What's Our Weakness?
 

Ok, this has been great the past month talking about how all aspects our team (passing, running, defense) have stepped up during our winning streak. But as hot as we are right now, there must be something that could hold us back. Some area of our team that opponents could expose to our disadvantage.

So, what's our biggest weakness going into the playoffs?

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

As much as I hate to say it....our Secondary. Both of our safeties are very young and green and could easily get exposed (like the 1st Cowboys game), and if one of our corners go down (God forbid), then we're looking at Leigh Torrence covering either #1 or #2 wideout. I don't know about you, but that scares the crap out of me.

Don't get me wrong though, they've played their asses off, but I'm sure teams are going to be testing them in the playoffs. Especially Seattle.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=SmootSmack;400497]Ok, this has been great the past month talking about how all aspects our team (passing, running, defense) have stepped up during our winning streak. But as hot as we are right now, there must be something that could hold us back. Some area of our team that opponents could expose to our disadvantage.

So, what's our biggest weakness going into the playoffs?[/quote]

The immobility of Collins. If we can protect him well enough, we'll do great. But if he gets pressured, I see him getting sacked and fumbling.

We can certainly protect him well enough to allow him to get the quick hitters out in time, those five-step-drop-and-ball-comes-out throws. But if we want to stretch the field, we have to give him time for a seven stepper. We did real well with that against the Cowboys, though Ware did beat Samuels and sacked Collins for a fumble. Luckily we did well enough the rest of the game to beat them into submission.

We've got to stay strong on defense, because if a team manages to get to Collins and prevent us from trying anything deep, or God forbid turning the ball over a lot, we're going to need to keep the scores low. I don't worry about Collins throwing INTs at all, I worry about DEs coming around and smacking the ball out of his hand.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

Hhhmmm...everything has been so improved, it's hard to really say what big glaring weakness might expose us. With that said, I'd probably say our pass rush and pass protection. I've given the OL and Buges a lot of credit for their improvement, but defenses are still able to get to our QBs a few times per game. Our DL, while again is much improved, still rely on good coverage from our secondary in order to have time to get to the QB. We need to continue to develop more of a pure pass rush despite what are secondary is doing. If Matt Hasselbeck receives a lot of pressure from our DL, Seattle is in for a long day because I just do not believe Alexander can beat us. On the flipside, if we give Matt plenty of time, he can beat us.

So, our strengths and weaknesses are in the trenches.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

I agree about the secondary. If we keep playing out of our minds we'll be fine. I do like the fact that Seattle really only has one decent WR. We just CANNOT let people behind us. They're smallish (weight-wise) so if we're physical and jam them up, we could be giving people some alligator arms.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=SmootSmack;400497]Ok, this has been great the past month talking about how all aspects our team (passing, running, defense) have stepped up during our winning streak. But as hot as we are right now, there must be something that could hold us back. Some area of our team that opponents could expose to our disadvantage.

So, what's our biggest weakness going into the playoffs?[/quote]

I'm really concerned about Heyer this week. So far he has been very solid. But this week he's going to have to deal with a very very loud stadium with speed pass rushers. We had better give him some help, even if it hurts the passing game. We can't afford to have our qb gettting hit and fumbling the ball. I remember the 05 game and the O-line really struggled w/out Thomas.

I'm also concerned with the emotional state of the team. After the last 5 weeks these guys have to be emotionally drained. Can they get re-focused, travel across country on a short week to play a good Seattle team? Seattle is one of the toughest places to play in the NFL. I'm not going to bet against these guys, but this is going to be a very very tough task.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

Redskins P has a good point; the secondary has been playing great ball, but the safeties are young & both Springs & Smoot are not the most durable corners. PLus, Smoot got burned on a few plays v. Dallas that could've been costly.

Schneed is right too, the pass pro has to continue to give collins time. I've been almost amazed at how long he's had in the pocket these past 4 weeks. This is a pass rushing team, so I expect a no. of screens & draws + plays for Cooley before we air it out a couple times deep.

To answer the question though, I would say our biggest weakness is the same that it's been all year - running right. We can't run right until late in games when we've worn teams down. It limits our run game early & forces us to pass more.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

I'd say overall depth. We're already using backups in so many positions that losing anyone else from here on out is going to be killer.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=TheMalcolmConnection;400508]I agree about the secondary. If we keep playing out of our minds we'll be fine. I do like the fact that Seattle really only has one decent WR. We just CANNOT let people behind us. They're smallish (weight-wise) so if we're physical and jam them up, we could be giving people some alligator arms.[/quote]

I seriously disagree there, they have 4 decent wr's; Branch, Hackett, Engram & Burleson. None are pro bowl caliber other than maybe Branch, but all have their strengths & can get open. Anyone of those guys could start as our #2.

See this article on Engram, he put up some big #s:

[url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/columns/story?columnist=sando_mike&id=3174465&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1]ESPN - Almost 35, Engram endures thyroid illness, roster attrition and thrives - NFL[/url]

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=mheisig;400514]I'd say overall depth. We're already using backups in so many positions that losing anyone else from here on out is going to be killer.[/quote]

That's true, good point. When you see the depth perform so well, it feels like there's a bottomless well of talent. But in reality the well runs dry eventually. We need to stay healthy.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=freddyg12;400520]I seriously disagree there, they have 4 decent wr's; Branch, Hackett, Engram & Burleson. None are pro bowl caliber other than maybe Branch, but all have their strengths & can get open. Anyone of those guys could start as our #2.

See this article on Engram, he put up some big #s:

[URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/columns/story?columnist=sando_mike&id=3174465&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1"]ESPN - Almost 35, Engram endures thyroid illness, roster attrition and thrives - NFL[/URL][/quote]

Sure, they all produced against weak opposition. Branch is possibly one of the most overrated WR's in recent memory, and the rest of those guys are decent but unspectacular. It's a team full of WR2's and 3's.

Besides, saying any one of those guys could start as our #2 is like saying anybody here could become the chief trash collector for the city of DC. It might or might not be true, but in either case it's not particularly impressive :)

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

Believe it or not Bobby Engram had 94 catches for 1147 yards and 6 scores.

A tad better than your typical #2.

They have a solid and deep WR corps. Our secondary should have it's hands full.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

I'm not too worried about the secondary or the defense. Realistically, we've been shutting teams down. I don't know how much longer we can expect to put up the type of numbers we have defensely.

But to Schneed's point, if there is a weakness, I would say Collins' lack of mobility. My main concern is that giving up turnovers and sacks on the road allows the crowd into the game and gives the other team momentum. It's just a tough thing to overcome when playing on the road. But is there anything this team can't overcome?

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

Depth and Consistency.

We can't afford to lose Olinemen, DB's or Linebackers.

Also, We need to be consistent with overall play. Seattle is going to dink and dunk all day. We need to find a way to get off the field on 3rd downs on defense and convert 3rd downs on offense.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=12thMan;400530]I'm not too worried about the secondary or the defense. Realistically, we've been shutting teams down. I don't know how much longer we can expect to put up the type of numbers we have defensely.

But to Schneed's point, if there is a weakness, I would say Collins' lack of mobility. My main concern is that giving up turnovers and sacks on the road allows the crowd into the game and gives the other team momentum. It's just a tough thing to overcome when playing on the road. [B]But is there anything this team can't overcome?[/B][/quote]

Good point, right now it's tough to say yes to that.

Whenever something doesn't go their way, they just keep their heads up and keep plugging away until things do go their way.

This team just doesn't get flustered.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=dgack;400523]Sure, they all produced against weak opposition. Branch is possibly one of the most overrated WR's in recent memory, and the rest of those guys are decent but unspectacular. It's a team full of WR2's and 3's.

Besides, saying any one of those guys could start as our #2 is like saying anybody here could become the chief trash collector for the city of DC. It might or might not be true, but in either case it's not particularly impressive :)[/quote]

"Decent but unspectacular" - well that about equates to what I said; none are pro bowl caliber but they get open. Particularly Engram. If the weather isn't crazy (see the weather thread) & we're playing cover 2, watch for Engram to find the seems in the middle of the zone. He didn't catch 94 passes this year just because they played "weak opposition."

Branch may be overated, but if he's healthy is a legit deep threat & LL will have to pay extra attention to him if he's playing free safety in cover 3.

As for your trash collector analogy, point taken; so it's not saying much to be the #2 WR in wash. We can agree on that, so I'll rephrase; any of those guys could start for about half the teams in the league.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

I don't know that we have any glaring deficiencies. I would agree that our secondary is exploitable with the right matchups and that Collins needs protection which may or may not be an issue again depedning on matchup. I'd say as good as our running game has gotten it isn't all the way there. We seem to get stuffed a little more than I'd like. I think we have lost some playmaking ogf defense which hurts. These are all minor quibbles and rely on really good coaching and matchups to exploit.

The one thing I am worried about is our ability as a team to simply lay an egg. We seem to have trouble with success for a while now and I guess I am jaded enough to keep waiting for it to happen. We need to stay motivated and focused. We alos need to stay confident. Confidence is a key. We have it and have to simply believe in waht we are doing in the face of anything and believe that we are better than the guys across the line.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

No team that has glaring weaknesses could do what the Redskins have done over the last month. However, my concern against Seattle is that Holmgren will find ways to exploit the youth of Landry/Doughty in the passing game. He has a proven scheme and a QB who can run it. It's sort of like facing Andy Reid but with an accurate QB instead of one who throws the ball into the dirt half the time.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=skinsfan69;400510]I'm really concerned about Heyer this week. So far he has been very solid. But this week he's going to have to deal with a very very loud stadium with speed pass rushers. We had better give him some help, even if it hurts the passing game. We can't afford to have our qb gettting hit and fumbling the ball. I remember the 05 game and the O-line really struggled w/out Thomas.

I'm also concerned with the emotional state of the team. After the last 5 weeks these guys have to be emotionally drained. Can they get re-focused, [B]travel across country on a short week to play a good Seattle team[/B]? Seattle is one of the toughest places to play in the NFL. I'm not going to bet against these guys, but this is going to be a very very tough task.[/quote]

I think this is a great point - the Skins only have a couple of days to prepare for the Seahawks. The Skins game with the Cowboys ended around 7pm on Sunday night and I would think from a practice standpoint Gibbs would have to give the players Monday off to recouperate (maybe I am wrong - anyone know if the SKins practiced Monday?). So with that the players could only really practice Tuesday-Thursday and than they have a long flight to Seattle Friday. I guess with the win against the Bears the team showed they can play against anyone with minimal time. The one nice thing about the Saturday game is that if the Skins do win it the get an extra day to prepare for the Cowboys.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=Bill B;400550]I think this is a great point - the Skins only have a couple of days to prepare for the Seahawks. The Skins game with the Cowboys ended around 7pm on Sunday night and I would think from a practice standpoint Gibbs would have to give the players Monday off to recouperate (maybe I am wrong - anyone know if the SKins practiced Monday?). So with that the players could only really practice Tuesday-Thursday and than they have a long flight to Seattle Friday. I guess with the win against the Bears the team showed they can play against anyone with minimal time. The one nice thing about the Saturday game is that if the Skins do win it the get an extra day to prepare for the Cowboys.[/quote]


To be honest, I'm not terribly worried about the team travelling or this or that. They took a few days after Sean's funeral and kicke the Bears in rear, so they know what that feels like.

I think this team is in a zone right now and the only way Seattle beats them is for them to actually beat them. I don't forsee the Skins caving in, giving up a second half lead, turning the ball over, or giving up untimely penalties. All of this could happen, I'm just not expecting it to happen.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

Not wanting to repeat anything previously mentioned (I agree with secondary and depth being major factors...Collins being part of depth, as if he goes down, the Skins are totally screwed), I'd have to say a weakness is waiting for the bubble to burst.

This has been an amazing 4 game run for this team as they've played their way into the playoffs. However, I just can't imagine another 4 game run like they've had. Granted, it's quite possible the Skins run the table from here on out, but the probability of it happening is incredible, especially with everything they've been through emotionally and physically.

Here's to me being wrong...

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=BDBohnzie;400567]Not wanting to repeat anything previously mentioned (I agree with secondary and depth being major factors...Collins being part of depth, as if he goes down, the Skins are totally screwed), I'd have to say a weakness is waiting for the bubble to burst.

This has been an amazing 4 game run for this team as they've played their way into the playoffs. However, I just can't imagine another 4 game run like they've had. Granted, it's quite possible the Skins run the table from here on out, but the probability of it happening is incredible, especially with everything they've been through emotionally and physically.

Here's to me being wrong...[/quote]

I think everyone is standing with bated breath on this one.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

2 things worry me. one is being on an emotional high for over a month now. and the other thing is the play calling. over the 4 game winning streak, the play calling has been superb. lots of passing on first down. i hope coach doesn't go back to the " you have to run the ball in the playoffs" mind set. that's probably how Seattle beat us in 2005. later in that game, when Brunell started to open it up. the skins started to have some success

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

Actually for me, the idea of an emotional and/or physical let-down is the furthest thing from my mind. I think that this coaching staff, with this group of players, would have to be ranked #1 in the league right now when it comes to getting emotionally ready to play.

The leaders on the team (Portis, Moss, etc.) are taking serious initiative to play their asses off for Sean Taylor. With every snap of the ball, everyone on the field is going balls out. I think there's no doubt they'll all continue playing with major heart, the character of this team just won't let us down in that department, IMO.

As for the physical, I think Gibbs has made sure not to beat them down too much as we came down the home stretch. I don't think we'll have an issue with effort or physical performance. Execution and gameplanning will tell the tale for us, IMO.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

I worry about Chris Samuels vs. Patrick Kerney.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

I think if your Seattle, you're going to try and exploit the banged up O-line.

Someone brought up (I believe Schneed but I'm too lazy to look) the fact that TC is immobile. If they can get a solid rush, they may be able to really hammer him in for some huge losses.

Conversely, the fact remains that we've got great hot route options.

Run moss on a drag. Cooley on an out. There's so many ways... but if they force a third and long... then we've got issues. We may have to come out passing on early downs. I'm worried that if they stuff the run early... force a third and long. They day will be over.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

The Redskin defense is very good when it's well rested The defense tends to break down when the offense is ineffective. So it is important that the offense produces long sustained drives that puts points on the board. Therefore, that would take the Seattle crowd out of the game, force Hasselbeck to beat the Skins with the pass and keep the defense well rested.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[QUOTE=SmootSmack;400670]I worry about Chris Samuels vs. Patrick Kerney.[/QUOTE]

Absolutely, and that goes hand-in-hand with Schneed's worries about TC fumbling. Samuels has been beaten consistently during recent weeks, and I'm sure Seattle will try to continue that trend.

I too believe our biggest weakness is the pass-protection, and specifically our LT spot. However, the draw play has been fairly successful, so I'm hoping we can use it to hurt them and slow down the pass rush.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

Center exchange.

With the weather predictions and TC's propensity to lose the exchange, I'm worried a few of these could bite us in the butt.

The good thing is that this routine function can be practiced until perfect, now let's go execute it!

If we win the turnover battle, I love our chances!

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=SmootSmack;400497]Ok, this has been great the past month talking about how all aspects our team (passing, running, defense) have stepped up during our winning streak. But as hot as we are right now, there must be something that could hold us back. Some area of our team that opponents could expose to our disadvantage.

So, what's our biggest weakness going into the playoffs?[/quote]Well, that's easy. The offensive line.

Chris Samuels isn't really playing his best football right now, but he's still got pro bowl skill. Pete Kendall hasn't been good this year, and Rabach has looked downright terrible at times, while average at others. Fabini has been a consistent performer, but the Redskins have really given him a lot of help on interior linemen in the passing game. Our coaching staff really doesn't trust him and it's hurting everyone else. Heyer has been playing...maybe the best out of anyone, but he's still a rookie and can be overwhelmed at the point of attack.

Our interior offensive line has been brutal, and it has cost us a pretty significant part of our running game. That's huge, because Portis leads the NFL in carries, and on the whole, has been downright terrible in effectiveness.

However, as usually happens when the defensive opposition starts to wear down late in the year, Portis manages to keep himself healthy into December, and he's looking like a man amongst boys out there. Portis' running style throughout the year is very conducive to strong playoff running, and I expect him to produce. On top of that, Betts is healty. So we have no excuse not to get everyone blocked up for these guys.

It's just that even with the late season advantage at RB, it's still going to be tough to run on anyone with the line up there. These guys as a unit just aren't very good.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=RobH4413;400689]I think if your Seattle, you're going to try and exploit the banged up O-line.

Someone brought up (I believe Schneed but I'm too lazy to look) the fact that TC is immobile. If they can get a solid rush, they may be able to really hammer him in for some huge losses.

Conversely, the fact remains that we've got great hot route options.

Run moss on a drag. Cooley on an out. There's so many ways... but if they force a third and long... then we've got issues. We may have to come out passing on early downs. I'm worried that if they stuff the run early... force a third and long. They day will be over.[/quote]We should throw on virtually every down this week, but vary the pass distance. Deep one play, quick out the next and just make sure to stay unpredictable and keep moving the ball.

Then we should work the draw play to death with Portis, because that's been a great play for us.

It's okay to get away from play action passing in my opinion, because trying to establish the run is only going to cost us crucial downs. We can still attack on the ground with draws, but only if they are set up by an intermediate passing game.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

I would say the secondary, which has been depleted. Sean Taylor is irreplacable, but what worries me most is the youngsters filling in the nickel package. Seattle has a great posession receiver in Bobby Engram and two guys that can really stretch the field in Nate Burleson and Deion Branch. The onus will be on the D-line to get in Haselbeck's face, and hopefully knock him around. If that doesn't happen, our secondary may struggle on Saturday.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=SmootSmack;400670]I worry about Chris Samuels vs. Patrick Kerney.[/quote]

I think Samuels will be fine. Think about it. We leave him alone on every pass play. Name me one LT that isn't going to get beat once or twice on 30-40 pass plays a game? I would worry more about Heyer.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=GTripp0012;400702]We should throw on virtually every down this week, but vary the pass distance. Deep one play, quick out the next and just make sure to stay unpredictable and keep moving the ball.

Then we should work the draw play to death with Portis, because that's been a great play for us.

It's okay to get away from play action passing in my opinion, because trying to establish the run is only going to cost us crucial downs. We can still attack on the ground with draws, but only if they are set up by an intermediate passing game.[/quote]

We simply don't have that type of offense. If we are put in a situation where we are throwing 40+ times this week we're going to get beat. Heyer and Fabini will not hold up. Seattle has a small front 7. We need to be able to run the ball this week.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

i think our main weakness is our depth in the secondary now. im fine with doughty landry springs and smoot right now but if one goes down we are in some trouble. on offense if we lose another o lineman we are screwed. basically depth is our problem now past the current backups. also we need to get get consistent pressure on the qbs which can be a problem from time to time

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=Mattyk72;400528]Believe it or not Bobby Engram had 94 catches for 1147 yards and 6 scores.

A tad better than your typical #2.

They have a solid and deep WR corps. Our secondary should have it's hands full.[/quote]


Take a look at their complete schedule and how they fared against the passing defenses:

Wk 01 - TB (#1 passing D) - 222yd, 1TD, 0INT
Wk 02 - ARI (#28 passing D) - 281yd, 1TD, 0INT
Wk 03 - CIN (#26 passing D) - 248yd, 3TD, 2INT
Wk 04 - SF (#22 passing D) - 281yd, 2TD, 1INT
Wk 05 - PIT (#3 passing D) - 116yd, 0TD, 1INT
Wk 06 - NO (#30 passing D) - 362yd, 2TD, 1INT
Wk 07 - STL (#21 passing D) - 195yd, 2TD, 1INT
Wk 08 - BYE
Wk 09 - CLE (#24 passing D) - 318yd, 2TD, 1INT
Wk 10 - SF (#22 passing D) - 278yd, 2TD, 1INT
Wk 11 - CHI (#27 passing D) - 337yd, 2TD, 0INT
Wk 12 - STL (#21 passing D) - 249yd, 1TD, 1INT
Wk 13 - PHI (#18 passing D) - 187yd, 2TD, 1INT
Wk 14 - ARI (#28 passing D) - 272yd, 4TD, 0INT
Wk 15 - CAR (#17 passing D) - 274yd, 1TD, 0INT
Wk 16 - BAL (#20 passing D) - 199yd, 2TD, 2INT
Wk 17 - ATL (#23 passing D) - 353yd, 3TD, 1INT

The Redskins finished #16 in passing defense (in terms of yardage allowed), and we're actually tied for 8th in passing scores allowed.

Note that the Seagulls faced exactly TWO opponents ranked in the top half of the NFL in passing defense this year. The first was week 1 where they beat a sluggish Tampa team, the second was a shutout beating they took at the hands of the Steelers.

So no, I am not terribly scared of Bobby Engram. Or Deion Branch, or DJ Hackett or Nate Burleson. Even against extremely poor teams, Hasselhoff is good for at least one pick. Hell, he's only had a single game this year where he didn't throw at least one. I think he can be bullied into making a lot of mistakes.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=freddyg12;400540]"Decent but unspectacular" - well that about equates to what I said; none are pro bowl caliber but they get open. Particularly Engram. If the weather isn't crazy (see the weather thread) & we're playing cover 2, watch for Engram to find the seems in the middle of the zone. He didn't catch 94 passes this year just because they played "weak opposition."

Branch may be overated, but if he's healthy is a legit deep threat & LL will have to pay extra attention to him if he's playing free safety in cover 3.

As for your trash collector analogy, point taken; so it's not saying much to be the #2 WR in wash. We can agree on that, so I'll rephrase; any of those guys could start for about half the teams in the league.[/quote]

Check my last post, I broke down the passing defenses these guys faced this year. There's a reason that nearly all of the passing offense unit are having a career year: they played a total creampuff schedule as far as defensive secondaries went.

Hasselhoff is an above-average QB who will net you about 200/2/1 every game. But he's not a guy who plays mistake-free football, nor is he a guy who is likely to engineer surgical strikes down the field to win a game.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

i think our biggest weakness is the cushion we give receivers every game. That allows short passes to open up. i think we need to play more pyhsical off the ends

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=skinsfan69;400720]We simply don't have that type of offense. If we are put in a situation where we are throwing 40+ times this week we're going to get beat. Heyer and Fabini will not hold up. Seattle has a small front 7. We need to be able to run the ball this week.[/quote]I think Heyer and Fabini are good enough to consistently block the guy in front of them. That alone is going to give you a lot of good quality chances to make plays in the passing game.

A running game would be nice, but I can't see how we can get all of Seattle's front seven blocked.

Re: What's Our Weakness?
 

[quote=dgack;400739]Take a look at their complete schedule and how they fared against the passing defenses:

Wk 01 - TB (#1 passing D) - 222yd, 1TD, 0INT
Wk 02 - ARI (#28 passing D) - 281yd, 1TD, 0INT
Wk 03 - CIN (#26 passing D) - 248yd, 3TD, 2INT
Wk 04 - SF (#22 passing D) - 281yd, 2TD, 1INT
Wk 05 - PIT (#3 passing D) - 116yd, 0TD, 1INT
Wk 06 - NO (#30 passing D) - 362yd, 2TD, 1INT
Wk 07 - STL (#21 passing D) - 195yd, 2TD, 1INT
Wk 08 - BYE
Wk 09 - CLE (#24 passing D) - 318yd, 2TD, 1INT
Wk 10 - SF (#22 passing D) - 278yd, 2TD, 1INT
Wk 11 - CHI (#27 passing D) - 337yd, 2TD, 0INT
Wk 12 - STL (#21 passing D) - 249yd, 1TD, 1INT
Wk 13 - PHI (#18 passing D) - 187yd, 2TD, 1INT
Wk 14 - ARI (#28 passing D) - 272yd, 4TD, 0INT
Wk 15 - CAR (#17 passing D) - 274yd, 1TD, 0INT
Wk 16 - BAL (#20 passing D) - 199yd, 2TD, 2INT
Wk 17 - ATL (#23 passing D) - 353yd, 3TD, 1INT

The Redskins finished #16 in passing defense (in terms of yardage allowed), and we're actually tied for 8th in passing scores allowed.

Note that the Seagulls faced exactly TWO opponents ranked in the top half of the NFL in passing defense this year. The first was week 1 where they beat a sluggish Tampa team, the second was a shutout beating they took at the hands of the Steelers.

So no, I am not terribly scared of Bobby Engram. Or Deion Branch, or DJ Hackett or Nate Burleson. Even against extremely poor teams, Hasselhoff is good for at least one pick. Hell, he's only had a single game this year where he didn't throw at least one. I think he can be bullied into making a lot of mistakes.[/quote][URL="http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef.php"]These metrics[/URL] back up what you are saying here.

The adjustment in pass defense for quality Redskin opponents is +0.1%, or virtually nil. The adjustment in pass defense for quality of Seattle opponents is +10.0%, or a monsterous difference.

Seattle faced some really really crappy quarterbacks this year. Basically...they played the 49ers twice.