It doesn’t feel like the Washington Redskins are 5-3 and lead the NFC East Division. The way things sound around the nation’s capital, it’s hard to believe they are getting ready to play the 3-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their next matchup… a game they should win.
There are some valid reasons for these feelings:
1) the ugly way they lost to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9
2) the horrendous injuries they have suffered (RG Brandon Scherff, LT Shawn Lauvao and WR Paul Richardson, Jr. all just landed on IR and; CB Quinton Dunbar, RT Morgan Moses, LT Trent Williams, RB Chris Thompson and WR Jamison Crowder are still either limited in practice or did not participate.
3) the offense can’t seem to get out of its way enough to score more than 24 points – and even those feel like a struggle
and;
4) the fact that they’re getting ready to go up against another high-scoring offense
That’s a lot for fans to digest and there’s plenty of fodder out there for them to read and for which to listen to get information about the Redskins upcoming opponent.
But what is the opposition saying about the Burgundy and gold?
“He’s obviously a great player,” Bucs QB Ryan Fitzpatrick said about having to contend with Redskins CB Josh Norman. “He does a good job. I think they’re playing really well on the back end, [especially with] the addition of [Washington’s new safety Ha Ha] Clinton-Dix. I’ve played with [Redskins safety] D.J. Swearinger in Houston. I played against him a few times when he was in Arizona. He’s playing at a really high level and, his ball skills and his instincts… you can tell he really relies on that and has done a great job all year. But they’re playing well on the back end and, really, [there’s] the strength of their defense, too. Those front seven and especially those front three, four, five guys; are creating a lot of havoc so, they’ve done a really nice job defensively.”
This season is Bucs’ defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul’s first in Tampa Bay but he was drafted by — and played for — the New York Giants. Having played for Big Blue for eight years, Pierre-Paul knows the Redskins about as well as anybody. And having been in the league for eight years, he also knows Washington QB Alex Smith.
He was asked whether he considered Smith to be just a short-range QB that plays west coast style of football that won’t throw the ball deep. It’s obvious from his answer that he won’t be underestimating the veteran signal-caller.
“Not really,” the former first-round draft pick said. “You never know what to expect from him. I know he keeps the ball alive a lot to [put] his players [in] a position to make a play. But we’ve just got to contain him and go out there and play our best ball. Like I said, he’s a good quarterback and we can’t lose contain.”
The Bucs will be the second team in a row that has a less-than-stellar secondary that could provide an opportunity for Smith and his receivers to be more productive. Bucs coach Dirk Koetter knows the failings of his own pass defense and was asked if he thought it could improve against the weak passing game of Washington’s.
He was, of course, diplomatic in his discussion of it.
“As a coach, I don’t think you look at it that way,” Koetter said during a conference call with Washington local media this week. “We’re just trying to play the best football that we can play and the Redskins have played really good football this year. As far as their passing game, obviously it starts with quarterback Alex Smith. Fourteen years in the league, [he’s] been a winning quarterback, and the talent they have at wide receiver even though they’ve got a couple guys banged up, and obviously those two tight ends [Vernon Davis and Jordan Reed] are athletic and guys that can get down the field as good as anybody.”
Naturally, Bucs defensive tackle, Beau Allen, will be watching tape of Peterson this week and knows the veteran RB could present quite the challenge should the Redskins offensive line get things tight enough to open some running lanes.
“It’s funny, man, because I’m from Minnesota so I was in high school when he was a running back for the Vikings and I think he’s still got a lot of juice man,” Allen said of Peterson. “You don’t even think about how long he’s been doing it, how long he’s been in the NFL when you watch him on tape. I’m not sure if he’s changed much or his style as a runner… I can’t really speak on that but I know he’s still really good.”