Redskins-Cowboys Defensive GT Review: Cowboys punk the Redskins everywhere but the scoreboard

[GTripp0012]

The prevailing thought about the game is that the Redskins offense cost a pretty nice effort by the defense a win. However, I'd like to share with you the tale of the tape, and the tale of the statistics.

Overall Defense

Below I will list the statistics of three offenses during single games of the 2008 season. We'll call them A, B, and C.

Vital Statistics: Offense 'A'
Total Adj Yards = 471
Yards per Play = 6.73
Success Rate = 45.7%

Vital Statistics: Offense 'B'
Total Adj Yards = 367
Yards per Play = 5.32
Success Rate = 49.3%

Vital Statistics: Offense 'C'
Total Adj Yards = 322
Yards per Play = 5.83
Success Rate = 50.9%

Offense A is the Redskins offense at it's highest yards per play this season: against the New Orleans Saints. Offense B is the Redskins offense in Dallas this year, the highest success rate they've produced all season. Those are the best the Redskins offense has done this year.

Offense C is the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. That's right: in a 14 point effort in which the Dallas Quarterback struggled mightily to grip and throw the football, the Cowboys offense actually had every bit as good of an offensive performance, on a play by play basis, as the Redskins have had at any point this season. The big issue is this: looking at the tape, this is entirely on the shoulders of the defense. The Cowboys changed up their offensive scheme and the Redskins couldn't adjust to it. At all.

Pass Defense

Vital Statistics
Total Adj Yards = 204
Yards per Play = 7.56
Success Rate = 51.8% (14/27)

Look at those numbers. Consider that Tony Romo made about 5 good downfield throws all game and that's including the shovel pass. I don't understand how the Redskins allowed this to happen. It's like they didn't ever challenge Romo's ability to throw downfield or to the outside. I didn't think there was anything wrong with the scheme by Blache, either, save perhaps the end of the first half. Romo was just brutally effective without the ability to get anything behind the football on the majority of his throws. Was anyone in particular at fault here?

Coverage
(Targets, Completions Allowed, Success Plays against, YPA)

Fred Smoot - 6, 4, 3, 7.17
Carlos Rogers - 5, 4, 2, 5.8
London Fletcher - 3, 3, 2, 8.33
Rocky McIntosh - 2, 1, 0, 1.5
DeAngelo Hall - 2, 1, 1, 3.0
HB Blades - 2, 2, 2, 17.0
LaRon Landry - 2, 2, 2, 22.0
Marcus Washington - 1, 1, 1, 5.0
Chris Horton - 1, 1, 1, 25.0

Well, who isn't to blame? Don't blame Horton, he had good coverage on the only play he was targeted on. Washington didn't see a lot of action before leaving with an injury. HB Blades on Jason Witten in a non-blitzing situation is a mismatch, but Witten's one big play came in man with no help against Blades. Carlos Rogers had the prototypical solid day against the No. 1 target, which wasn't always Terrell Owens. DeAngelo Hall did fine. He was beat badly on his interception, and luckily, Romo threw it right to him. Fletcher really struggled in both zone coverage, and man coverage. Fletcher has always been Mr. Consistent, and I was surprised that he had such an awful game. Fletcher was awful against the run as well, but I'll address that in a second.

The center of the Cowboys passing gameplan was to go after Fred Smoot, and they attacked him early and often with the expected amount of success. Smoot is helpless when you get him one on one on the outside after picking up a blitz. This happened way too often on Sunday. Thankfully, Greg Blache adjusted by not blitzing Romo, and had a bit more success. But the damage was already done. The final five blitzes of the game for the Redskins resulted in gains of: 13, 28, 26, 16, and 10 yards for Romo and the Cowboys. Needless to say, this was an awful strategy that Blache adjusted to after he realized that he was just making Romo's job easy by blitzing.

Pass Rush

To say the Redskins didn't get any pressure on Romo would be inaccurate. The four man rush did it's job most of the night, and Romo spent most of the first three quarters dumping the ball over the line, and just generally chucking and ducking. However, any time the Redskins blitzed it got picked up, and any time that the Redskins didn't get pressure on Romo, he found himself a wide open receiver. So these guys didn't play well enough. But they weren't the main weakness.

Pressure Chart

Sacks
None

QB Hits (1)
LaRon Landry (pass was intercepted)

Pressures (11)
Andre Carter x4
Demetric Evans x3
London Fletcher
LaRon Landry
Lorenzo Alexander
Jason Taylor

Passes Deflected at Line
None
In a few packages, the Redskins used a three down line with Jason Taylor as a standup rush end. This wasn't particularly effective, but it helps solve the problem of having too many DEs in pass rushing situations when you can bring the tallest guy on the field on an interior rush. Demetric Evans continued to be a monster against Dallas, this time taking Marc Columbo to school instead of Cory Proctor, who is back on the bench.

Andre Carter got mauled, raped, and abused by Flozell Adams in every possible illegal way. Twice, Adams got called, but he probably should have been called on every passing play of the game for holding or facemask. He had Andre Carter's grill all night, and still was helpless to stop him.

Run Defense

Vital Statistics
Total Adj Yards = 118
Yards per Play = 4.2
Success Rate = 53.5% (15/28)

Okay, this was the real problem with the defense. They allowed the Cowboys to rush the ball consistently without stuffing them at the line. Credit the Cowboys for coming in with a great gameplan for attacking the Redskins, but at the same time, fault the Redskins for not coming up with a method for stopping the Cowboys no matter how many chances they got.

Tackle Chart
(Tackle Attempts, Successful, Yards per)

Chris Horton - 9, 4, 4.44
London Fletcher - 5, 2, 3.6
Fred Smoot - 4, 2, 7.5
Rocky McIntosh - 3, 2, 2.67
Carlos Rogers - 3, 2, 4.67
Corneilius Griffin - 2, 0, 1.5
HB Blades - 1, 0, 0
Demetric Evans - 1, 1, 7.0

I can't really tell you if Kedric Golston made himself a non-factor, or if the Cowboys' interior OL made him a non-factor, but he did not make a single charted play the entire game. He was getting the double team focus from the Cowboys, but Ratliff was getting the same treatment from the Redskins and he was still a force. The biggest decisive factor in this game was just this: the Cowboys had their way with the interior DL of the Redskins.

Once the Cowboys accomplished this, they used crack back blocks in the exact same way the Patriots used Wes Welker against us last year. Crayton was used a lot to hit players like Taylor, Evans, and Carter on the crack toss. Predictably, Taylor had no idea what was happening, while Carter played the crack toss the best.

But because they dominated the interior line (especially on draws) the whole game, that last drive where they iced the clock...it was embarrassing to watch. Here's why: the Cowboys used their receivers and their tight ends to set up walls of blocking for Marion Barber once he got outside the Redskins defensive line. They would line Terrell Owens up in the slot, with Rocky Mac splitting the difference between him and the line of scrimmage, and they would run right at McIntosh. McIntosh would run up and take on the fullback as he has been taught. The Cowboys would counter this by sending Owens up the field 5 yards to crack back on Fletcher, and trusted that Fletcher's instincts would take him right to Owens.

Now, I thought that the Cowboys got away with a ridiculous amount of jersey-grabbing to make this work, but it's still inexcusable that they wouldn't bring Landry up on the slot receiver and counter this strategy. Usually in defenses like this, the slot receiver goes from the OLB to the FS in terms of blocking, but they changed their blocking schemes to beat our defense, and we never did figure them out. Of course, Blache was likely relying on the defensive line to blow up the plays while the Cowboys were worried about the second level, but they did a great job manhandling us at the first level, and Barber made a lot of people miss -- including Fletcher about 3 or 4 times.

The Final Word

This entire post has been very negative towards the defense, as my feelings after watching them on tape are pretty negative. We did get one more offensive play in than they did, and a lot of the damage was done in the fourth quarter. The one thing the Redskins did right all game is catch the ball when it came to them. This should have been a four touchdown game for the Cowboys, and we did turn them around at the most opportune times, keeping us in the game.

If that trend can continue, I see a lot of points in the future for the offense, and a playoff birth for the team. But the Redskins have to be ready to stop other teams that copy the offensive blueprint the Cowboys used to run the football, because this effort will not be sufficient in future games, especially with the Giants coming to town in two weeks.

[MiraclesHappen07]

Good lord man your good. Very good post, i would have never have taken the time to go in such studying to come up with this!! but i guess thats why we have you here for!! lol
Great post keep it up, love reading all the insight

[SouperMeister]

I'm glad you mentioned the missed calls on Cowboys blockers holding and grabbing face masks, because some of it was downright blatant. The line judge missed two obvious neutral zone violations by Dallas, one on a crucial 3rd and 8 play at the end of the 3rd quarter, where the change of posession led to the winning Dallas drive. The Cowboys deserved to win, but this was easily the most incompetent officiating crew that we've seen all year.

[MiraclesHappen07]

Originally Posted by SouperMeister

I'm glad you mentioned the missed calls on Cowboys blockers holding and grabbing face masks, because some of it was downright blatant. The line judge missed two obvious neutral zone violations by Dallas, one on a crucial 3rd and 8 play at the end of the 3rd quarter, where the change of posession led to the winning Dallas drive. The Cowboys deserved to win, but this was easily the most incompetent officiating crew that we've seen all year.

I agree with that, it was horrific

[GTripp0012]

The Cowboys, for all that "Star" power, are starting a lot of really crappy talent on both sides of the ball. I was impressed. However, our talent (Portis aside) really didn't do their jobs, so it's a lost effort.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by SouperMeister

I'm glad you mentioned the missed calls on Cowboys blockers holding and grabbing face masks, because some of it was downright blatant. The line judge missed two obvious neutral zone violations by Dallas, one on a crucial 3rd and 8 play at the end of the 3rd quarter, where the change of posession led to the winning Dallas drive. The Cowboys deserved to win, but this was easily the most incompetent officiating crew that we've seen all year.

Yes. This led to one of our 3 three and outs on the night, but we should have had a first down given to us.

The refs flagged Dallas more than they flagged us, but Dallas still got away with a lot of stuff. I can't say for sure that we weren't committing holding (I saw Cooley get away with one on the 19 yard run for Portis), but they we're grabbing, jumping offsides, grabbing facemasks, and got away with a lot of it.

[53Fan]

Great stuff as always GTripp and I agree about seeing a lot of points for the offense. I think we're really close but things LOOK so sloppy sometimes it's really hard to see. I really think when Kelly gets on the field it's going to be a big help too. And IF Springs plays FS in some packages and we put Landry where he excells, (SS), I think we would be better against the run and maybe get some chaos in the opposing backfield. Great breakdown buddy.

[GTripp0012]

I think the big point is this: the Dallas Cowboys were playing desperate in the way they were going to go out. They played like the underdog in the fact that they committed many penalties to make sure they outplayed us and got away with whatever they could. This also caused us to not have any sacks of Romo.

These are the reasons why I think the 49ers beat them. I don't think they play them like they played us. I think they play them straight up, and unless Romo can throw the ball, I think the 49ers beat them by 7-10 points.

[GTripp0012]

My totally-biased Dallas penalty count:

Play #7: Adams neckties (basically horsecollars) Carter with no call.
Play #9: Witten holds McIntosh in open space allowing Barber to get a first down. No call.
Play #15: Holding called on Kyle Kosier, and enforced.
Play #17: Carter stunts inside Adams, who holds him. Penalty is called, and declined.
Play #32: Illegal formation: Owens covers up Witten.
Play #36: Carter gets inside Adams again, and Adams basically knocks his helmet off. Illegal hands to the face is called, and declined.
Play #39: Columbo bear hugs Evans on a 9 yard run by Barber with no holding call.
Play #41: London Fletcher is blocked in the back (very clearly) by Gurode trying to string out the play on Barber. No call.
Play #47: Barber bounces this play to the outside, where Owens grabs Rogers and throws him past Barber. He clearly had jersey on the replay, though it was very subtle. No call.

[53Fan]

That just makes me hate the Cowgirls even more. I hope you're right about San Fran. I can see them beating the Cowgirls. The Girls may think they have it together now but I don't see it.

[over the mountain]

good analysis gtripp . . . . the difference that stood out to me and that you touched on was the skins coaches not adjusting to the cowboys game plan

we got out-coached in every facet of the game on sunday and to some degree i buy alil bit of what zorn and cerrato are saying about the guys losing individual battles but to me the lack of coaching adjustments hurt us.
go skins!!

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

Yes. This led to one of our 3 three and outs on the night, but we should have had a first down given to us.

The refs flagged Dallas more than they flagged us, but Dallas still got away with a lot of stuff. I can't say for sure that we weren't committing holding (I saw Cooley get away with one on the 19 yard run for Portis), but they we're grabbing, jumping offsides, grabbing facemasks, and got away with a lot of it.

This in particular drives me absolutely batshit crazy when it comes to Mr. Demarcus Ware. Sure, he's a great player, but I think he jumps offsides 50% of the time. Sometimes he gets called, MOST of the time he doesn't.

[GTripp0012]

Game valuation:

1) Chris Horton
2) Andre Carter
3) Carlos Rogers
4) Demetric Evans
5) Rocky McIntosh
6) Corneilius Griffin
7) London Fletcher
8) Jason Taylor
9) LaRon Landry
10) HB Blades
11) DeAngelo Hall
12) Marcus Washington
13) Kedric Golston
14) Mike Green
15) Lorenzo Alexander
16) Fred Smoot
17) Chris Wilson

[SouperMeister]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

This in particular drives me absolutely batshit crazy when it comes to Mr. Demarcus Ware. Sure, he's a great player, but I think he jumps offsides 50% of the time. Sometimes he gets called, MOST of the time he doesn't.

What's especially galling is the fact that Neutral Zone violations are among the easiest calls for the officials to make since most of the players are still stationary at the moment when the ball is snapped. Dallas got away with 2 blatant ones that I saw - this officiating crew will not be working the post-season.

[horse]

Crazy shit great report, I think it's more we did'nt deserve to win than dallas deserved to win. They cheated their asses off and then mysteriously pacman is reinstated this is more cowboy loving bullshit.