Redskins: On the Defense and Getting Back To the Basics

After a week off to rest and get healthy the Washington Redskins defense got back to work Monday, preparing for their next opponent, the undefeated New England Patriots. After a solid start to the season, the last three contests have been tough for this unit in terms of stopping the opponent’s run game. As a matter of fact, Washington’s defense has allowed 587 yards over the last three games. This is something that must improve if they want to have a shot to beat the National Football League’s best.

The Redskins have dealt with a slew of injuries over the first half of the season… especially on the defensive side of the ball. Cornerbacks Chris Culliver and DeAngelo Hall have been out as well as other guys from the defensive line to the linebackers and safeties. Rising star, cornerback Bashaud Breeland, is dealing with a scary hamstring injury. Despite all of this, the defense has shown that it has a solid foundation in defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s scheme.

Regardless of who suits up for the Burgundy and Gold defensively, they continue to compete. Their new philosophy, even when the other phases of the team have struggled, is compete, be physical and finish. These are three things that are important to any defense having success.

With the high possibility that the Redskins will get some of their injured defensive starters back this week, they will be able to be more aggressive and throw even more wrinkles at the opposition. One thing is for certain, this squad has to be more disciplined and play closer attention to detail… especially against a Bill-Belichick-coached team. There are a few noticeable reasons as to why they have struggled in consistently getting offenses off the field on third downs and especially in stopping the run.

Something very important in this 3-4 scheme that Barry runs is that all of his players must be responsible and maintain their gap responsibilities. The linebackers must play the gaps to which they are assigned to and do it effectively in order to stop the run. There have been lots of mistakes resulting in big gains on the ground in recent weeks.

Those who are responsible on any given play; whether it’s setting the edge, forcing an outside run back inside or just simply playing the gap to which you are assigned… these things can make the difference between a short gain and a huge run. There have been many plays where guys have over-pursued by being too far inside or simply out of position. These have resulted in missed tackles and cavernous holes for the opposing team’s running backs to bolt through.

The good thing is that this is a very easy fix. Players must simply understand that just doing your job is enough. Being sound in your basic fundamentals will drastically improve the play of any unit. When all on the unit have this mindset, things will run more smoothly.

This sets up a second point of emphasis… making solid tackles, especially in the open field.

In general, Washington’s tackling has not been awful. But it has been inconsistent during these last three games. Most of the problem is a lack of fundamentals… i.e., making sure knees are bent, driving through tackles and wrapping guys up. Shoulder hits are not going to bring down the NFL’S best offensive players when they are coming with a head full of steam. If players are where they are supposed to be on the field; and they maintain proper technique and form, this will allow for more team tackles if guys swarm to the ball like killer bees.

It is imperative that the Redskins’ defensive line win the battle in the trenches by dominating the line of scrimmage, playing in the backfield of the opponent. Tom Brady is a quarterback that gets the ball out of his hands quickly. But if he is knocked off his spot, he becomes less effective and more susceptible to inaccurate throws and sacks.

Teams have proven that, despite New England’s perfect record, doing this is possible.

In order for this Redskins defensive unit to be a difference-maker in the upcoming game against the Patriots (as well as future games), they must get back to the basics and do the simple things… that is, playing fast and playing physical. The “finishing” will be a moot point if they don’t play with sound fundamental structure.