Studs and Duds (defense): Redskins-Panthers

Duds

 LB London Fletcher. I’ve seen more missed tackles by Fletcher this season than I can remember in the past. The guy still plays hard and still can be fun to watch. But this was not his best game. The same can be said of many players on this defense. But Fletcher is graded differently. He missed Cam Newton on the scramble; it almost look like he misread Newton’s speed and took a wrong angle. But this QB does that to guys. Fletcher appeared to hesitate long enough on certain plays – option plays mostly – that it prevented him from making the sort of plays we’re used to seeing. It happened on a zone-read run by Jonathan Stewart in the first series (for 14 yards). On Carolina’s first play of the second quarter, Fletcher was credited for a tackle on a Stewart run, but in reality Stewart cut inside him and Fletcher got his hand on him. Stewart gained five more yards after contact. Two plays later DeAngelo Williams cut inside him again for five yards. Fletcher was in the right spot on each play. The play I’m not sure about came on the 16-yard TD by Newton. Orakpo said he had the running back. Fletcher, though, appeared to play the runner as well, leaving Newton free to get outside. Not sure whose fault this really was. Fletcher did do a nice job on the reverse. Overall, not his best day.

CB Josh Wilson. It’s difficult to cover Steve Smith when there’s not consistent pressure. We know that. But Wilson still needed to have a better game. He did string out a run in the first quarter. But on Jonathan Stewart’s 29-yard run around right end Wilson failed to contain the outside. Not all of the pass plays to Smith were on Wilson. But he covered him often. On Smith’s 33-yard catch in the third quarter, Wilson played him to the outside, but still got turned around when Smith headed that way. Later in that drive, he missed a tackle on an 8-yard Stewart run inside the 15. On the next series, Smith just ran by him on a deep crossing route for 18 yards. And, yes, he was beaten by Smith on a 36-yard pass in the fourth quarter. He was barely beaten, but the bottom line is the pass was completed.

CB Kevin Barnes. He’s struggled in the slot, especially in the last couple games.  It’s not an easy spot to play but his play needs to improve. In crucial situations the past couple games, receivers get open vs. him. What could he have done better on the 2-yard touchdown pass? Tough to say; he had Brandon LaFell played inside, but LaFell broke outside and was open by a couple yards. Is that a quickness issue? Slow reaction? Whatever it is, it keeps happening. When he’s tried to jam receivers in previous games, it hasn’t worked for him. Maybe he’s just more comfortable on the outside.

On the deep ball to LaFell for 37 yards in the third quarter, Barnes was frozen inside by the slot receiver, but it didn’t appear Josh Wilson was expecting safety help. Barnes was the safety on the play and hung inside before sprinting to LaFell. It was too late.  He also missed a tackle on Cam Newton on the 25-yard scramble in the first quarter. Maybe Barnes won’t take him down, but he went at Newton’s feet and didn’t slow him at all. You can’t tackle a guy that big that low.

Notes

 …Linebackers Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan were thiiiis close to being on the Dud list. Again, as with last week, it’s because they’re graded on a different curve. Orakpo’s sack came when he was unblocked and he failed to jar the ball free. Could he have swiped down with his arm to force the ball out? That hit would have knocked it loose against most quarterbacks. Kerrigan had a quiet game, though he did draw a facemask. But in the past two games he’s gone up against an undrafted free agent rookie and a third string tackle and hasn’t produced a whole lot. He’s done fine in other parts of his game, however. But one thing I’ve noticed is that he still has a tendency to rush in a straight line so when he is able to turn, he’s not a real threat to get the QB. He had a couple rushes in which he started up field and when he went to turn, it’s almost as if he’s rounding off his rush. The tackle, because of the angle, can react after he turns and doesn’t get beat. In the end, both players made a couple plays that took them out of consideration. I’m sure they’ll be happy to know that.

…The Redskins have their reasons for letting Carlos Rogers go, but there’s no doubt he’s been missed this season. They really haven’t replaced what he added.

…The Redskins rushed six defenders only once; it resulted in a sack as the pocket collapsed quickly, thanks to the design and individual effort. On the play, safety LaRon Landry went to his right when the tight end went in motion. Just before the snap, Orakpo moved a yard further outside. This drew the attention of the tight end and the left tackle, who went with him off the snap. Landry delayed a split second, then saw the opening and rushed unblocked (the guard was occupied with Stephen Bowen). Meanwhile, Carriker overpowered the guard. He and Landry met at Newton.

…One of the sacks against a five-man pressure came when Newton ran out of bounds.

…Against four-man pressure, Newton was outstanding. He completed 13 of 13 passes for 187 yards. He also ran for 25 yards on a scramble (on the play, Barry Cofield stopped rushing off the snap and shadowed Newton). The Redskins did manage two sacks out of four-man rushes. However, in each case the defender was unblocked. And they drew a hold. There was very little consistent pressure.

…When facing five or more rushers, Newton completed five of 10 passes for 69 yards and a touchdown; he was sacked twice.

…This game shows how meaningless a statistic sacks are; the Redskins recorded four (plus a hold and a facemask) which suggests heavy pressure. That was not the case.  Of course, two came when the rushers were unblocked. The big stat is QB hits; unofficially, aside from the sacks, I only counted two other times they really made contact with Newton as he threw or just after.

…Against the Eagles, you could blame the offense for not moving the ball as a reason why the D was on the field so much. Not Sunday. Washington’s offense managed 353 yards, yet Carolina controlled the ball for 35 minutes, 30 seconds because it outplayed the Redskins’ defense.  

…The Redskins did try different looks; it’s just that none of them worked. They rushed Orakpo and Kerrigan from the same side. They dropped both and sent both inside linebackers. They rushed Barnes a few times; Reed Doughty as well. They stunted Kerrigan through the middle (the pass was incomplete); they did the same with Orakpo. Carolina typically had an answer. So it’s not as if they just sent the same four guys and showed little creativity.  It helped Carolina that Newton knew where he wanted to go with the ball rather quickly. He rarely had to stand in the pocket and scan the field.

…Rob Jackson continues to get more action. Save for one play this season, in which he played the run wrong, he’s done a solid job. I liked him this summer and still like him; uses his hands extremely well, which is how he got a pressure on Newton (one of the few times he was actually hit right after he threw).

…How did Landry not recover Jonathan Stewart’s fumble inside the 5-yard line? Because when tight end Ben Hartsock dove for the ball, nose tackle Barry Cofield tried to slow him with his left arm. But that prevented Landry from getting his right arm free to corral the ball. And that allowed Hartsock to recover.

…The Panthers caught the Redskins in a numbers game a couple times, resulting in positive plays. On Newton’s 16-yard touchdown run, the Redskins had six defenders aligned to the defense’s left side. Newton ran a zone-read option the other way. After Newton fooled the linebackers with his fake, it was just a matter of his blockers taking care of one guy each on that side. They did. He scored untouched. It’s hard to say, without knowing responsibilities, who should have run at Newton but nobody did. Orakpo said his job on that play was to take the running back. Fletcher reacted as if that was his job too. Doughty went right for the lead blocker. 

…The next time Carolina ran an option this way – with six Redskins defenders to the left again- Orakpo and Fletcher reacted the same way. But Fletcher avoided his block better and ran at Newton. Also, Landry was aligned deep on this one and ran at Newton as well, forcing the pitch. It was still a five-yard gain.

…On Carolina’s first series, they handed the ball to  Stewart out of the pistol formation. Landry went right at Newton while Jackson slanted inside at the snap. That left Stewart one on one with Fletcher and he won. But it was another good example of play design. The Panthers did an excellent job of this; they run from a lot of different looks and cause defenders to hesitate at the snap.

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