The difference in #10 Defense and the one we have now?

[newday]

It's the pass rush. We need a super nose tackle and a heavier, faster Rak.

[darrelgreenie]

Think back to when this defense made the jump to #10-13 ranking. What is the only difference? Most will not want to acknowledge this. LaRon Landry. Would a safety core of Brandon Meriweather, LaRon Landry, Tanard Jackson and Jordan Berstein have made a difference?

Losing Orakpo was huge. Much more impactful then our safety play. Also it depends on your opinion of LaRon. I think LaRon was overrated.

[DogofWar1]

Landry was hurt most of last year, and when he was on the field he wasn't 100%. Having a safety out there helps, but it wasn't Landry.

The biggest difference is Orakpo and Carriker are missing. The pass rush they generated is the difference between being the 26th best pass rush in 2012, and the 10th best in 2011. When you have a pass rush that gets to the QB a lot, it really screws up the passing game, doubly so if the guys rushing can get their hands up and bat down a ball or two like we saw Rak doing early in the year. The solution against a pass rush is quick passes, and the solutions against that are bump and tight press coverage (which we aren't good at) and batting balls at the line, which we were much better at (Kerrigan does it most weeks).

[greenspandan]

the difference is we have an offense now.

other teams would go up by a score and shut it down because they knew we were no threat. the second half game plans would all be about slowing things down and grinding the game to a halt. we weren't getting into shootouts, so the defense wasn't really tested. teams beat us 17-10 or 20-6 and the defense came out looking pretty good even though we were never really in the game. if the other team had NEEDED to score another couple touchdowns, they would have. our secondary has been AWFUL for years. there's just been little reason to exploit it.

[thomasroane]

Landry? No. There is a reason why the Skins didn't re-sign him. He can't cover and always looking for the big hit.

Exactly! Brady used him like a dirty dish rag. Pass on LL. He would have been great with Sean Taylor cause Taylor could cover sideline to sideline which would allow LL to just run to the ball, blitz and kill people. When he has to be disciplined he's pretty much useless out there. Plus, his body breaks down cause his joints aren't made to handle that much muscle mass. You gotta know that if the NFL can figure out how to test HGH he'd be the first one suspended.

[Darth Tater]

Think back to when this defense made the jump to #10-13 ranking. What is the only difference? Most will not want to acknowledge this. LaRon Landry. Would a safety core of Brandon Meriweather, LaRon Landry, Tanard Jackson and Jordan Berstein have made a difference?

We are also missing Orakpo and Carriker (13-14 sacks plus their threat would probably add 5-6 more and create a few more errant passes). Meriweather played in one game and Jackson in none.

If you consider who we are missing, no matter what you think of Haslett, the defense would be 15-20% better if they had not been injured (or in Jackson's case, suspended) which would make this a top-10 defense. Also remember, a lot of the more exotic things Haslett is trying are directly related to missing horses like Orakpo, Carriker and probably Jackson and Meriweather.

[Wildbunny]

First our difference is that we went from 4-3 to 3-4.

I like Coffield, but we need better play from the NT position. Adds in that our best S are either injured or suspended. Even if like Doughty, he's a great replacement, not an all down S.
Then the inuries to Rak and Carriker hurt us really bad.

Then you have an expleanation at why do we look like crap this year on D. And L have nothing got to do with it.

[Thinking Skins]

Losing Orakpo was huge. Much more impactful then our safety play. Also it depends on your opinion of LaRon. I think LaRon was overrated.

I agree with you in this thread. I think our defense (most defenses) is built around our pass rush. This year we've also been going for more turnovers which leads to bigger plays and allows more yards, but a big problem is that we have no pass rush - the same thing that haunted us before Orakpo. But unlike then, we've also had poor tackling by others who let a 3 yard gain turn into a 7 yard gain and that's just not good.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

If we kept Landry, I doubt we would have brought in the other two

[maskedsuperstar]

We are also missing Orakpo and Carriker (13-14 sacks plus their threat would probably add 5-6 more and create a few more errant passes). Meriweather played in one game and Jackson in none.

If you consider who we are missing, no matter what you think of Haslett, the defense would be 15-20% better if they had not been injured (or in Jackson's case, suspended) which would make this a top-10 defense. Also remember, a lot of the more exotic things Haslett is trying are directly related to missing horses like Orakpo, Carriker and probably Jackson and Meriweather.

Its not Haslett's fault. I mean, the guys wants to be aggressive but...............the defense is 3rd against the run. That's pretty good. But its seems nobody wants to admit the fact that Orakpo is gone. Thats huge.

[DC9]

Last I saw Landry he was getting smoked in the NE game.

I think NE just scored again.

[RandyHolt]

Not much really, just very different coaches. Blache didn't believe in pressure. Haslet does, but it's either all or nothing. When Haslet sat back and made Blache proud, we sucked and racked up a bunch of losses. Getting back to blitzing, we have had two of our easier wins all year.

Running a 3-4 now so things are different, but we don't have a huge NT, which I thought was very important to anchor the whole damn thing.

But FS play always seems to dominate the discussions about defense.

And our free safety spot still has a guy better suited to play strong (Madieu), just like when we had the incredible hulk Landry there. And just like then, its easy to hammer away on him instead of realizing they are far from being used in their optimal position. But that position for some reason almost is expected to make or break a defense, or handcuff a coordinator.

[Botched]

We are also missing Orakpo and Carriker (13-14 sacks plus their threat would probably add 5-6 more and create a few more errant passes). Meriweather played in one game and Jackson in none.

If you consider who we are missing, no matter what you think of Haslett, the defense would be 15-20% better if they had not been injured (or in Jackson's case, suspended) which would make this a top-10 defense. Also remember, a lot of the more exotic things Haslett is trying are directly related to missing horses like Orakpo, Carriker and probably Jackson and Meriweather.

Yepppp. Orakpo and Carriker accounted for 13 sacks last year. Jackson and Jenkins are on pace for 3. Our pass rush stinks on ice right now.

[DCsportsfan53]

Firstly, give me a ****ing break and quit crying over guys who weren't that good and didn't want to be here.

Secondly, were I making this thread to me the answer is easy and easy to miss.....it's the offense. For sometime now we've been a defense that kept games close but could never stand up and make the plays that really counted. Same is true now, largely. The difference is teams can no longer count on it requiring an act of God for our offense to put up 20 points and they, therefore, play far less conservatively against us than they used to. Or offense now puts pressure on them to keep up and they respond accordingly.