The question: Will the Redskins overlook the Rams?
The answer: They lost, but it’s not because they overlooked the Rams. I think that’s too easy of an explanation for why they lost. The harder answer is that they’re just not that good, the defense in particular. The Redskins can’t stop teams and rank last in defense. It’s not about taking teams lightly; it’s about playing the wrong scheme for the personnel they have.
The question: Will Trent Williams play?
The answer: He obviously didn’t and after watching him limp around even on Friday, it wasn’t a surprise. I thought Albert Haynesworth would play and he did. Chris Horton and Anthony Armstrong did not play. Armstrong was missed; they needed another receiver not named Santana Moss who could get open.
The question: Does it matter who replaces Williams if he doesn’t play?
The answer: It did and it didn’t. Neither tackle played well, so I’m not sure it would have mattered. Stephon Heyer was OK at times, but he makes so many crucial mistakes that it costs the offense. Heyer had a holding penalty, a false start and allowed some pressure. He also can’t get to linebackers. In other words, he’s limited. The Redskins need Williams healthy.
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The question: What is a sign of trouble for Washington?
The answer: I thought it was if they couldn’t contain Steven Jackson. Naturally, they couldn’t contain Jackson early as he scored on a 42-yard run. Jackson only ran the ball 10 times but the damage was done. The Redskins don’t do well vs. cutback runners; they lack speed on the backside at times and they have a NG and RE who get moved out. And linebackers who at times either overpursue or get blocked.
The question: How good is Steven Jackson?
The answer: Well, he’s real good. Jackson’s TD run was excellent, though helped by some shoddy defensive play. But Jackson showed good feet through the hole and outstanding vision. Sort of a big difference between he and Clinton Portis. But the Rams also ran fairly decent with Kenneth Darby in the second half. Again, have to look at the run defense first and foremost.
The question: What are some matchups to exploit defensively?
The answer: I thought they should attack the tackles, but both LT Roger Saffold and RT Jason Smith handled themselves well. Saffold did give up a sack vs. Brian Orakpo, but was good vs. Kedric Golston and moved him out with consistency. Smith shut down LOLB Andre Carter. He just isn’t getting to the passer. It seems hard for him to change directions from a standup position.
The question: Will DeAngelo Hall get his wish?
The answer: Hall did cover Mark Clayton a decent amount, but he didn’t back up his talk with a good performance. Hall missed tackles, allowed key catches and looked like anything but a shutdown corner. It didn’t help that the Rams opted for a lot of quick passes. But Hall slipped coming up to make a tackle on one and it led to a 30-yard gain and an eventual field goal.
The question: What should they do vs. Sam Bradford?
The answer: They tried to play mostly in coverage in the first half, but the problem is the Redskins don’t apply enough (any) pressure with their front four to cause damage. In the second half they tried to blitz more and that failed, too. Give the Rams credit; QB Sam Bradford was terrific at knowing where to go with the ball and when. They negated the blitz with a lot of quick three-step throws. They did use LaRon Landry sort of in the box at times; he would line up around 7 yards deep, hoping to confuse Bradford into knowing what was coming. He has the speed to come up fast or to get back so it’s a good move. But nothing worked.
The question: Who should they fear defensively?
The answer: The Rams line did a little more than I anticipated, pushing the tackles back a bit too much. Middle linebacker James Laurinaitis was allowed to run free to the ball way too often; contrast that with how often London Fletcher is blocked these days (hmmm, wrong scheme?). He blew up enough runs simply because nobody blocked him. Sort of amazing. Safety O.J. Atogwe missed the second half and nearly intercepted a pass in the first half. The Rams did a nice job blitzing more in the second half and pressuring Donovan McNabb into an interception; he had to unload the ball in a hurry and threw behind the receiver.
The question: Is this the week the running game gets untracked?
The answer: Um, yes and no. It got going in the first half as the Redskins rushed for 115 yards. However, that was based on runs of 36 (Ryan Torain), 27 (Clinton Portis) and 26 (Donovan McNabb). But they could not sustain anything on the ground and didn’t get enough chances because of their poor performance on third downs. It doesn’t help that the zone blocking scheme is based a lot on cohesion and chemistry up front, yet they had a new starting LG and a new LT, plus a different running back in Torain. Seems that every linemen has his issues on one play or another. The Rams defense did play a lot of eight-man fronts, but the Redskins still don’t get anything unless there’s a big hole. That’s what happened with Torain and Portis. Neither had to create an opening; they instead hit a huge hole. But Mike Sellers had the same amount of carries in the second half as Portis (one). And Torain isn’t able to generate much on his own; in fairness, he had no room.
The question: Who will win?
The answer: Had the spread right; thought it would be 14 points. I was right…. Except that I had the Redskins and the Rams won 30-16. This wasn’t about anything other than the better team winning that day. The Rams won with Jackson and Atogwe on the bench; think about that. Washington’s learning curve is steeper than imagined. It does help when you have the personnel to run the schemes you implement. The 3-4 is a good defense; but the Redskins lack the necessary ingredients to make it work. The defense will only improve so much this season.
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