Where has the Redskins' Pass Rush Gone?

[SouperMeister]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

Last year it was a legit pass rushing line, top quartile in the NFL, and more or less with the same personnel.

You can tell where the sack production is lacking vs. last year: Andre Carter. But Carter's thing is not the level of his performance, but that he's not an every down player in this defense. Between him and Carriker and Alexander and whoever else plays that position in the defense, we're getting but a fraction of what Carter provided all by himself last season.

The problem is that the the pieces were put together by the previous FO to be a top 4-3 D-line. In that formation, Haynesworth's presence was huge, as was Orakpo's emergence as a pass rushing SAM, all but guaranteeing that Carter faced a single blocker on passing downs. Everyone knew that Carter would be a weak link as a 3-4 OLB, and I credit Haslett for adjusting after Carter's rough start, and converting him to a pass russ specialist the last few games.

[SFREDSKIN]

It left with the 4-3 defense.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by SouperMeister

The problem is that the the pieces were put together by the previous FO to be a top 4-3 D-line. In that formation, Haynesworth's presence was huge, as was Orakpo's emergence as a pass rushing SAM, all but guaranteeing that Carter faced a single blocker on passing downs. Everyone knew that Carter would be a weak link as a 3-4 OLB, and I credit Haslett for adjusting after Carter's rough start, and converting him to a pass russ specialist the last few games.

Well, the most common four man line this year is Haynesworth, Holliday/Golston, Orakpo, and Carter. That's last year's most common line except with Griffin instead of Holliday. So the nickel personnel isn't really different at all.

The standard downs personnel is a lot different, namely, that Carter isn't on the field and hasn't been since week three, really. You have Kemo in the middle, Carriker and Golston at the "ends" with Orakpo coming off the very edge. It's that group that needs to get to the QB more often. Perhaps with that group, we need to bring more guys? Kemo can eat a block or two, but if Carriker and Golston can't beat one on ones, it's just Orakpo with no help in the standard downs pressure unit.

We do a lot more 3 man rushes than we did last year, which is another reason for the decreased sack rate = more guys in coverage. But that's not the whole difference. We just don't rush anyone consistently besides Orakpo.