coaches have to accept a big part of the burden.

Special teams are also killing them - specifically in two areas. The punting is horrible & allows opposing teams to start in relatively good position. The return game is a joke & far too often has caused the Skins offense to start well inside their own 20 (often inside the 10 or 5). Time for the special teams coach to address these areas (or find new players).

 

[redskin4209]

Yes Def has been terrible however this may now seem hard to beleive right now, but I think the Def will get better as the season goes on. Pretty much like last yr. We have some rookies also. Our Def has been on the field alot because the Off simply has to many 3 and outs. No continuity at all. Good days will come, it can't get any worse than this.

 

[Buffalo_Nickel_1]

Fire'haslett bring in a'better'defense'coach' so we can say during the off season are defense will be good then the first game of next year are defense will give up 800 yards then we be back here bitching Don't you'seed fellow'skins fans we a'doomed no matter what

 

[SoCalWizFan]

Fire'haslett bring in a'better'defense'coach' so we can say during the off season are defense will be good then the first game of next year are defense will give up 800 yards then we be back here bitching Don't you'seed fellow'skins fans we a'doomed no matter what

I don't believe that a lot of folks were maintaining that the Redskins defense would be that good prior to this season. Just perhaps good enough with the assumption that the offense would be good enough to compensate for the shortcomings. The Redskins were somewhat handcuffed by the cap sanctions & other things.

Having said that there is plenty of blame to go around. I would put this both on the defensive personnel & the coaching. Certainly the coaching could be better. Again - I am not maintaining that a defensive coaching change would magically make things better. I am simply asking what does Haslett really bring to the table in terms of the defense? He has been here quite a while & really has not shown much. Why should anyone come to his defense?

You can put some of this on the offense but not that much. Anytime a team gives up almost 600 yds (& could have been much worse) you have to put a lot of the blame on the defense itself. Time for some accountability. I am tired of people giving them a pass because of RG3 & others. The fact is - with the exception of Kerrigan & a few others - these guys have been terrible & need to step up & actually do something & stop using the offense's performance as a crutch.

Again - I would like to believe that when the offense stumbles in the future (which will happen at times) it doesn't always result in being down 20+ pts at halftime. Also - this is not like last season when they rallied at the end of the season. Those games were mainly close ones where the Redskins had a chance to win. The last two games have pretty much been decided in the 1st QTR - huge difference. I hope that some guys step up & show that at least this team has a heart.

HTTR

 

[Kevin12773]

I can't believe I actually entertained the thought of wishing Madeiu Williams was playing yesterday. Rambo needs to get head out of his ass and tackle someone. This team better be ready to play from the opening gun this Sunday.

 

[j_y19]

I am as displeased with the defensive coaching as anyone, but we can't change horses in midstream. If we get rid of Haz, who do we bring in? Morris??? I think not, he is the secondary coach and how is that unit doing??? His guys can' even tackle and are consistently out of position, he certainly hasn't proven to me he deserves the job. Changing DCs during the season will be highly disruptive. If you had proven stud out there you could bring in, it might be worth it. But just to change for change's sake is a mistake.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

I am as displeased with the defensive coaching as anyone, but we can't change horses in midstream. If we get rid of Haz, who do we bring in? Morris??? I think not, he is the secondary coach and how is that unit doing??? His guys can' even tackle and are consistently out of position, he certainly hasn't proven to me he deserves the job. Changing DCs during the season will be highly disruptive. If you had proven stud out there you could bring in, it might be worth it. But just to change for change's sake is a mistake.

There is probably no way that Haslett will be released primarily due to the loyalty of Shanahan (which is a good thing overall). However - again - my fear is that he survives this season & the defense shows marginal improvement moving forward which is reason enough to keep him here another 1-2 years & beyond. Several folks will inevitably state that the defense doesn't really matter. This is very frustrating!

 

[skinz2winz]

What are we talking about here? This defense has been awful since Shanahan & Co got here. All of our problems on defense were masked by our outstanding offense and the season Griffin & Morris had last year. Without that threat (Zone read) on offense, our defense has become exposed yet once again. We have zero play makers in our secondary. Rambo is overwhelmed at this level right now with responsibilities he is having a hard time grasping. Doughty is what he is. Our corners stink to high heaven. Our LB's with the exception of Kerrigan are not much better. Our d-lineman, well, don't get me started with that dreadfully slow bunch who get zero push up front on even obvious passing downs. Haslett is way in over his head and those who even mention Morris as a possible replacement should place soap in their mouths.

We do NOT have the personnel or coaching it takes to run an effective 3-4. We would improve this week alone by just going back to a 4-3 cover 2 to simplify things for those involved. Yes, your blitz packages are not disguised as much but its still a sound defense with a dress on, just no make up. Utilize both Kerrigan & Rak with what they are good at. Hand in the dirt getting after the QB. In my opinion, this will also help simplify things for our rookies. I also believe this will instantly improve our run defense in the middle which has been non-existent. Coefield was never meant to be a NT as we all know and we continue to try fitting square pegs in round holes to make it work. (ie; Coefield, Orakpo, Kerrigan, Fletcher) just to name a few. I say once we hit the bye week, make the change and at the very least, you have more flexibility in-game by making this adjustment to give teams a different look on defense.

Here are your positions after the bye week:
S: Merriweather
S: Rambo
C: Amerson
C: Hall
LB: Jackson
LB: Barnett
LB: Fletcher
DE: Orakpo, Tapp
DT: Coefield, Baker
DT: Bowen, Jenkins
DE: Kerrigan, Jenkins

This likely will never happen but I'm sick of watching this group play defense or whatever you want to call it. There is no accountability for such poor play and that falls on Shanahan. At least if you fire Haslett, guys will take notice. If you maintain status quo, you continue on with doing the same thing repeatedly with the same results which leads to more of what we currently are watching, bad football and bad coaching.

 

[j_y19]

You are right, its never going to happen.

 

[elocomotive]

I think it's pretty simple - our defense doesn't have the talent to be a good defense in this league.

That doesn't mean we should be as bad as we have been playing, but our D-line is average, our linebackers are average, and our secondary is one of the worst in the league. Ryan Kerrigan has been outstanding, but after him it's a laundry list of problems. Orakpo is overrated and has the physical gifts of a Lavar Arrington, but none of the brains/instincts. Fletcher is old. The D-line does okay, but gets little push. The secondary is awful - it's hard to pick what I like least about this squad - Merriweather is never 100%, Hall can't cover anyone, Doughty can't cover anyone, Wilson can't tackle anyone, and Rambo can't tackle or cover anyone. They are fucking awful.

I personally don't like the 3-4. And I'm not strong on Haslett one way or the other, but we aren't going to change coaches or systems mid-season. It isn't going to happen and there are probably very legitimate reasons for that, especially since we are ultimately only 1 game worse than we expected to be at this point.

We have to hope the defense can learn and play a little better and, mostly, that the offense will come around since they are the key to us winning games, not the defense.

 

[skinz2winz]

"We have to hope the defense can learn and play a little better and, mostly, that the offense will come around since they are the key to us winning games, not the defense."

This says it all right here!