What's Our Weakness?

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by RobH4413

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.

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.

[SouperMeister]

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.

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

I worry about Chris Samuels vs. Patrick Kerney.

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.

[skinsfan69]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

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.

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.

[Big C]

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

[dgack]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

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.

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.

[dgack]

Originally Posted by freddyg12

"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.

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.

[WaldSkins]

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

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by skinsfan69

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.

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.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by dgack

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.

These metrics 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.

[dmek25]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

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.

i totally disagree with this. while Portis hasn't enjoyed the numbers he is used to, he has been effective enough to keep everyone from going balls to the walls after Collins. that rap around draw the skins have using late in the season has been very effective

[EARTHQUAKE2689]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

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.

I have to agree with you Schneed, Collins being so immoblie is probably our biggest weakness right now outside of the secondary, IF our O-line doesnt give him the time he needs, he could be eating dirt all game.

[SouperMeister]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

I worry about Chris Samuels vs. Patrick Kerney.

Kerney plays left DE, so he will be going against Stephon Heyer. That may be a mismatch that could hurt us.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by SouperMeister

Kerney plays left DE, so he will be going against Stephon Heyer. That may be a mismatch that could hurt us.

Good point.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by SouperMeister

Kerney plays left DE, so he will be going against Stephon Heyer. That may be a mismatch that could hurt us.

I always figured he played RE. After all, he is 2nd in the NFL in sacks, and has done better than their RE, Darryl Tapp. Didn't he play RE in ATL? Maybe that's why he's done so well this year...

Either way, SEA has 2 DEs that have both had great years. Heyer and Samuels have their work cut out for them. At times like these, I'm glad we have Portis to help in pass protection.