NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger helps us out for the second time this season, providing a look at the Redskins matchup vs. the Jets.
On the matchup: “If you look back at last week, it’s just a different Redskins offense when Trent Williams is in the game. He’s a very good player when he’s healthy. They can run the stretch and their running game goes to the left and he moves people and he secures the line of scrimmage. That’s different. I’ve been clamoring for a number of weeks to get Anthony Armstrong involved. He’s the one big guy who can run and the one pass last week kind of made a difference in that game. Now I don’t know if you can get 50-yard touchdown passes against the Jets. Kind of hard. But they’re from being a dominant defense. Their run defense isn’t a whole lot different than Seattle’s. When they run the ball the way they did last week at times, it opens things up for Rex Grossman and he’s always going to be a good Rex and bad Rex. He certainly knows where to go with the ball. He can pull the trigger, but he can blow up on any play and turn it over.
“Mark Sanchez, his biggest flaw is that he’s just not accurate. Really, all you have to do is look at third and 11 vs. Buffalo. Plaxico saves him completely with a stretched-out one-handed catch on the sidelines. Any other receiver in this league and that’s an incompletion and the Jets’ season is over. They’re far from being a complete team.”
On the Jets’ defense allowing more TD passes of late: “They don’t have any pass rushers. They don’t have one good pass rusher so they have to constantly scheme guys free and they’re the best in the league at scheming guys to get to the quarterback to create pressure. I don’t know what their defense would be like if they had Clay Matthews or someone like that so they to constantly overload and disguise and pressure from one side and they leave themselves vulnerable sometimes. They don’t have great speed on defense. David Harris and Bart aren’t speedsters at linebacker. Eric Smith and Jim Leonhard are good tough guys but they don’t have great speed or great coverage ability so they do give up plays on the inside. Revis is like nobody else but even Steve Johnson last week had the best game I’ve ever seen anyone have against Revis. You’ve really gotta work it. Jabar Gaffney has had some catches against Revis before and maybe they can find a little there. There are certainly holes there. Tebow found guys down the field. There are plays to be made. They’re not an elite defense by any stretch. They have an elite scheme, they have a very good coach. They don’t beat themselves. They tackle well and they do the fundamentals well. They get off blocks but they don’t have elite talent on that side of the ball.”
On NT Sione Pouha and injured DE Mike DeVito: Pouha is a very good player. That Samoan blood that’s in this game right now… Soliai in Miami. They’re just immovable objects. They’re built to play the game. They have a very low center of gravity and they’re very powerful. They’re naturally strong. If two guys hit him it doesn’t make any difference he can still anchor. … There is a trickle-down effect with DeVito [out]. But they have good depth on the line. For the most part they want to play nickel as mucha s they can, try to get more speed in there. Most teams right now that’s the formula. Play base on first down and keep them to two yards or less, then get to nickel as quick as you can s you can get into your blitz schemes, pressure schemes and get more athletes on the field.”
On RB Shonn Greene and the recent success of the run game: “The biggest thing is getting [center] Nick Mangold back in the lineup. He’s just a difference maker. I think he’s the best center in football but sometimes those guys are hard to evaluate. They have to work in concert with guys around them so much but he makes a difference. Even when they’re not gaining a lot of yards they stay committed to the run. They never leave it far. Greene is not a good receiver and they take him off the field so if he’s out there you’re defending the run. They’ve got a lot of guys that play on offense that don’t catch the ball so it’s easier to defend that team then if you had a [LaDainian Tomlinson] in his prime where on any given play he can check the ball down. You can run a screen to him on any down in the series. The Jets are a little bit limited like that.”
On their other targets aside from Plaxico Burress and Santonio Holmes: “The guy I’d be worried about is Jeremy Kerley. He has great hands. He seems to separate well. That guy can be a factor. And you have to have a game plan for Burress in the red zone. If you double him, they can run draws by Sanchez. If you single him, they’ll throw to him. You really have to focus on this guy because the ball can come out anywhere. You have to have a game plan for him.”
On which team he likes in the game: “I like the Jets to win the game. The Jets are a better overall team, although going to Seattle and winning last week I didn’t see that coming. On any given day. And if Trent Williams is in there – he’s a really good player but he almost seems to be nicked up– and if they can get the deep ball to Anthony Armstrong… I think Kyle Shanahan can scheme the offense as good as anybody. It just depends if the quarterback can be proficient. The Jets don’t blow anybody out. I don’t know why they play that way. Why they don’t take more chances with the offense rather than constantly put your defense in tough situations.”
To subscribe to my weekly email report, click here. Today’s report: Talked to Dan Shonka, a former NFL scout (including a one-year stint with Washington) who now heads draft coverage for Ourlads’ National Scouting Service. Also talked to an executive about the Redskins’ pass rush.
