The Washington Redskins showed improvement in both the defense and the offense this past Sunday when the Dallas Cowboys hosted them, looking better than they had the previous four games. Given the fact that second year quarterback Robert Griffin, III played much more like himself in many ways and that the defense did a pretty good job of containing the Dallas Cowboys, removing the two special teams returns of the Cowboys would have given the Skins the win at 16-15. That’s very, very different from the 31-16 outcome that was the reality.
The Dallas Cowboys got 14 of their points on returns — one kick return and one punt return — and this cost the Redskins the game. The Redskins’ special teams unit looked bad.
This squad used to be a thing of beauty. In the past, watching Washington’s coverage on an opposing team’s punt or kick return was fans’ favored entertainment. They knew that guys like long-time (and much beloved) Redskins’ special teams beast, Lorenzo Alexander, was going to lay a hit on the ball carrier that was likely to leave him seeing stars. The coverage was tight and violent and it wasn’t very often teams scored on returns. Before wide out/returner Brandon Banks got hurt, he was a threat to score any time he returned a ball. Terrence Austin had his share of good returns.
The squad has struggled recently to find a new standout at the return position. But even with that said, it was never a liability to the team like it appears to be now.
Things have changed on the unit in 2013. There is a new coordinator — Keith Burns — and, since his arrival, coverage is loose, penalties have increased and plays just aren’t being made.
But head coach Mike Shanahan doesn’t feel the problem is because of his new assistant.
“I think Keith Burns is a very excellent football coach,” Shanahan said yesterday at his Monday presser. “Very capable. Like I said, to get at this level and to be in charge of something, it takes a lot of years of work to be put in this position, and I feel very confident that he’ll get the job done even though we’ve started out a little bit rough.”
Sports Journey hosted special teams veteran starter/tight end Niles Paul Monday night at an event in Rockville, Md. and during it, Lake Lewis asked him if there was much difference in Burns’ and former coordinator Danny Smith’s philosophies and coaching styles regarding special teams.
“Oh yea. They coach differently… their schemes are different,” Paul said. “I thought we’d be fairly used to it by OTAs but not everybody’s acclimated to the scheme.”
Even with all of the team’s starters that returned this season, special teams personnel has changed. At different times on Sunday, Jerome Murphy (defensive back – third year in the league) and Jose Gumbs (cornerback – rookie) were a couple of new guys on the squad. Cornerback E.J. Biggers is new to the team this year and played on the unit Sunday. Running back Chris Thompson, though inactive on Sunday, had been returning kicks/punts and he is a rookie. And now, since the game Sunday night, it has changed even further with linebacker Brian Kehl — always intense on returns — and long snapper Nick Sundberg are likely out for the season with injuries.
The veterans on special teams can only do so much while also learning a new scheme under a new coach. Cohesiveness and camaraderie must be built and that takes time. According to Paul, everybody must be on the same page. Discipline has got to be stressed… the Redskins had 12 penalties for 104 yards Sunday night, four of which were made by the special teams unit.
“I think you gotta want to be out there,” he said Monday night. “Everybody has to want to make plays. You can’t have guys out there saying, ‘I can take this play off.’ You need all 11 guys out there to want to make that play. You can’t have three guys out there wanting to make a play and everybody else just watching. That’s a problem.”
Veteran fullback Darrel Young, safety Reed Doughty, linebacker Rob Jackson and Paul are all still on the squad and one can’t even fathom any one of them “taking a play off.” But the fact remains that this year there is no Lorenzo Alexander, no Chris Wilson and no D.J. Gomes, all three of which were intense special teams players. Paul was a rookie during one of the unit’s better years and remembers what it was like.
“I know, just speaking as a gunner,” the tight end said, “if I funneled a punt return back inside, I knew that that guy was about to kick [an opposing special teams player] to it. And that [opposing] return man knew that if HE goes inside, then he’s about to get killed… had no choice than to give me that crack [back block], y’know?
“That was the level of respect we had as a special teams unit,” he went on to say. “We can get back to that. We have to get back to that. We have to get back to that if we want to have any success in this league.”
With the team record at 1-4, one could say that the Redskins have dug themselves too deep into a hole to emerge with any hope of going to salvage the season. But in the locker room, you won’t find a bunch of guys feeling sorry for themselves. They’re football players with a job to do… a job they get paid handsomely for. They have to have mentality to simply look forward.
While the team can’t rest on its 2012 seven-game winning streak, they can rest on the fact that they know how to fight back when faced with adversity.
One recent text message from a player expressed the following:
“If we listened to everything being said on the outside, we’d all just go out there to put up film on ourselves. But we’re not going to do that. We know the kind of talent and guys we have on this team. We’re not close to being done here.”
Griffin showed the world on Sunday that he can still be the mobile signal-caller he was last season. The defense got markedly better (cornerback DeAngelo Hall contained Dallas wide out Dez Bryant throughout the game, holding him to five receptions for 36 yards and quarterback Tony Romo to 170 yards passing). Shanahan realizes that, if anything, the successes last season also are an indication of the talent on the team.
“I take a look at it how they’re playing right now… today,” the head coach said. “I was pleased with our defense. For our defense to go over there, keep them to a little over 200 yards — not too many teams will do that, especially on the road. It was very positive how our football team stepped up on defense and played a very talented football team in their backyard. So I felt very good about that. That gives you a chance down the road to have a lot of optimism, especially after some of the things we did last year on offense. Hopefully we can get back to that point.”
Apparently, the special teams squad feels the same way Shanahan and the rest of the locker room feel. The unit has to find a way to come together and accept Burns’ coaching and scheme; and do it with the intensity it has shown in the past. If they can do that, the Redskins could be alright given continued improvement and a little luck. Cohesiveness, discipline and effort can make a big difference in turning the trends that the special teams have shown in the other direction.
“Everybody is still optimistic about getting back on track,” Paul said. “We’re not counting ourselves out. We know we’ve got a lot of things to fix and we’re going to fix it.”
Hail.