Redskins’ 3-4 defense is designed for chaos
ASHBURN – The chaos starts before the snap, with linebackers roaming around, creating a disguise. They know where they’re going; the offense does not. Maybe the safety walks up, too. Maybe the corners show blitz. Maybe there’s only two, or even one, defensive linemen on the field.
Gone are the days of playing it straight for the Redskins’ defense. They want to create havoc through deception and aggression. When the Redskins switched to a 3-4, they also adapted a new mentality. They want to play the way Pittsburgh, Baltimore and the New York Jets play.
“I remember when we played Pittsburgh two years ago on Monday night,” linebacker London Fletcher said. “That was a thing of beauty the way that defense got after us. … It creates so much uncertainty on offense; you just don’t know how to protect it at times. It definitely gives us an advantage.”
Washington has shown multiple looks throughout training camp. The Redskins have blitzed corners from the slot and from out wide. They’ve aligned two outside linebackers on one side and blitzed a safety from the other.
They’ve used sets where there’s one defensive lineman, aligned over the center, and five linebackers. They’re free to move around before the snap, but have designated responsibilities afterward. They’ve also used two linemen on occasion. And, every so often, they’ve lined up Rocky McIntosh in a three-point stance only to have him drop into coverage. And blitzes by the inside linebackers have hurt Washington’s offense in camp.
“It doesn’t get much crazier than this,” Redskins center Casey Rabach said.
Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said, “I think it’s the element of surprise. You can do a lot of different things movement wise and blitzing wise. The big thing is from an offensive perspective you don’t really know who the fourth rusher is or the fifth or sixth rusher, or how many you want to send.”
Sometimes, they don’t send more than four. Linebacker Andre Carter said they might even have more packages than when Gregg Williams was the coordinator, though perhaps not as many blitzes. However, based on the confusion it could cause, rushing four could still lead to pressure. At least that’s what they hope. And the goal is to create much more than 17 turnovers, their league-low total from 2009.
“We’re not as stagnant this year,” Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo said. “We want to keep offenses on their toes.”
Said Haslett: “If you do it right, you get some big-play opportunities.”
