How does our defense work?

[70Chip]

Here's my take. I know more about offense than defense but FWIW:


- Who gets everyone lined up, do the Mike and SS share the responibility (I keep on hearing praises about the abilities of Pierce and Clark to do this while they here)?

The Mike has responsibility for calling the play in the huddle and for the pre snap allignment of the front seven. The communication among the secondary is less clearly defined and if Tom Friend is to be believed - non existent.

- Are the DL playing one gap or two and are they expected to get penetration or hold their ground?

Good question. I think they are suppossed to get penetration but often end up holding their ground (on a good day).

- How often do we get our DL to drop into coverage?

We use some zone blitz. I didn't see it that often last year. I think Phil Daniels had a pickle against Jax. Williams went conservative after it became ovvious that Arch was a joke. We will see more next year.

- How often do we play man-to-man compared to zone?

Someone may have the percentages exactly but I would guess about 75% zone last season. I think Williams would like to play more man or more combinations but he was having to protect the cornerbacks. He had to play a lot more Cover 2 than he would have liked.

- Do we use zone-blitzes?

See above.

- Do we count on M. Washington as our main pass rush threat?

He has been our most effective blitzer. I think they would like to see 4 or 5 sacks from just about every player on the defense. The idea is that you can't predict where the pressure comes from. Last year opposing teams seemed to know exactly where the blitz was coming from.


I have some questions of my own:

1. In that NYT article last season, Parcells talked about the Redskins "diamond point" defense. He said that was the Redskin's best look. Does anyone know what it is?

2. How close are Williams' scemes to those employed by Buddy Ryan in Chicago and Philadelphia? I think they've added some things from Dick Lebeau and even Jack Pardee but can someone explain the Ryan influence? What exactly was a 46 defense beyond the fact that he seemed to always have eight guys right up on the line of scrimmage? I've never seen a decent explanation of it, even when the Bears were winning their SB.