Shanahan said what?

[GTripp0012]

One thing that's interesting about the 2011 Redskins is that -- following the Week 5 bye -- the defense was actually somewhat worse in terms of expected points than it was in 2010. The 2010 defense was essentially an average unit (like the 2009 defense) that happened to have one of the single worst nights in NFL history. And while 2011 appeared to be an improvement on that side of the ball, they ended up as a very solid unit for about four games, and then after the bye, they were pretty bad.

If you take out the three John Beck starts, the offense seems to weather the injuries just fine. It was never a great unit, but it finished the season a long stronger than the defense did.

I think you can reasonably project the Redskins offense as a slightly above average unit in 2012 given the expected talent influx (though probably short of the playoff caliber unit the Shanahan's claim it to already be). But you can't do the same for the defense. Unless Jarvis Jenkins is the next coming of Richard Seymour, the defense could completely collapse unless Orakpo and Kerrigan both play 16 game seasons again, and keep the defenses head above water.

Things do not look good on that side of the ball, particularly if Landry walks.