Worst Defense in the NFL

[Longtimefan]

Originally Posted by dblanch66

It is definitely due to the loss of such players as Pierce, Smoot, Ryan Clark, Arrington (hate to say). Despite being better players at their positions than what we have now, they also had fire, attitude and leadership qualities. We all have bitched and moaned about Lavar's attitude ad naseum, but I remember when he was the spirit of the team. When that fades and ultimately becomes acrimonious, the team will suffer and it has. The Redskins have absolutely NO identity on defense. On offense, we had Santana and Clinton. But with CP's injury, we lost the lynch pin and spirit of the O. There is more to the game than just physical talent. The Redskins have no IDENTITY. That's what needs to change in order to have success next year.
Dallas Sucks.

The defense played very well last year (9th overall) without Pierce, Smoot, and very little by way of contribution from LaVar for the last two seasons. Lemar Marshall was an overachiever at the MLB position, and this season played after having offseason shoulder surgery. The loss of Pierson Prioleau and Ryan Clark, coupled with the injuries to Shawn Springs really hurt the secondary, but not to the extent we go from 9th in the league to last. The defense this year did not play with the same disposition it did the past two seasons. They were not attacking the ball in the same fashion which in many ways explains their lack of take-a-way's. I'm inclined to agree with Phillip Daniels when he said he felt it was overconfidence. "We thought we could just roll our helmets out there and get a win".