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2025 Washington Commanders- All Things Defense
- Thread starter Chris
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Yeah and the entire secondary last night were all backups to start the year.
Im tired of the no talent excuse, a good coordinator can make up for some deficiencies in talent we just dont have a good coordinator.
Chris 44
The Free Agent Vet
On that note I think Darryl Tapp is someone to keep an eye on in the future.
method man
The Starter
He’s done a great job this year. Kinlaw is playing better than he has in the past, Armstrong looked like a DE1 and JJB was a pleasant surprise as a legit rotational DE as a 7th round pick
On one of his recent podcasts (and there a few dedicated to our terrible D), Keim flat out said that he sees systemic failures in the secondary every week, and at some point, that can't be just a player issue.
Commander Wraith
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Not saying this to defend Whitt, but I think he’s faced with some basic personnel issues, which is causing him to try a bunch of different things… which likely leads to more uncertainty for the players.
Whitt’s having to call blitzes to create pressure, so we often play man and single high, putting more pressure on Quan (feels like he has trouble supporting boundary routes) and therefore the corners (especially Lattimore). Quan also has to be cautious coming forward (on short/intermediate routes to the MOF) because of this.
Blitzing out of our 4-2 look means less bodies to help take away the short middle, including crossers.
So our boundary corner can either funnel routes inside (using outside leverage) - which helps push deeper routes towards Quan, but short/intermediate routes are then going toward Wagner. Or they can play inside leverage, leaving them vulnerable to the go routes and quick outs.
Outside of Amos, our corners need help/support and it’s just not there. Offenses can essentially just look at their leverage and play pitch and catch.
Wagner isn’t rangy enough to be doing much in coverage.
Lattimore’s lost something (confidence, twitch, whatever).
I’m guessing Sainristil is struggling more from not having the support than any real fault on his end.
Pressure our D generates (via blitzing) generally doesn’t matter because qbs almost always have obvious answers to get the ball out quickly, but if we don’t blitz qbs often have plenty of time to take advantage.
Per SIP (via Bullock), Whitt’s trying out a 3-4, which makes sense in that he’s trying to 1. Shore up the run D and 2. Can better disguise who’s rushing while dropping another body into coverage. But this also isn’t the scheme we practiced to this point and it’s not the scheme that our personnel acquisition was geared toward. And it makes sense we’re then susceptible to 11 personnel (as SIP mentioned)… though I’d think this is when you change personnel and run fire zones or whatever.
Whitt’s having to call blitzes to create pressure, so we often play man and single high, putting more pressure on Quan (feels like he has trouble supporting boundary routes) and therefore the corners (especially Lattimore). Quan also has to be cautious coming forward (on short/intermediate routes to the MOF) because of this.
Blitzing out of our 4-2 look means less bodies to help take away the short middle, including crossers.
So our boundary corner can either funnel routes inside (using outside leverage) - which helps push deeper routes towards Quan, but short/intermediate routes are then going toward Wagner. Or they can play inside leverage, leaving them vulnerable to the go routes and quick outs.
Outside of Amos, our corners need help/support and it’s just not there. Offenses can essentially just look at their leverage and play pitch and catch.
Wagner isn’t rangy enough to be doing much in coverage.
Lattimore’s lost something (confidence, twitch, whatever).
I’m guessing Sainristil is struggling more from not having the support than any real fault on his end.
Pressure our D generates (via blitzing) generally doesn’t matter because qbs almost always have obvious answers to get the ball out quickly, but if we don’t blitz qbs often have plenty of time to take advantage.
Per SIP (via Bullock), Whitt’s trying out a 3-4, which makes sense in that he’s trying to 1. Shore up the run D and 2. Can better disguise who’s rushing while dropping another body into coverage. But this also isn’t the scheme we practiced to this point and it’s not the scheme that our personnel acquisition was geared toward. And it makes sense we’re then susceptible to 11 personnel (as SIP mentioned)… though I’d think this is when you change personnel and run fire zones or whatever.
Listeing to Bullock, it gives me the vibe that they need to play zone, run fire zone blitzes. And have the courage to bench Lattimore and Wagner on passing downs.
SkinsNumberOne
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I thought the stats say that Whitt doesn't call blitz, and our DL actually does get to the QB (prior to DAL). DAL OL is pretty good, and I think they may have shifted the stats a bit.
Still, when you rush 3 or 4, and your guys DO get there reasonably fast (not blazing, but reasonable)... you need to be able to cover the field long enough *without* any blitz. This is what's killing them more, I believe. They can't do it *consistently enough*. The scheme has holes, and they are getting exploited - but when I see "scheme holes" - you are right, some of it seems to be personnel driven. Wagner. Miscommunication in secondary. Lattimore. Quan. As skinsinparadise pointed out, routes that break man. There are quite a few "holes" that aren't getting covered, and I don't know if it's clear they can be covered right now - which seems very strange. I tend to think there are individual performers, a couple, that are failing in too many "gotta have its" and that's killing us. I don't know if the scheme is as bad as it looks. However, when that happens, it CAN be a lack of solid prep as the cause, and I tend to think that's the rub.
Translation: our scheme’s about to get even simpler, which has its own drawbacks.
Quinn here to Keim touts “small, fine calibrations” over big sweeping changes on D, and says to expect better play.
Sounds like (unless they want it to be a surprise to the Chiefs?) no major personnel changes on the depth chart, role changes for players, etc.
Feels like part should be limiting Wagner to allow more speed and flow with the rest of the back 7.
Drawbacks - he is the vocal leader, not sure how much coaches would be into keeping him out and he can actually tackle
And of course there's got to be some "small, fine calibrations"
I hope includes applying more pressure more often
burgold
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I have a problem with this "we need to play faster" excuse. We have one of the oldest rosters in the league. That's particularly true on defense. These gray beards have been there and done every that there is presumeably. So, the communication/confusion issue rings hollow. These really experienced vets don't need a dumbed down, simplified defense because their heads are swimming. The problem is with personnel who can't do it or a scheme/playcall that is wrongheaded. Making the D is easier for offenses to predict and dissect is not going to lead to this D suddenly performing like All Stars.
The problem is we are asking players to do things they can't or we just don't have enough bullets in the gun.
Lattimore is not going to regain is confidence and play tighter man because of a simpler play call.
Wagner is not going to be able to cover tight ends in the flat better or get to the edge faster because of a simpler play call.
Quan Martin is not going to improve his tackling form because of a simpler play call (actually, he might if he really doesn't know where he is supposed to be and is always out of position and so is having to lunge for a tackle vs. attack.)
etc.
The problem is we are asking players to do things they can't or we just don't have enough bullets in the gun.
Lattimore is not going to regain is confidence and play tighter man because of a simpler play call.
Wagner is not going to be able to cover tight ends in the flat better or get to the edge faster because of a simpler play call.
Quan Martin is not going to improve his tackling form because of a simpler play call (actually, he might if he really doesn't know where he is supposed to be and is always out of position and so is having to lunge for a tackle vs. attack.)
etc.
Another issue with the “need to play faster” thing is that Whitt vehemently denies there’s a “speed issue” so….maybe they should get their stories straight about what’s wrong with the D
Forgive me the tangentially related tweet below, but given the way he talks to the press and slyly throws players under the bus for their execution, do we think Whitt would speak like this? Do we think the players are going 1000% for him game after game when they’re seemingly confused by what he’s calling?
burgold
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Yeah, that's why I think the "need to play faster" is actually code for "they need to process faster" or "my players are stupid" which is hard to buy because we have such a veteran defense. Obviously, every gray beard we signed has "played faster" or okay enough to stick in the year for seven, eight, or ten years.
Now, if Kliff came out and said, Luke, Lane, and Sinnott aren't getting their targets because they need to play faster, meaning understand the coverage and what the defense is trying to do to them or getting to their spots faster, it'd be easier to swallow, but we're not putting a lot of youngsters out there on defense. That should change imo. It'd be better to fail at defense while teaching the kids on the field than fail on the defense with one-year guys who just can't get it done because their physical skills have eroded.
It is possible that the D is suffering because vets are cheating to help cover each other and leaving their assignments too early because they are anticipating a play. Someone said Wagner has done this a few times and he's one of our best. But that would be the opposite problem. Wagner is playing fast, but playing wrong if he leaves the flat because he thinks the play is going elsewhere.
It’s a good point that there’s a different between playing fast (implication: mental) and having speed on your defense (implication: physical). We may have both problems right now to be honest, for whatever reason. Lack of physical speed due to some older players and some non-starting caliber guys out there, makes sense. Lack of playing speed due to confusion in scheme or issues with communication in the back-7…agreed, I see less of an excuse for that.
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To this point, I think the absence of Will Harris is sneaky huge. He was supposed to be the guy in the middle playing the role Chinn played last year, and him missing, has had a huge ripple effect of people playing in roles they should not be and all kinds of things.
Whitt actually also made this point earlier this week about missing Harris and what he was supposed to bring
Aren't we gonna get him back at some point?
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