Wednesday, January 11th, 2006...8:40 pm by Lee Gibbons
Divisional Playoff Preview: Redskins Offense vs Seahawks Defense
The Redskin offense looked awful last week. There are no excuses or simple reasons to explain why, they were just horrible. Last week aside, they have been a decent unit for most of the season. The running attack is one of the best in the league, and the Brunell to Moss combination has terrorized opposing defenses all year long. While the Redskins look for a rebound, it’s hard to know what to expect from the Seahawks defense. Statistically, they show up as an average unit; however most media types will tell you they’ve improved as the year has progressed. How much of that can be attributed to a weak schedule is unknown, however you don’t win thirteen games with a bad defense. By the time Saturday comes along, the Seahawks won’t have played a meaningful game in 21 days. Will they be rested or rusty come game time? We will soon see.
Expected Starters
Washington Offense
QB: Mark Brunell
RB: Clinton Portis
HB: Chris Cooley
WR: Santana Moss
WR: *James Thrash
TE: Robert Royal
OL: C. Samuels, D. Dockery, C. Rabach, R. Brown, J. Jansen*James Thrash is listed as questionable and may not play; if he doesn’t Taylor Jacobs will start.
Seattle Defense
DE: Bryce Fisher
DT: Chuck Darby
DT: Marcus Tubbs
DE: Grant Wistrom
OLB: Leroy Hill
MLB: Lofa Tatupu
ROLB: **D.D. Lewis
LCB: Andre Dyson
RCB: Marucs Trufant
SS: Michael Boulware
FS: Marquand Manuel**D.D. Lewis is listed as questionable, but is expected to play; if he doesn’t Isaiah Kacyvenski will start,
Passing Game:
Washington:
Mark Brunell 262-454, 57.7%, 23 TD, 10 INT
Santana Moss 84-1483, 9 TD
Chris Cooley 71-774, 7 TD
For most readers of this site, there isn’t really a lot to say. The passing game revolves around three players: Mark Brunell, Santana Moss and Chris Cooley. Brunell and Cooley are the main concerns for most fans. Brunell hasn’t played well since taking a low hit in the Giants game. Although his mobility seemed to be better last week, he still wasn’t making many throws. Cooley has all but disappeared over the last two weeks, totaling 4 catches for 20 yards. The Redskins need these two to pick up their games if they hope to get the offense back rolling. Santana Moss will once again be the most explosive player on either team. Even last week while the offense struggled, Moss was twice behind the defense and just missed on long completions. That is really the whole passing game. Portis makes a catch or two per week. Betts is a decent receiver. Royal and Sellers usually get a few balls per game as well.
Seattle:
Bryce Fisher 9 sacks
Rocky Bernard 8.5 sacks
Michael Boulware 2 sacks, 4 interceptions
Lofa Tatupu 4 sacks, 3 interceptions
I’ll be honest with you; I haven’t seen many Seahawks games this season. Besides the Redskins game, I caught some of their game with Dallas and some of the Giants game, but that’s it. When grading offensive players, you can look at numbers and get a lot of the story; defensively it’s a different story. I’m sure if I miss something, or there is something to add, our friendly Seahawk visitors will correct me in the comments section below.
Seattle led the NFL in sacks this year. That is a tremendous feat considering they do not have any star pass rushers in their lineup. Among the lineman, defensive end Bryce Fisher and backup defensive tackle Rocky Bernard are the top sack artists. Grant Wistrom is still a hard working player, but his best days at getting to the quarterback are behind him. The secondary is in the bottom half in terms of passing yards allowed, however some of that can be attributed to the Seahawks winning most of their games and forcing teams to be one dimensional. While Michael Boulware and Marcus Trufant are the biggest names in the secondary, the Redskins must be concerned with nickel back Jordan Babineaux who finished with 4 interceptions. Also note that Seattle’s numbers are much worse than Tampa Bay’s at covering top receivers and tight ends, which should help the Redskins.
Seahawks Pass Defense by the Numbers:
Vs Number 1 Receivers: Ranked 19th
Vs Number 2 Receivers: Ranked 17th
Vs Other Receivers: Ranked 23rd
Vs Tight Ends: Ranked 21st
Vs Running Backs: Ranked 10th
Run Game
Washington:
Clinton Portis 352-1516, 4.3ypc, 11 TD
Ladell Betts 89-338, 3.8ypc, 1 TD
Rock Cartwright 27-199, 7.4, 2 TD
All Redskins fans will hold their breath the 1st couple times Clinton Portis carries the ball. The Redskins need a healthy Portis to lead the run game. The team has said he suffered from shoulder stingers last week, and they expect him to fine this week. Portis is a similar runner to the Seahawks’ Shaun Alexander. They are both tough runners with the ability to break the long one. Ladell Betts and Rock Cartwright are solid backups and limit the drop-off when Portis comes out of the game.
Washington Run Game by the Numbers:
Runs around Left End: 4.45ypc (10th)
Runs behind Left Tackle: 4.27ypc (17th)
Runs up the Middle: 4.38ypc (10th)
Runs behind the Right Tackle: 4.00ypc (21st)
Runs around Right End: 5.02ypc (3rd)
Seattle:
Lofa Tatupu 104 tackles
Jordan Babineaux 74 tackles 1 forced fumble
Michael Boulware 73 tackles 1 forced fumble
The Seahawks rush defense ranks 5th in league. However, much like the pass defense rankings suffer due to winning so many games, the actual rush defense isn’t as good as their ranking. Playing Arizona twice a year would help any team’s rush defense numbers. The Seahawks have only faced one top ten rushing team since October 2nd (NY Giants). The Redskins will present a very tough challenge for the Seattle rush defense. Lofa Tatupu is a rising star at middle linebacker. He led the team in tackles by a long shot, and is strong in run coverage. Safety Michael Boulware is very good against the run and makes a lot of plays for the defense. If Portis is healthy, I’d look for him to break the 100 yard barrier for the 6th time in 7 games. Note that Seattle is very good at stopping runs to the right, so look for the Redskins to favor runs to the left.
Seahawks Run Defense by the Numbers:
Runs around Left End: 3.94ypc (15th)
Runs behind Left Tackle: 3.93ypc (11th)
Runs up the Middle: 3.64ypc (4th)
Runs behind Right Tackle: 3.53ypc (4th)
Runs around Right End: 2.40ypc (2nd)
Summary
The Redskins offense will need to score points this week. Seattle is not a team that is going to make a ton of mistakes, so the Skins can’t rely on the defense making game changing plays. Establishing the run will be the key for the Redskins. As mentioned previously, the Redskins will look to control the clock thus Brunell needs to get back to converting those 3rd and shorts. When looking over both teams offenses, I expect turnovers to be at a premium. Of late, both teams have been stingy with possession and I’d look for that to continue. A time consuming scoring drive to open the game would go a long way to quieting the crowd at Qwest Field.
Tomorrow: Special Teams, Intangibles and Game Picks
In Thursday’s Post:
Seahawks defensive improvement; Gibbs Legacy Safe; Prioleau Grabs Opportunity; Lighter Side
2 Comments
January 12th, 2006 at 11:44 am
Another good post, ThatGuy. Too bad you’re a DC fan–you’d fit in great at our Hawks blog.
The defense is the area of concern we Hawks fans have. Specifically, as you’ve pointed out, the pass defense. The secondary has been banged up for almost all of the year; all the starters are back now (except Hamlin who is out indefinitely) but how effective the cornerbacks will be is the huge question mark. All three of the main guys have been banged up lately, with Dyson and Herndon playing in their first game after suffering lengthy injuries. The secondary as a whole has given up major yardage this season–but amazingly they are much improved over last season! This, to us, is a good sign.
The Hawks’ defense has been dubbed the “bend but don’t break defense.” They routinely give up lots of passing yardage, but when opponents reach the Red Zone they usually find the going incredibly tough. Did I read somewhere that the Hawks had both one of the top two Red Zone offenses and defenses? That’s a big reason they had so much success this season (along with the easy schedule, natch…)
I think you’re underestimating the Hawks’ run defense. Yes, the Hawks have led early in most of their games this season. That surely played a part in the pass:run ratio of their opponents’ offenses. However, those of us who watched most or all of Seattle’s games know that the run defense really is that good. The Hawks get a great push up the middle, as the stats show. Some standouts–guys who fairly routinely drop runners for losses or no gain–are Tubbs, Darby, and the “Jackdaws” Tatupu and Hill.
Tatupu, as you mentioned, has been quite impressive in his first campaign. His pace actually slowed down near the end of the season, accruing, I believe, only 16 tackles over the last four games. That may be due to the “rookie wall,” his teammates starting to pick it up a bit (Babineaux and Boulware really increased their tackles late in the year) or perhaps Holmgren rested him somewhat in order to fend off the rookie wall or rest for the playoffs.
The Hawks play best when the defense is forcing turnovers, giving the offense a shorter field with which to work while limiting the chances opponents have to make long gains through the air. (Not that the offense needs short fields, as you know, but of course it doesn’t hurt having to drive 50 yards instead of 90 for a score.) Scores tend to be much closer for Seattle when they don’t take the ball away as much–(cases in point being their games vs. your East, with the exception of the MNF smiting of Philly, in which the takeaways came early and often.) If the Hawks can’t force turnovers it will be a close game on Saturday. If they can, a blowout may ensue–once the team gets rolling, and especially in Seattle, they’re almost impossible to stop.
“A time consuming scoring drive to open the game would go a long way to quieting the crowd at Qwest Field.”
Perhaps, but I don’t think so. The crowd in Seattle (I never mention the name of that corporate whore who seized the naming rights to the previously-well-named “Seahawks Stadium) is almost never quiet. Of course, that’s probably because the Hawks didn’t lose there, but still, we as fans always expect the Hawks to come back from deficits and win. I was in fact going to say a long opening drive by the Hawks–which they made a weekly routine this year–should make DC question their own defensive virility. There is no doubt, however, that scoring first will be an advantage to whichever team manages to do it.
I haven’t seen too many DC (I won’t call them by their nickname because I view it as racist,) games so I’m not too familiar with their personnel and game plans. As a Hawks fan I’m scared most of Moss’s incredible skills and Brunell’s veteran savvy. Portis–well, he’s also good, but banged-up and facing a defense who likes to stuff the run.
Again, a good, fair writeup. (Not “fair” as in “middling”–”fair” as in “balanced.”)
January 12th, 2006 at 11:46 am
Oh–one more thing. If Kacyvenski gets much playing time at all the Hawks will be in trouble. I’m fairly sure he played only a handfull of downs this season, and didn’t start. He’s high-energy, but undersized and somewhat lacking in quickness. There are other guys who can start if Lewis is not able to go. (I hope!)
Leave a Reply