ISO: Defense

[Om]

Not to be all gloomy and stuff, but ... with all the talk about the offense, Kirk, Jay, the running game, etc., I've been meaning to do this for a blog piece for while now.

Since our D is starting 2016 in the old familiar pattern of allowing teams to pretty much have their way with us--we are currently ranked 29th in the only stat that really matters, points allowed--here's a quick look at how we've fared in that stat in the 24 seasons since we last won the Super Bowl in 1991.

We've been in the top half of the league--16th or better--nine times.

We've been in the bottom ten--22nd or worse--ten times (and 21st four other times).

Average scoring D over the past 24 seasons: 18th.

Top 5 finishes: 1

Bottom 5 finishes: 4

It's been so long since we fielded a defense I felt good about down the stretch in a close game I can barely remember it. It's early in 2016, yes, but at least as of week 2 there's no real evidence that's going to change this year. Until we fix this seemingly unfixable flaw (or Kirk magically morphs into Drew Brees circa 2009) we're just pissing in the wind.

And yes, like the rest of you, I wondered about our offseason approach to the DL too. I was surprised, and still am, we entered the season with the big guys up front on D that we did.

Okay I'll stop for now.

Going to revisit this thread from time to time over the next X number of weeks/months/years as necessary until it no longer IS.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Full agreement. The number one reason we have not been a good team has nothing to do with QB, running game vs passing (although running does help your defense more than anything less than PROLIFIC passing), or anything offense-related... in my opinion, it is the defense. Defense wins championships.

The reason the Ravens played the 49ers a few years ago had less to do with Kaepernick and Flacco than people wanted to realize. The trend is annual, but the repeated marketing of QBs seems to erase people's minds somehow. Everyone is tuned in to the idea that it's all about the QB, and they deny the fact that the teams you fully expect to contend every year share one thing in common. Elite D.

I will say, by the way, that we played a pretty good offense in week 1 which will hurt us in that stat. I think last week's game was particularly bad against a rookie QB... and this week's game will tell a real story, as it's week 3 against a division rival.

 

[JohnssBass]

One can pick any number of fault(s), reason(s) or other factors of why but at the end of the day; you are who your record says you are. And the records above say the teams history over the last 24 years is the Redskins can barely break .500 nor can they consistently put up 8+ wins in back to back seasons. 7 years with 9 or more wins over 24 years. None ever in two consecutive years. Upper tier teams do somewhat better than that, they're consistent. Consistently good. Back to back seasons at .500 or above; 1996 &'97; 1999 thru 2001 (3 years!!!!) and 2007 & '08. But they do have a chance to do it again this year after finishing 9-7 last season.

Meanwhile the records below say...



...here's a team that has only 1 year below double digit wins (9 - still over .500) in the last 15 years straight. They've managed 19 seasons out of the last 24 at 9 or more wins. They haven't had back to back seasons at .500 or below since 1992 & '93.
It can be done. What ever the reasons, no matter whose to blame (blame me for all I care), it doesn't change what this team is and what they could be.
I still believe (foolishly perhaps) that Scot will put together a good team in a couple of years. Once a couple of coaches get fired and players are added that can work in the scheme the new regime puts in place versus the current one of trying to force square pegs into round holes. I think there's a lot more talent on this team than some do but it isn't being used right.

 

[Ax]

I think most of us know, or should have, that our defense this year would be reliant on our offense averaging 30 points a game. And, with the talent, and time in the system, that is not too much to expect. But since the offense has been peeing their pants in the red zone, combined with "Short Bus" coaching and play calling, all the weakness of our defense is being regularly exposed. I know from reading his Blognostication, that McD is enamored with our offensive stats. But, they don't give out Lombardi's for stats. About the only guy I still have faith in McCloo. He'll eventually get the players, and coaches, we need to get back on top.

But for the remainder of this season, our best defense is a 30+ point scoring offense.

 

[JohnssBass]

...a good defense beats a good offense...
...except when it doesn't...

TOP would help keep the ball out of the other guys hands. Help your D out any and every way you can.

 

[stevenaa]

Painful to think of all the games over the years where the O did well enough to win it but the D falters. Scott has his work cut out for him.

 

[Om]

Back when I used to actively track this stuff, I monitored key stats as a season progressed. One that screams out so far in 2016 is this ...

Redskins defense coming up short on money down | CSN Mid-Atlantic

Last year the Redskins were 28th in yards allowed. One of the reasons why they were able to rank 17th in terms of points allowed is that they were one of the better teams in the league on third down. They were 12th in the league allowing first downs on 37.7 percent of third down snaps.

So far this year it’s a different story. They are dead last in the league on defensive third downs at 57.7 percent. It was one thing getting torched on third down by Ben Roethlisberger, who has made a living doing that for over a decade. But when Dak Prescott and the Cowboys hit you with a 50 percent conversion rate (6 of 12), that’s quite another ...

We'll be keeping an eye on 3rd down conversion rates, and turnover differential, in hopes that this year's D will start trending upward as the season progresses.

 

[micks113]

...a good defense beats a good offense...
...except when it doesn't...

TOP would help keep the ball out of the other guys hands. Help your D out any and every way you can.

don't forget........when the offense gets on track, wins some time of possession, scores higher in the red zone......all these things help the defense out tremendously.

So far, we have been hanging the defense out to dry. We still haven't seen what we really are on defense. Its unfair to ask that group to carry the load. We correct those offensive areas I mentioned, be will be in much better shape.

 

[Om]

Oh, good offense definitely helps a defense. But the opposite is true as well. Forcing turnovers, forcing 3 and outs, winning field position ... all are aspects of the game our D has largely struggled with for years. At some point our D will hopefully be an actual strength again, and not just a component that needs help from all the other facets to really contribute or even, too often, hold its own.

 

[Goaldeje]

Question for someone who has more time than I do. When's the last time we've had a shutout?

Off the top of my head, I can't remember dominating anyone that much in a LONG time.

 

[Om]

The top of your head isn't to blame. It's been a VERY long time.

1991.

Three shutouts in the first five games.

45-0 over Detroit, opening day.

34-0 over Arizona, week three.

23-0 over Philly, MNF, week five.

If memory serves, that was a pretty good year.

 

[Fear The Spear]

The top of your head isn't to blame. It's been a VERY long time.

1991.

Three shutouts in the first five games.

45-0 over Detroit, opening day.

34-0 over Arizona, week three.

23-0 over Philly, MNF, week five.

If memory serves, that was a pretty good year.

My, how I miss Petitbon.

 

[Goaldeje]

The top of your head isn't to blame. It's been a VERY long time.

1991.

Three shutouts in the first five games.

45-0 over Detroit, opening day.

34-0 over Arizona, week three.

23-0 over Philly, MNF, week five.

If memory serves, that was a pretty good year.

Thanks.

(for the research AND the memories)

25 years is too long.

 

[Om]

This piece from Bullock on the Skins D versus Dallas is a good read. He defends the Skins work against the run, but exposes what our eyes saw and the stats confirmed about inability to stop Dallas on 3rd downs. And it's not about our D getting physically beaten, it's about busted coverages. That has to be on the coaching staff more than the players in my mind. Get it together, gents. Fast.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...at-how-the-redskins-defense-has-been-playing/

 

[Goaldeje]

Nice read, thanks Om.

I'm guessing we might see a bootleg or 20 this weekend after reading that.

 

[Fear The Spear]

I'm guessing we might see a bootleg or 20 this weekend after reading
that.

I'd settle for anything new, different, non-predictable, or original