Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

Everyone agrees we've struggled against the pass this year so far, and this Sunday the redskins take on one of the best (if not THE best) aerial attack in the league. Teams playing the falcons have tended to fall into a "pick your poison" dilemma; doubling Julio Jones doesn't account enough for Roddy White, and you definitely still have to take Tony Gonzalez and both RBs into consideration, both as a runner and out of the backfield.

Jim Haslett has come under fire early this season, and many would argue he just isn't going to be able to do anything to stop Atlanta through the air this week. Rather than prematurely marking him for failure, is it possible for Haslett to figure out a way to mitigate the falcons' scoring ability? What does he need to do to be successful, and are there ways he could show signs of improvement even if/when the defense surrenders 20+ points?

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

Our best defense has to be a good offense in my mind. Long drives by RG3 & co. keeping Matt Ryan off the field and out of sync kind of like we did with Brees & the Saints early on in that game.

When our D is on the field, we can't stop them - just have to contain them. No big plays. I just hope our offense can score 35+ points.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

They need to apply more pressure from the front 7, particularly up the middle. And they need Cedric healthy

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

Be unpredictable - mix it up.

Limit the big play by having two safeties deep.

Expect them to target madieu williams' side since he is the one who has been out of position the most on tape.

Relax if we dont get to the QB as much as we want to - dont overcompensate TOO much by sending the house just to get a sack - the risk and probability of getting beat is too high when we put our corners on an island.

There may be times when we have to give up the 5 yard pass because we take away the deep play. If so, tighten up in the red zone and hold them to 3.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

Great thread.

I'd make them compete on our terms, not theirs. Cobra package is our base defense to start with a DB and safety each on Roddy and Julio. The third DB/safety either covers the slot or roams behind the LBs, keying on Turner or hiding a blitz. This is our best shot if Merriweather is healthy. If you have to put Doughty on the fied, just take another swig of that good Irish whiskey, and think about the off-season.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

I'm very concerned about the duo of Julio Jones and Roddy White. They both think they are the best wide receiver tandem in the NFL right now. DeAngelo Hall, as we well know, doesn't do well in coverage against the NFL's elite receivers. If he did, he'd be having a HOF career like Darrell Green had. Josh Wilson on the other hand hasn't played as well as he played towards the end of last season. This could very well be the game where the Redskins secondary begin to play much better than they had been playing. Still, they haven't been able to shut any receivers down through the first four weeks of the season. I really don't expect a shut down performance. I am however expecting and hoping that Hall and Wilson limit Atlanta's passing game with solid coverage all game.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

Skins will win in a high scoring affair. No different than playing NO with Drew Brees, Colston, Graham, etc.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

This basically is the game itself. Julios coming off a bad week. But he is going to be better than Roddy White when his career is over. Roddy is doing consistently great. We need to man them up, play a lot of cover 2 and cover 3 over top, because don't forget, they have Tony Gonzalez. I expect Wilson on Roddy and Hall on Julio. I expect a huge day for julio similar to AJs. I expect Roddy to be a factor, but not in a catches way. More so of drawing coverage away from julio and Tony. I expect Michael Turner to get some big runs because of us playing the pass more.

I expect this game to be close, because like I said, we bring our A game against the great teams. I can see us getting to Matt Ryan causing some turnovers. But also remember that the falcons are playing great ALL around offense, not just one guy, they all are great. Defensively its going to be fun seeing Robert making huge plays against a great defense.

I think our best chance is to pull a LT and send some hookers to their hotel room.

Honestly though, it's not about stopping them as much as it is about limiting the damage they can do to us. No stupid PI calls,don't let them get huge rac numbers, and hopefully get to Ryan enough to force some turnovers. He will take chances, need to make sure those chances end up as 1st downs for us.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

unless we kneecap some people, i think this is going to be a long day.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

The biggest matchup of the game will be.....

L. Fletcher vs T. Gonzalez

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

I might be the only person who wants this to happen, but I hope we get into a massive shootout, and both Julio/Roddy have huge games. Hopefully we still win, but both of them are starters on my fantasy team, so I wouldn't be too upset if Haslett failed to stop them this week.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

Gameplanning against an offense like this is similar to gameplanning against the Saints offense. You need to keep them off the field. Atlanta is 4th worst in the league, allowing 146.2 rushing yards per game. Their pass defense has only allowed just over 205 yards per game. If you want to stop Atlanta, keep doing what we're doing, leading the league in rushing(175.5 yard/game). Control the clock and convert third downs. We're currently third in the league in t.o.p. at a 33:09 avg per game clip.

They'll get theirs, we just need to mitigate our exposure to their receivers..

Gonzalez is quietly having a very good year so far, so I agree that Fletcher will need to bring his A game. I'm having a hard time remembering if/how the chargers or broncos were able to generate pressure on Ryan, but just watching red zone last Sunday I was impressed how Charles Johnson seemed to always be in the backfield harassing the qb. Do they have issues at the RT position that we could exploit? Turnovers and limiting the big play seem like the keys so far

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

We need to play Williams a step deeper to try to stop the big play.

Otherwise stopping the Falcons receivers begins up front. We need Matty Ice on his back all day long. The way to stop White and Jones is to keep the ball from coming out to begin with.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

[quote=Lotus;948418]We need to play Williams a step deeper to try to stop the big play.

Otherwise stopping the Falcons receivers begins up front. We need Matty Ice on his back all day long. The way to stop White and Jones is to keep the ball from coming out to begin with.[/quote]

Matt Ryan has been sacked 11 times so far this year(10th most), with 22 registered QB hits(9th most). For a pocket passer, that's somewhat indicative of their offensive line. Either that, or 'ICE' is so confident in his receivers he's holding the ball longer because they [I]will [/I]get open.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

Both will be over a 100 yeards. Not going to stop them. Just try and limit the damage.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

Dropping everyone and letting Matty sit back there with time to throw, we will lose by 50. Haslett needs to mix it up and put in some elaborate blitz packages. Id like to see Gomes back in at safety and I agree with Lotus, M Williams is gonna have to play his best game with help over top. Id put Wilson on White and D Hall on Julio.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

White and Jones still have a lot of flaws. White drops a ton of passes: he's basically a more polished Pierre Garcon. Jones hasn't yet put it all together as a pro receiver yet. Problem is that together, they are near impossible to slow down. You just kind of have to hope both are off their game, which happens a lot.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

The best thing we can do is pound the rock all day and try to keep their offense off the field.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

[quote=Mattyk;948447]The best thing we can do is pound the rock all day and try to keep their offense off the field.[/quote]

Yup, that's what i said.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

I think they have to be aggressive on offense. Put points up on the board. Atlanta, like New Orleans, can score quickly and I'm not sure I trust the defense to handle a conservative game

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

[quote=SmootSmack;948453]I think they have to be aggressive on offense. Put points up on the board. Atlanta, like New Orleans, can score quickly and I'm not sure I trust the defense to handle a conservative game[/quote]

I think it depends on the flow of the game. If we get down early, then we will have to be aggressive no matter what. Atlanta had a tendency to come out flat offensively in the past, i dont see that anymore. We are gonna have to be able to take punches and counter punch, sometimes leaning on the running game softens the blow. Carolina showed the blueprint rushing for 200 yards against them.

Falcons are loaded on offense, they like most have mentioned are very similar to new Orleans, but the skins run the ball so well that we can take that time away from them.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

The best way to beat Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Roddy White is to keep them on the sidelines. Yards-wise and points-wise, the Falcons and the Redskins have produce similar number. The biggest difference between the two teams is 3rd down percentage (Redskins 25.5 %; Falcons 46.9%).

I am all about the big down the field bomb, but I feel sometimes we go for the big yardage play, when we should be looking to convert a third down. If we find ourselves with the lead and the ball, we have to keep those drives going. I'd like to see more screen passes and slants thrown on 3rd and short. With such great production on offense in terms of yards, there is no excuse for this team to be able to convert a 3rd and 3 situation.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

well, the biggest problem last game was tackling, which was horrible. so we should try and work on that. if we didn't miss soo many tackles last game, there's a chance we could have thought the coverage was actually good... maybe.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

[quote=SmootSmack;948453]I think they have to be aggressive on offense. Put points up on the board. Atlanta, like New Orleans, can score quickly and I'm not sure I trust the defense to handle a conservative game[/quote]
This.

We need to get the 21 points in the 1st half, and then just keep going in the second. Regardless of where Atl stands points wise, every drive needs to be an aggressive one.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

By aggressive, i'm assuming you guys mean you want a lot of long 3rd downs. Atlanta gives up 205 yards through the air, and 175 on the ground.

If you want to control them, dont give them ball by attacking their weakness.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

One thing we have to do is eliminate the stupid penalties. No personal fouls this week. No drive killing penalties. We cant afford mental errors.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

[quote=Monksdown;948485]By aggressive, i'm assuming you guys mean you want a lot of long 3rd downs. Atlanta gives up 205 yards through the air, and 175 on the ground.

If you want to control them, dont give them ball by attacking their weakness.[/quote]

For me aggressive is more something known when seen. Maybe a good example is a 4th and 1 or 2 from ATL 40, rather than punting, just making the decision to go for it. We saw from the ATL game Sunday, that pinning them at the one doesn't mean that much, and I would rather have the ball in Griffins hands then depend on ST/Defense.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

[quote=CRedskinsRule;948491]For me aggressive is more something known when seen. Maybe a good example is a 4th and 1 or 2 from ATL 40, rather than punting, just making the decision to go for it. We saw from the ATL game Sunday, that pinning them at the one doesn't mean that much, and I would rather have the ball in Griffins hands then depend on ST/Defense.[/quote]

Got it, i'm with you.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

Here is the thing the Skins have been good at all season... get the lead early and then either give it away in the 3rd and 4th Qtrs or somehow survive the 3rd and 4th Qtrs and hold on to win. Somehow we need to play better Defense in the 3rd and 4th qtrs and on offense keep scoring in the 2nd half, which we really haven't been doing.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

[quote=Mattyk;948447]The best thing we can do is pound the rock all day and try to keep their offense off the field.[/quote]

This is the only thing we can do. If we can do this, and pick up a timely turnover somehow, we might have a shot. But we cannot afford any turnovers, missed fg's or missed tackles.

This game will test us, and is a real good barometer if we are going to compete this year, or if we are just going to hang around and maybe get to .500. Look for alot of questions to be answered this week. The secondary MUST stop the bleeding this year, and this is a horrible game/matchup for them. These scenarios are where game planning and scheme can keep your head above water. Lets see if Haslett can adjust, and if Morris' insight from playing them twice a year reaps anything.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

Run the ball, safe passes, no TO, and hope we can get pressure on Matt Ryan. We cannot cover Tony, Jones and White. Our offense will be our best defense.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

[quote=donofriose;948563]Run the ball, safe passes, no TO, and hope we can get pressure on Matt Ryan. We cannot cover Tony, Jones and White. Our offense will be our best defense.[/quote]

Create a shock collar that goes off anytime Jim Haslett thinks of sending a 0-cover blitz.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

Are the Redskins playing a soft zone coverage? Or are they playing man to man? Something has to be different about the coverages. The Redskins did well in coverage all of last season but have allowed wideouts to scorch them and QBs to throw for tons of yardage against them so far this season.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

With our completely shitty secondary there is no game plan that will be effective. You just have to hope you score more and utilize a few trick plays here and there on offense and special teams. One thing I would definitely stay away from is blitzing and man coverage.

Let's also not forget they have the best TE to have ever existed in the history of mankind. Skins defense will be raped this weekend, we just have to hope we don't get impregnated in the process.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

I just don't understand our defense. We made tremendous strides from 2010 to 2011. But because of our secondary we've backslid back to 2010 mode.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

[quote=Kindoy;948378]Our best defense has to be a good offense in my mind. Long drives by RG3 & co. keeping Matt Ryan off the field and out of sync kind of like we did with Brees & the Saints early on in that game.

When our D is on the field, we can't stop them - just have to contain them. No big plays. I just hope our offense can score 35+ points.[/quote]

this -- control the game clock. Win the same way they did against NO -- simply by keeping Brees off the field. I expect the defense to give up a TD every drive that Matty Ice and co. are on the field so just don't let them take the field.

Re: Game planning for Roddy and Julio...
 

I can see Ryan Kerrigan and Stephen Bowen combining for five sacks in this game.