2025 Washington Commanders- All Things Defense

[method man]

I don’t know what happened with him, but I feel like I’m not watching the same guy from last year. He just really seems to struggle in coverage.

Remember that he was bad at nickel last year before they moved him inside. We attributed to rookie ramp but perhaps it was because he sucks inside.

The advanced stats and eye test tell me he is better outside than inside. I don’t know what the coaching staff is seeing and it is possible they are blowing smoke up Keim’s ass

 

[Porkskins]

We seem lost defensively in general. Besides the talent we are losing the Scheme and Coaching battle week after week. At least that's the way it seems to me.

I've been saying it since midway through last season re: losing the coaching and scheme battle defensively. Whitt is in over his head.

 

[DWinzit]

They can start by sitting Bobby on obvious passing downs for Magee

I think they are afraid to sit Wagner. They think of him as the defensive leader and don't have the guts or the vision to remove him more

I also question if they do not trust Magee or for that matter, the other LB's. Magee seems a bit of a week sauce in run D so the opposition will probably run at him if he replaces Wagner

 

[ExoDus84]

3rd and 5 on the Bears' final drive, and we run the softest zone I've ever seen. Guys aren't even guarding the sticks; they're three damn yards beyond it.

Is the scheme really calling for this? Fire Whitt into the sun if that's the case.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Does make you wonder how Quinn vs. Raheem Morris will shake out a few years from now, given we never got the chance to interview him but wanted to. Morris started with a better roster overall, but at a major disadvantage just due to not having Daniels, but it’s worth watching

I've always liked Morris. Thought he got a raw deal in Tampa. I thought he was going to do well last year, and he did ok. But he was saddled with a washed up Kirk.

Now that they are getting better QB play, things are starting to come together.

That 30-0 loss to the Panthers might end up being the outlier or all outliers.

I really do like Quinn. And I think he has done an outstanding job overall.

One thing to keep in mind, we're 3-3. Before last year, we would have a parade down constitution avenue if we were 3-3 in mid-October. There's nothing saying we still won't end up with 10 or 11 wins. We also might not, who knows.

The one thing I do know is the defense has to be better. And a lot better, and a lot more consistent, and it has to get there quickly.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I just want to say, while I'm not sure Whitt is the answer at DC, I don't want Dan Quinn to take over the defense. He might nee to take a stronger role in preparation on the defensive side, or something like that. But there are VERY VERY few head coaches who are successful being a head coach and calling one side of the ball on gameday. There are some exceptions, some of the offensive minded coaches call plays, but not all of them. I think Andy Reid is the one who's been doing it the best and the longest. And maybe the only one who's won a SB? No, McVay is the other.

I'd prefer Quinn focus on the whole team, not just the defense. I think he even said when he got here part of his problem in Atlanta was focusing too much on the defense, and losing sight of the whole team.

If they want to replace Whitt, which they aren't going to do yet, I don't want it to be Quinn.

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[Dah-Dee]

 

[DWinzit]

So we improved this D how since last year? We went into the off-season knowing we needed to address stopping the run, creating more pressure on the QB and coverage.

The stat not addressed is missed tackles. We must be near the worst in that, it has been dreadful at times

 

[Conn]

Interesting we’re middle of the pack in this stat, despite the lack of turnovers and the huge plays we give up consistently

 

[Conn]

 

[Solitary Man]

I think Dan gave a quick nugget at the end of today’s presser. New people into new spots. Will talk about it tomorrow he said.

 

[Chris 44]

I think Dan gave a quick nugget at the end of today’s presser. New people into new spots. Will talk about it tomorrow he said.

Despite the lack of real answers given by Quinn in press conferences (understandable and all coaches do it) this defense has to be really eating at DQ. The stats SP provided above are not proprietary information to just members of this board. DQ is fully aware of how bad this D is, maybe he feels its personnel, maybe coaching / scheme, combination of all of it but DQ is fully aware of its shortcomings. As someone posted above DQ is not going to get rid of Witt unless it becomes really dire, at least not until the offseason if then. Conversations within the walls of that building must be getting tense at this point. I think DQ as you pointed out will press for some sort of personnel tweaks. Might be at LB rotation.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Despite the lack of real answers given by Quinn in press conferences (understandable and all coaches do it) this defense has to be really eating at DQ. The stats SP provided above are not proprietary information to just members of this board. DQ is fully aware of how bad this D is, maybe he feels its personnel, maybe coaching / scheme, combination of all of it but DQ is fully aware of its shortcomings. As someone posted above DQ is not going to get rid of Witt unless it becomes really dire, at least not until the offseason if then. Conversations within the walls of that building must be getting tense at this point. I think DQ as you pointed out will press for some sort of personnel tweaks. Might be at LB rotation.

I mean, in his post-game presser all Dan Quinn wanted to talk about was lack of turnovers and the fact he thought there were opportunities for turnovers. He seemed more bothered by the way the defense didn't cause turnovers than he did the offense turning the ball over.

He's clearly upset about it.

It does absolutely no good to throw your DC or defensive coaching staff under the bus though. So he's not going to complain about it too much.

That said, and as skinsinparadise has pointed out, Whitt seems happy to take credit when things are going well and then push it on players when they are not. So even with the team, while I don't think Quinn wants to really get into the finger pointing, there is a little of it going on already.

I think it's still too early to make a change at DC. And as I posted somewhere above, I don't want Quinn taking over those duties. It didn't work for him in Atlanta, and there's no reason to think it would work for him here. The one thing I do believe is Quinn is not going to let any coach get him fired. If he feels that Whitt is not cutting it and they have to try something different, I think he will. It might be in the off-season. Quinn knows this is his last HC shot, given people rarely get 3 opportunities, and he's not the profile of the hot young offensive wonderkind. So, unlike Ron, I think Quinn is going to be much more pragmatic and less emotional down the road.

The question more is, what can they do right now. Because right now things aren't working really well.

 

[Conn]

This seems to match the eye test all around. Cross-posting in the offense & defense threads since it encompasses it all

 

[Dah-Dee]

I think Dan gave a quick nugget at the end of today’s presser. New people into new spots. Will talk about it tomorrow he said.

I'm really itching to see what happens with these referenced changes. I'm guessing it won't be a wholesale change of the defensive approach, but I'm still going to dream about ditching the current zone coverage disaster. How about giving Lattimore, Amos and Sainristil a shot at playing straight man, and replacing a safety (Reaves) with an additional LB (Magee) for help wth coverage in the middle of the field where we keep getting killed by TE/slots?

 

[Primus Porcus]

I may have missed the convo on the board here, so if it's been talked about forgive me... but why have we not seen Preston Smith? I'm not saying he's an All Pro, but has he been out there? Maybe I've missed him?

 

[CuredFromBatteredFanSyndrome]

I may have missed the convo on the board here, so if it's been talked about forgive me... but why have we not seen Preston Smith? I'm not saying he's an All Pro, but has he been out there? Maybe I've missed him?

I believe he was out there a good bit on Monday.

 

[Primus Porcus]

I believe he was out there a good bit on Monday.

ok, i guess i just spaced on it.

I imagine that would mean his name wasn't called... ?

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

ok, i guess i just spaced on it.

I imagine that would mean his name wasn't called... ?

I recall his name being called only a couple of times. He participated in a tackle very late (and his name was called out) and I remember thinking "Ah there he is."