Defense played bend but don't break.

[DCsportsfan53]

True, but if you go back and watch the game, you'll notice that when Matt Ryan dropped back he was often forced into checking down to passes in the flat, which tells me the secondary was actually doing a somewhat decent job of stopping the big plays. The problem was Ryan had so much time to throw that he could always find Gonzalez in the flat. If you send an extra guy that either breaks through or causes the pocket to collapse, Ryan is forced to get rid of the ball before he has time to check down to the guy in the flat.

Unfortunately I think with this defense this year we're going to have to pick our poisons, especially with the injuries. Keeping everything in front of us and playing bend don't break will be frustrating to watch and a lot of teams will move the ball on us but I'll take it over the consistent big plays. We give ourselves a chance to force field goals when the field shortens up and we force opposing teams to string together a bunch of plays without making mistakes.

[TE#80]

I personally blame the offense for going 0-for on 3rd downs and abandoning the running game late. NO defense can hold up forever when your offense can't convert. The other team is GOING to make plays.

You really think abandoning the run game is the problem? Our offense featured so much run that Griffen had zero opportunity to establish a rhythm as a passer. That as been our curse since the beginning, our coaching staff has a shiny new toy that they can't put down. They are enamored with his dynamic ability and have 100% neglected to allow him to develop his confidence as a pass first quarterback.

[campbellcooleyconnection]

i find it amazing that a team goes 0-3 when their defense scores a td! just weird

[bowhunter]

We've been dealt a crummy hand and all we can do is play it.

Well said. IF Carriker and Rak can come back 100% healthy, we're a CB and S away from having a very formidable D. If not, we better learn to score at least 35PPG

[veteranskinsfan]

Our defense was better this week than last week. Just like last year, our defense is on the field too much of the game. On the rushing touchdown, it looked like one or two linebacks were out of position and it also looked like our players were exhausted. They forced Ryan to throw to the tight end in order to avoid giving up long passing plays. The Falcons in the first half had to take what our defense was giving them.

[Bobbyst21]

Doesent matter why or how our defense is playing if the offense is out of sync and can't score. We still lose. And when our offense clicks and does score then our D decides to take the week off. We can't seem to get it all together at the same time ever. So while we'll be in most games, we'll lose more than we should. Both sides have shown the ability to dominate. The main issue is half time adjustments by our opposition and our inability to readjust. Bend but don't break is fine, but it leaves the d on the field longer than should be. But with all our injuries, might be the only option Hasslett has at keeping his job.

[PerryMason]

You really think abandoning the run game is the problem? Our offense featured so much run that Griffen had zero opportunity to establish a rhythm as a passer. That as been our curse since the beginning, our coaching staff has a shiny new toy that they can't put down. They are enamored with his dynamic ability and have 100% neglected to allow him to develop his confidence as a pass first quarterback.

One of the problems. Along with going 0-for on 3rd downs like i said. The run may have kept RG3 from getting in a passing rhythm, but we abandoned it while it was still going for 8-9 yards a pop. If somethings working you stick with it until they stop it. Especially in a close game. Then when they have committed to take away the run, the pass suddenly becomes much easier. In a way though, I agree with you because we could have taken advantage of our success with the run by running more play action which we seemed to almost forget about completely in this game.

---------- Post added October-7th-2012 at 08:39 PM ----------

i find it amazing that a team goes 0-3 when their defense scores a td! just weird

Wow. Didn't even think about that. We would have won the division last year if we had been scoring on defense the way we are so far this year.

---------- Post added October-7th-2012 at 08:41 PM ----------

i find it amazing that a team goes 0-3 when their defense scores a td! just weird

Wow. Didn't even think about that. We would have won the division last year if we had been scoring on defense the way we are so far this year.

[DeadExField]

The defense had a hot start, as did Atlanta's. Our D was the first to go cold as our offense kept stalling. This is the usual case of Redskins Opposites, where one side of the team plays well and the other is no where to be found

[ciresolstice]

The Falcons are just a really good, talented team that can hurt you in a lot of ways. Pretty well rounded. Skins were competitive but have some things to sure up in the off season. Sometimes it's the talent of the other team and what they do more than what we didn't do. We're getting there though.

[PlayAction]

Bend don't break was a good strategy to deal with the Skins' personnel issues. No one would be complaining about the defense if the Offense had been able to sustain drives and score more than ten points.

[skinsfan1993]

Did we blitz at all today or even have one sack?

we had one with cofield, who did the "dont taze me bro" dance

[skinsmarydu]

gonzales totaly amendolaed us

I thought, "we got owned by amendola, now we're getting owned by gonzales". But living here and seeing how great of a fit he's been for the Falcons, I kinda expected it. Our defense did an awesome job forcing Ryan to miss a lot of passes high, one of which could've been a TD. I sooooo wish we could've won, but if we get RGIII back 100%, I'll be ok with knowing we're doing our all-out best to win. That's what I've seen this season so far...and it makes me happy.
Hail!

[CapnRedskins]

Bend don't break was a good strategy to deal with the Skins' personnel issues. No one would be complaining about the defense if the Offense had been able to sustain drives and score more than ten points.

Exactly. If RG3 doesn't go down the bend but don't break strategy would've worked from my point of view. The offense was starting to get some rhythm right before he got hurt.

[gaskinsfan]

While the defense played better, it was frustrating to watch. I think Haslett played a little too conservative, he could have mixed in a few more blitzes to get more pressure. Ryan had way too much time.

I understand our problem though; we can't cover. When Josh Wilson and Reed Doughty are the starters, we're going to have issues in the secondary.

[RedskinParadigm]

Like it or not today was the best our D has played all season.

Disagree; the defense played better against New Orleans. I'll have to look at the stats this game, but against NOLA, the defense held the Saints to 3-and-out (or less with a turnover) on 50% of their drives. I can't recall more than one or two drives against ATL when we held them to 3-and-out. The defense also got in Drew Brees' face, forced his release point to be off, and covered well downfield. None of those things can be said about the Falcons game.

What's being overlooked in this game is that ATLANTA was the one that executed their gameplan perfectly against us; they sustained long drives, kept control of the ball, and kept RGIII off of the field. That's what they wanted to do. So many people were focused on Atlanta having a balanced and dangerous offense that they forgot that coming into the game, the Redskins' offense was even more explosive than their opponent's. The longer Atlanta kept the ball, the better off they were.