Smoot Doesn't Lay The Smack Down (Mooby Does) (Redskins V. Cardinals)

[The Goat]

Smackdown on Haslett. I think our defensive scheme was lackluster in the 2nd half. Kolb had a terrible 1st half and our secondary played relatively well early in the game. We should have come out (defensively) in the 3rd quarter expecting them to try to pound the pigskin w/ Wells, as they did. We should have put more guys in the box and not let them get anything going. Something is up w/ the right side defensively as most of the big gains on the ground seem to go there. Orakpo struggling in run defense/containment? Doughty? Hard for me to say.

Also within the defense Cofield looked very average today i.e. no impact out there. Why didn't Nield get more action today?

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by The Goat

Smackdown on Haslett. I think our defensive scheme was lackluster in the 2nd half. Kolb had a terrible 1st half and our secondary played relatively well early in the game. We should have come out (defensively) in the 3rd quarter expecting them to try to pound the pigskin w/ Wells, as they did. We should have put more guys in the box and not let them get anything going. Something is up w/ the right side defensively as most of the big gains on the ground seem to go there. Orakpo struggling in run defense/containment? Doughty? Hard for me to say.

Also within the defense Cofield looked very average today i.e. no impact out there. Why didn't Nield get more action today?

I think in the second half, the Cards took advantage of our banged up secondary to run the ball. They came out several times in the spread, and given the status of the secondary, we didn't pressure much and defended the pass trying to contain Fitz. Of course, they ran the ball very well against our spread defense. If Wilson doesn't get hurt, we probably do a better job against the run.

Although NTs are not supposed to be flashy on a 3-4, I do agree with you that Cofield has looked very average. I'd be curious to see what the folks that review the games can say about his play. I just hated seeing getting manhandled by the Giants' rookie center last week.

[Swarley]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

I think in the second half, the Cards took advantage of our banged up secondary to run the ball. They came out several times in the spread, and given the status of the secondary, we didn't pressure much and defended the pass trying to contain Fitz. Of course, they ran the ball very well against our spread defense. If Wilson doesn't get hurt, we probably do a better job against the run.

I agree completely, sometimes you gotta give credit to the other teams play caller.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

I think in the second half, the Cards took advantage of our banged up secondary to run the ball. They came out several times in the spread, and given the status of the secondary, we didn't pressure much and defended the pass trying to contain Fitz. Of course, they ran the ball very well against our spread defense. If Wilson doesn't get hurt, we probably do a better job against the run.

Although NTs are not supposed to be flashy on a 3-4, I do agree with you that Cofield has looked very average. I'd be curious to see what the folks that review the games can say about his play. I just hated seeing getting manhandled by the Giants' rookie center last week.

With the exception of just a couple of plays where the Cards won the line of scrimmage (not enough to change the course of the game), their best play was draw with Beanie Wells.

In short, we had different DL personnel in the game throughout the second half, and so we struggled to make the adjustment to the Cards running so many draws. Plus, it didn't help that Rocky got blocked out of one play by a receiver and ran past the back another time.

It was nice that the Cardinals found a rushing play that worked for them, but the biggest actual (sustainable) difference in the second half was the injuries in our secondary and the matchups the Cards were able to win on the outside.

They had the Fitzgerald-Hall matchup there all day, but it took considerable injury and short passing for them to set up that double move. Give them credit on that one: they saved it for a good time, and it really should have been a clinching TD. We were lucky to escape with a win.

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by The Goat

Smackdown on Haslett. I think our defensive scheme was lackluster in the 2nd half. Kolb had a terrible 1st half and our secondary played relatively well early in the game. We should have come out (defensively) in the 3rd quarter expecting them to try to pound the pigskin w/ Wells, as they did. We should have put more guys in the box and not let them get anything going. Something is up w/ the right side defensively as most of the big gains on the ground seem to go there. Orakpo struggling in run defense/containment? Doughty? Hard for me to say.

Arizona ran 3 times in the first half, so if Haslett was going to think they would come out and try to shove it down our throats, he would have been totally guessing. I don't like it when halftime adjustments are total guesses in the dark.

The truth, in my opinion, is because the onus was on the Cardinals offense to change its approach, the Redskins needed to have more than a 3 point lead at half and kicking off based on the way they dominated. It's too easy to go in at half and find one thing about the defense you can attack.

The Cardinals did win the halftime adjustments, but that's to be expected when the Redskins were utterly schematically dominant in the first half. The only place to go for the Cards coaches was up, despite the score.

[CultBrennan59]

Originally Posted by The Goat

Smackdown on Haslett. I think our defensive scheme was lackluster in the 2nd half. Kolb had a terrible 1st half and our secondary played relatively well early in the game. We should have come out (defensively) in the 3rd quarter expecting them to try to pound the pigskin w/ Wells, as they did. We should have put more guys in the box and not let them get anything going. Something is up w/ the right side defensively as most of the big gains on the ground seem to go there. Orakpo struggling in run defense/containment? Doughty? Hard for me to say.

Also within the defense Cofield looked very average today i.e. no impact out there. Why didn't Nield get more action today?

Because the Cardinals get the ball out quicker than the DLineman can get out of their 3 point stances.