Defense has allowed most yards in NFL
ASHBURN – Several months before he was hired to coach the Redskins, the word started to spread about the defense Mike Shanahan wanted to run. After visiting New England and Pittsburgh during his one-year hiatus, Shanahan decided the 3-4 was for him.
So it’s no surprise that he’s not about to abandon the new scheme. Shanahan made that clear Monday.
But that leaves another question: Will the defense improve? One player said recently that he knew some players were out of position in the defense. That means improvement could be tough. After three games, the Redskins rank last in the NFL in yards allowed (423.7). This from a defense ranked in or around the top 10 for most of the past nine years.
“I don’t see the silver lining,” one NFL talent evaluator said of the Redskins’ defense.
Several NFL talent evaluators and executives point to several issues with Washington’s defense. To be fair, some do think the Redskins have the players to make the 3-4 work.
“On paper they have the personnel to run it,” said one executive of a team that also runs a 3-4. He saw Washington play this summer, but hasn’t watched their first three games. “The players have to buy in to it to make it work. It’s hard. I would chalk it up to growing pains.”
However, others who have seen them play question how well it can work this year. The problem starts up front, one evaluator said, with nose tackle Maake Kemoeatu. The evaluator called ends Adam Carriker and Kedric Golston “just guys.”
“The nose tackle can’t get off blocks and he’s not a quick guy,” he said. “He’s a non-factor. Put Albert Haynesworth in there. I don’t know his attitude, but he has to be better.”
The problem is that inside linebackers London Fletcher and Rocky McIntosh too often are having to fight off blockers, a weakness for both. When the line is doing its job, they’re able to run to the ball more freely.
“If guards are getting to them, that says the line is not playing the scheme properly,” the executive said.
And if the linemen were more athletic, the talent evaluators say, they could do more stunting to occupy blockers and help the linebackers. If they were more physical, they could hold the line better.
“When people want to get them moving laterally, they can’t push the linemen back,” the evaluator said.
It’s widely agreed that linebacker Andre Carter is a poor fit in the scheme. One evaluator said Carter is “too stiff in space.”
Other problems: linebacker Brian Orakpo’s inconsistency vs. the run, poor pass coverage by the linebackers and a soft zone that has too many holes, partly because they’re having to blitz to apply pressure.
“They have the players to play it better than most teams making the transition,” one evaluator said. “But their players aren’t playing very well in what they’re doing. How much is it about learning the scheme and getting better? I don’t see that because I see players individually and what their talent level is.”
