Studs
LB London Fletcher. In the previous two games Fletcher had missed more tackles than usual, getting juked in the hole by running backs leading to a blown opportunity. That wasn’t the case Sunday as he recorded 20 tackles. Now, the amount of tackles can sometimes be misleading. If a guy gets all his stops downfield, then it just means the defense was giving up too many big plays and allowing too many yards. In some ways that was the case Sunday. But, still, Fletcher recorded eight stops within three yards of the line of scrimmage. And consider this: the Bills only ran 62 offensive plays so Fletcher was involved in almost one-third of the tackles. That’s astounding. Guess that hamstring felt OK. Maybe he could have played his zone a little better on the first touchdown, getting a little deeper to make it a tougher throw. But the second one clearly was not his fault. And he did a terrific job on the interception, preventing the receiver from cutting inside him.
OLB Ryan Kerrigan. He had another quiet game rushing the passer, but part of that stemmed from how fast Ryan Fitzpatrick’s release. Still, you’d like to see a little more from Kerrigan in this area. However, he continues to play the run well and did so Sunday. (Of course, he did miss a tackle in the backfield on the Bills’ second possession). In the second quarter, Kerrigan shoved the right tackle five yards deep, forcing Fred Jackson – who wanted to run wide – to make his first cut seven yards deep for a one-yard gain. In the third quarter, he split through the tight end and tackle – using good leverage and quickness — to stop Jackson for a 4-yard loss. And he went around the right guard to force Fitzpatrick up on a sack in the fourth quarter. Kerrigan seems to make at least one play a game where he’s unblocked and had one on a run earlier in the game. On the sack, Kerrigan may as well have been unblocked because the tackle blocked down and the guard couldn’t reach him.
CB DeAngelo Hall. He does not like playing up against receivers, but he handled this role well. Hall played within one yard of the line of scrimmage on 34 snaps Sunday; that has to be a record for him in Washington. One of few passes he allowed to be completed came in zone coverage and it also appeared he was expecting a different coverage underneath (Rocky McIntosh sprinted to the flat, then recovered to try and stop a slant; not sure who played this wrong, if anyone did). Hall did a great job breaking up a screen pass to C.J. Spiller on the second play of the game. One of his better plays was wiped out by an illegal formation penalty, but on the play Hall did a fantastic job taking on a pulling guard, allowing LaRon Landry to make a tackle. On the next series he came up aggressively and tackled Brad Smith on a run out of the Wildcat formation.
P Sav Rocca. What a pickup he’s been. It’s too bad the Redskins aren’t playing better because he’s a terrific weapon in terms of changing field position or just pinning other teams deep. This guy has become a regular on this list and is the defense’s best friend. The offense struggles, but Rocca almost never puts the defense in a bad situation; rather, he helps them. Rocca punted six times for a 46.5-yard average with a 42.8 yard net. Oh, and the gross average includes two 32-yarders (one to the 20; the other to the 13). That’s fantastic. The Bills did manage 22 yards on three punt returns, which is a lot against this unit of late. Rocca placed two more inside the 20-yard line. And when the Redskins were backed at their own 11 in the second quarter, he boomed a 57-yarder.
Duds
SS LaRon Landry. He completely blew a coverage on the Bills’ last touchdown pass, a 15-yarder to Scott Chandler in the third quarter. Landry likes to take chances and veer off the script sometimes, but in this case it’s hard to tell why he reacted the way he did. Landry crept up near the line as if he was going to blitz or that he anticipated a run. Chandler ran right past Landry without drawing a glance. By the time Landry realized what was going on it was way too late. London Fletcher had a harsh reaction after the play; just a guess but Fletcher doesn’t go that crazy unless this has been an issue with this defense. Also, didn’t like that Landry wagged his finger at Steve Johnson after one play in which the Bills gained a first down but Landry ended up knocking the receiver to the ground (Johnson was also hit low by those involved in the play). The Bills were leading and had just gained a first down; no wagging. Love the passion he brings, but the timing has to be right.
DE Stephen Bowen. Thought he had played fairly well of late, but not in this one. He had his moments where he played well, getting off some blocks for tackles etc. But he had too many times where he was controlled, leading to positive gains. He got turned outside by Chad Rinehart on a seven-yard gain in the first quarter. A couple plays later he was turned inside on a 6-yard gain. On the first play of the third quarter – Fred Jackson’s 43-yard run – Bowen was initially doubled, only to have the center move off. Rinehart then controlled him and a huge hole opened. There’s no way this was all Bowen’s fault because nobody touched Jackson for a long time, but the hole initiated through him. He was better in the fourth quarter, but the damage was done.
LB Rocky McIntosh. McIntosh hurt his ankle during the game and, though he did return, you wonder how much this impacted his performance. But some of the issues were not because of his ankle. Defensive boss Jim Haslett did praise McIntosh big-time earlier in the week and he has played better this season. Still, Sunday wasn’t his best as missed tackles bit him again. His missed tackle of Fred Jackson late in the first half turned a potential nine-yard gain into a 46-yarder to the Redskins’ 24-yard line. Clearly 10 points would have held up in this game, but this miss allowed them to get another three. In the fourth quarter he filled the hole well and hit Jackson at the line; only to lose him, resulting in a nine-yard gain. McIntosh was iffy in coverage, too. Meanwhile, his backup, Keyaron Fox, did a nice job much of the game of getting off blocks for tackles.
CB Josh Wilson. OK, it’s really about one play. But this defense needs to shore up those big plays and that’s not happening, so they need to have the corners and everyone else play better in the back end. But he did not play a deep ball to C.J. Spiller very well, failing to turn back to the quarterback and instead ran right at Spiller with arms up; he looked back after he’d already made contact with him and the ball arrived. Spiller just ran by Wilson, who lined up two yards off him. It resulted in 34 yards to the Redskins’ 24-yard line, setting up a field goal for a 10-0 lead. Wilson really didn’t do much to make up for this; he missed a tackle in run support on Brad Smith. He did do a good job vs. Steve Johnson on the first series, playing him tight on a third and long, and making the tackle shy of the first down a completion. But the pass interference led to points.
Notes
…Big plays continue to be the issue: Of the Bills 390 total yards, 181 occurred on six plays. Add in there the 34-yard pass interference penalty and that’s 215 yards on seven plays. It has plagued this defense all season. It did so last year, too, but you could write that off to being new to the 3-4, etc.
…Last week defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said cornerback Kevin Barnes played much better in the slot when he was up tight vs. when he was off. Not that Haslett needed my approval, but after watching Sunday, he’s absolutely right. When Barnes can get his arms onto a receiver he’s much more effective. He made a tackle for a loss because he was up tight. But he also prevented others because of his jams. The one time he was beaten? When he played off. In the second quarter he allowed a 22-yard completion against receiver Naaman Roosevelt – yes, the Naaman Roosevelt . Barnes lined up inside him and still got turned around and beaten inside. But put him up tight and it was a different story. That is, if he’s able to jam a receiver; saw a couple go free when he didn’t try to jam them. But on a second and 9 in the third quarter, Barnes completely jammed receiver David Nelson, holding him up for about five yards. What happened? Ryan Fitzpatrick was sacked. I did see Barnes get beat on one route in which he lined up a yard off the receiver but idd not jam him; the pass went elsewhere. But overall I anticipated seeing that Barnes played a bad game; that wasn’t the case. A slightly mixed one, but not a bad one. Still, in this defense the nickel corner must play more consistent.
…Why can’t anyone get to Fitzpatrick? Because of how quickly he delivers the ball. Part of it is the offensive system, but it’s one that’s tailored to his strengths. He really does do a good job of picking out targets in mismatches. Anyway, 16 of his throws were delivered in less than two seconds and every pass but one was thrown in less than three seconds. Analyst Troy Aikman said Fitzpatrick told them it’s the most comfortable he’s ever been with receivers. It shows. And this is not a collection of high draft picks, either.
…The Bills also ran five screens and a bootleg. They make it tough to sack the quarterback.
…Yes, the defense played better in the second half. But consider that Fitzpatrick only attempted seven passes in the final two quarters after throwing 20 in the first two. There was no need for them to be aggressive after scoring on the first series of the third quarter. They also converted seven of 14 third downs.
…Quarterbacks continue to pick apart the Redskins when they only rush four. Last week, Cam Newton completed 13 of 13 passes for 187 yards against this look. Sunday, Fitzpatrick was 16 of 18 for 181 yards and two touchdowns. He completed his first nine throws against the four-man rush. So in the last two weeks combined, quarterbacks have a 137.6 passer rating against the four-man rush.
…The Redskins rushed three defenders on three occasions; Fitzpatrick was 2 of 3 for 17 yards and an interception. They sent five on four plays; Fitzpatrick was 3-4 for 64 yards. Did not include a receiver screen on the first play nor a bootleg later; no real rush based off the action of the play.
…Running back Fred Jackson gained (unofficially because maybe I missed something) 91 yards after contact. That includes 37 yards on a 46-yard pass play.
…Jackson had one run in which missed tackles weren’t an issue. On the first play of the second half he ran 25 yards – before he was even hit.
…I have a hard time believing Oshiomogho Atogwe is healthy. Just don’t like that when he changes directions he has no burst coming out. It would make sense considering the hamstring and knee issues he’s dealt with this season. But it also could explain why the Rams cut him in the first place. Hard to say if this is who he is or if he’s just a guy playing through injuries. Regardless, on Jackson’s 24-yard catch and run, Atogwe’s angle was slightly off in part because he was trailing the tight end on the play. But when Jackson darted to the left, Atogwe could not change direction fast enough. Again, just wonder about the toll on his legs.
…The Redskins corners played much closer to the line than usual. They had at least two corners lined up within a yard of the line of scrimmage, and across from a receiver, on 36 snaps. They had all three lined up this way on 14 snaps as the Redskins wanted to try and disrupt the timing of the Bills’ passing game.
Even DeAngelo Hall was playing tighter all game; he had four times where he lined up seven yards or more off the line of scrimmage and only once when it was 10 yards.
…The Redskins tried to move Brian Orakpo around again, just to see if they could generate pressure. He lined up in between the ends on several occasions; that’s where he was aligned on their one sack. He and Fletcher rushed through the middle; Fletcher got the sack. Orakpo also rushed once alongside Ryan Kerrigan.
…I love how consistent Kedric Golston has played this season. He was solid again Sunday and has been that way all year. He’s playing stronger with his base and getting off plays to make tackles. He played well two years ago as a reserve. Maybe it’s just a matter of being able to play fresher; as a starter he seemed to wear down. But he has helped. There was one play in which he got moved from his gap, but overall he’s holding down the point of attack and making a difference.
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