Had the Washington Redskins played last week against the Indianapolis Colts the way they did in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals, Burgundy and gold fans might be more optimistic about their team facing the Green Bay Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers and defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson. But in that loss to the Colts, the offense could not get into a rhythm and RB Adrian Peterson couldn’t get anything going. The Redskins defense was more productive than its counterpart on the other side of the line but the Colts still won the game.
On the other hand, Washington tends to play up to — or down to — the quality of its opponent. This means that the team that took the field in the desert might be the one that takes FedEx Field this weekend because of how good Green Bay is.
One of the issues the defense displayed against Indianapolis was in the secondary. There were times that the players did not communicate effectively and, because of it, the Colts had successes passing the ball that the Cardinals did not have the previous week.
With as much of a proponent that defensive coordinator Greg Manusky is of communication throughout his unit, it was a bit surprising. It’s one thing to merely be outplayed or not execute the proper technique. It’s quite another when his players don’t follow through on one of his cardinal rules.
“I think, like I always tell you; communication,” Manusky said this week. “I don’t care what call [it is] as long as we’re on the same page. A couple times we were off the page and things happened to us. You know, we kind of honed it up a little bit this week in regards to playing [Aaron Rodgers] because we know he’s such a true professional and knows so much about the game and safety rotation… all that kind of stuff. So, we kind of honed it up, limited a little bit of calls and then we’ll play from there.
“I think it [was] just communication from the safeties to the corners and even to the inside linebackers,” he continued. “We have to all be on the same page. We weren’t at times and we paid the price for it.”
As a young team, for the Redskins to be successful this year, most of their young guys are going to have to step up and play to their potential. One of those players is safety Montae Nicholson who has a decent amount of pressure on him in his second year. He is going to benefit from playing opposite veteran D.J. Swearinger, to be sure. But he has his own set of skills that should complement Swearinger’s well. Once he’s comfortable out there, the two could be impressively effective and productive.
Manusky is understandably looking forward to watching his development.
“Montae is doing a good job,” the safety’s boss said. “I mean across the board. “Communication-wise with Swearinger and stuff, with the corners… he’s starting to develop into a good football player. We know he has the speed. He has the capability to cover guys and just overall, I’m excited to see what he’s going to do this week.”
With the talent on the defensive line, one thing that was expected this season was more pressure on quarterbacks from the front seven (Jonathan Allen & Co. and the outside linebackers). With a guy like Rodgers, this is no easy task but OLB Ryan Kerrigan did get a sack last time they played and teammate Preston Smith is in a contract year. One would think sacks would be coming soon.
For Manusky, he’d love to see more sacks but more than that, he wants to see more points on the board for his team than the opposition when the final whistle blows.
“Yeah, as long as we win the game that’s the most important thing from my standpoint. Win, lose or draw; if we give up [yards], I don’t want to give up 400 [of them]. But I’m saying if we win the game, that’s what I want for us… for the whole team.
“From our standpoint, we go into each game with the plan that we have,” Manusky said, finishing his comment. “Sometimes we’ll alter that plan based upon halftime or even on the sidelines. But overall, giving up what we give up sack-wise, we had some pressures that got to [Colts QB Andrew Luck] where he threw the ball a little bit quicker than he wanted to. Those sacks and those pressures are very important at least trying to defend [him] and of course the quarterback we are playing this week.”