Redskins at Cowboys: Fix the Blitz

Washington Redskins (0-1) vs. Dallas Cowboys (0-1)
8:30 p.m. Texas Stadium - Irving, TX
After only one week, the Redskins have already put themselves in between a rock and a hard place. They lost their home opener to a team that they are much better than, and in typical Redskins fashion, fretted away several chances to win the game. But you already knew that. I’m here to examine why that happened.

It was popular in the D.C. media this past week to blast Al Saunders and the redzone offense. Yes, the redzone offense was abysmal. To get inside the 10-yard line and only score one touchdown is unacceptable. But the offense moved the ball. Mark Brunell looked sharp. The offensive line pass blocked rather well. And despite having Clinton Portis at well under 100%, the offense still managed 16 points and ended up about even in time of possession.

And yes, it was popular to bash John Hall as well. People c’mon…he missed a 48-yard field goal. Anything over 40 is hardly a chip shot. Does Hall stink? Yes. Is he unreliable? Yes. Will he cost the Skins a couple of games this season? Most likely. But to expect any kicker in this league to consistently nail 48-yard field goals with 10 seconds to go is a little much.

The real problem, and only Mike Wilbon hinted at this during the past week, was the defense. The defense could not get off the field. Minnesota was 9 for 17 in third down conversions, and should have been 12 or 13 for 17 had Troy Williamson not dropped several passes.

Even the analysts who correctly told you that the defense was truly to blame haven’t really told you why they struggled. Some have blamed the absence of Shawn Springs as a reason the Skins couldn’t stop Brad Johnson on third and longs. And I’m sure his injury had something to do with it. The real reason was Gregg Williams and the play calling. The Vikings threw the ball 30 times. Gregg Williams sent more than five rushers at Johnson on only four occasions. In my game preview, I said that when blitzing Johnson, you had to be careful not to overdo it. He’s a smart quarterback and he recognizes blitzes very well. However, when I said not to overdo it, I didn’t mean completely abandon the blitz. I didn’t mean give Johnson the entire evening to throw into soft zone coverage. I didn’t mean allowing Johnson to be able to scan the field two or three times on obvious passing situations. I simply meant that the Skins should have disguised their blitzes and not sent the house after Johnson on every play. I didn’t mean refuse to send the blitz on any play.

There are two explanations for the lack of blitzing. Either Williams went temporarily insane before the game and forgot that his front four aren’t exactly the best group of pass rushers in league (And for people who scoff at this explanation, remember that Williams went through this strange non-blitzing phase last year in losses to Oakland and San Diego). The other explanation is that Williams felt so uncomfortable with Springs’ replacements that he was hesitant to leave any member of his secondary one-on-one with the “vaunted” Vikings receiving corps and instead played a soft six or seven man zone. This zone approach backfired as the Redskins defensive line couldn’t get near Johnson and allowed Williamson to find the zone’s weakness over the middle of the field time and time again.

The soft zone is great when the opposing offense has a 3rd and 20, or the defense has linebackers who are excellent in pass coverage. When the Redskins have Warrick Holdman trying to guard Williamson or Jermaine Wiggins, the zone isn’t going to work most of the time. Plus, Adam Archuleta looks completely lost. It seems that he has two roles on every play: the first is to be out of position and the second is to talk to Carlos Rogers after the play so Rogers can tell him what he did wrong.

The only way to help out a beat-up secondary is to get pressure on the quarterback. And the only way the Redskins are going to do that is if they blitz. The front four does an outstanding job against the run, but with the exception of Andre Carter, they can’t pressure the quarterback straight up. This strategy problem needs to be fixed right now.

Speaking of teams with problems…how ‘bout them Cowboys? They looked great on Sunday against Jacksonville. And by great, I mean completely lethargic and apathetic. They looked like a team that just didn’t care that they blew a 10-point first quarter lead to an opponent they should have put away easily. Hopefully now everyone who has been over-hyping the Cowboys see why they are going to struggle this season. The offensive line is simply not good enough to give Julius Jones room to run and certainly not good enough to protect Drew Bledsoe. And it’s not like Bledsoe can be a carbon copy of Brad Johnson. Bledsoe, as it’s been known for a long time, holds on to the ball too long and forces passes instead of throwing the ball away. When he was in his prime, holding the ball for that extra split second was the reason he was so good. He was willing to take the hit to deliver the 30-yard pass down the sideline. Now, he’s holding on to the football way too long and he’s playing behind a bad pass-blocking unit.

So on Sunday night, in the NFL’s best rivalry, one of the lesser offensive lines will try to stop one of the lesser pass-rushing defensive lines in the battle for which side is more pathetic. Can the Boys offensive line finally stop someone and give Bledsoe enough time to hold on to the ball and throw an interception? Or can the Skins front four get pressure on Bledsoe and make him force throws over the middle, where Adam Archuleta will most likely be out of position and Terrell Owens will be wide open? Oh, the battle of strength has begun!


Santana Moss beating the Cowboys secondary like a rented mule.

Seriously though, if the Redskins give Bledsoe the kind of time that Johnson had, he will pick them apart. Just in case you haven’t heard, Bledsoe’s receivers are much better than Johnson’s. You were aware that Owens now plays for Dallas, right? I can’t remember if the media has talked about that much. Just in case Owens is covered or has another nicely timed blowup that sends him to the sideline, Dallas still has Terry Glenn and Jason Witten to throw to. So if the Redskins sit in that stupid zone defense again, the Cowboys are going to put up at least 30 points. However, if the Redskins do what Jacksonville did, which is stop the Dallas running game early and force the Cowboys to become one-dimensional, then there will plenty of obvious passing situations that will allow Washington to put pressure on Bledsoe and force him to make bad decisions. You know, situations that the Vikings found themselves in against the Skins this past Monday. Only this time, someone should slap some sense into Williams and tell him to release the hounds against the Drew Bledsoe Memorial Statue.

Offensively, the Redskins should be able to put up 17-21 points against Dallas…which should be enough. Although Dallas’ defense is better than Minnesota’s, the Skins will most likely feature a more run-oriented attack. Hopefully this whole Clinton Portis mess will be sorted out quickly. Even without Portis, Ladell Betts should now be healthy after going into last week’s game with various injuries. And if I had to bet, I still think Portis will suite up and see considerable playing time. So unlike last week when the Redskins totaled 266 yards without a ground game, the Redskins should be a bit more balanced in week 2. And would it kill Saunders to run up the middle once awhile. Someone tell Al that he no longer has Priest Holmes in his backfield to run sweeps all day. And also tell him that he can’t run that receiver bubble screen pass 10 times a game. Eventually, a corner is going to jump that route and it’s going to be six points heading in the other direction.

Unlike most Redskins-Cowboys matchups, both offensives should have an advantage on Sunday. Without facing blitzes and without pressure, Bledsoe will have a field day. And as long as Brunell is healthy and the offense stays balanced, the Redskins should be able to get some big pass plays against Terence Newman and Roy Williams. Ol’ Roy can hit, but he can’t cover. Remember what happened in week 2 last season. Roy is still looking for Santana Moss.

Somehow I have a feeling that the Skins defense will be aggressive for the first half while the offense jumps on Dallas early. But then I see Williams becoming conservative and allowing the Cowboys back into the game. This one should be close, and it should come down to the last five minutes. I really hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see the Skins winning in Dallas two years in a row. The real season starts next week in Houston as Washington will mostly likely have to start digging themselves out of a 0-2 hole.