After this remarkable turnaround, do you want Haslett back now?

[Saqs]

As Kyle has shown, you're only as good as your players....

[HogNose]

Haslett hasn't been working with the best talent this year and has been handcuffed because of the injuries. Give him more talent (CB, S, etc) and another year.

[Lavarleap56]

Do you really forget this defense sucked to close out the last 8 games of 2011 while healthy..?

Do you realize that 3 of these 6 games have been played vs Nick Foles and Brandon Weeden? Two QBS that rank near the bottom of the league?

Six games of film on the Browns offense showed you they were not explosive and used drags and slants over and over again.. Not difficult to plan against.

The Defense combined a horrible half of football with a good second half against the Giants, a team they have played well against the past few years. Ironically the defenses best game over the poor 8 game stretch last season was vs the NY Giants.

The Baltimore Ravens dominated play in the first half then fell apart in the second. They fired their Offensive Coordinator the next day..

Dallas I like the way the D played until the second half.. Yes we had a big lead but everyone knows our lack of pressure combined with zone coverage is a weakness.. Ironic since we are suppose to be a zone blitz based defense.

You can make the case that the Redskins could be 12-3 or 11-4 right now with a better DC.

Why did it take 7 games for him to make changes players and fans were asking for? No excuses for that imo.

[rk3025]

Great job with players on roster!

[CapsSkins]

Crennel has how much talent on that kc defense and he's ranked below the skins on football outsiders.

True. I don't think it will be him, hell I'm pretty sure he asked for the job in 2010 and was declined. My ill-worded point was more that the new D-coord will have 3-4 experience, whoever he may be.

[SonnyandSam]

I respect the opinion of several folks on here who insist that Haslett is a horrible DC and the defense had three years to improve but hasn't despite the 6 game winning streak. But Haslett has worked with a defense missing 4-6 starters all season and relatively weak depth at some positions. Missing both safeties all year created a huge problem from the getgo, and the loss of Orakpo and Carriker for most of the season neutralized the front 7 pass rush. I'm not so sure other DCs could have done much better. By that argument, Kyle and Mike Shanahan should have been fired last year. Add an elite QB and everyone on offense looks better, as does K&M. The Skins have some quality players on D, but no stud defender that scares the opposing team. Haslett has schemed hard to avoid the weaknesses in defensive personnel. It's hard to hide that all game long let alone over six games.

IF Danny Smith has not been fired by now, I have a hard time believing Jim Haslett will be fired by Mike Shanahan at the end of the year. And neither Crennel nor Rivera generate much enthusiasm from me. Neither have had very good defenses since they left their original teams that gave them their reputation. And those teams had some very fine players that made the defense work. Bottom line, the players are more important than the coaching in the NFL. However, selecting the RIGHT players for your defense or offense is a critical component to success. Not convinced the Redskins have the right players to succeed on defense.

[Lavarleap56]

Crennel has how much talent on that kc defense and he's ranked below the skins on football outsiders.

To be fair the book on Crennel is like Wade Phillips in a sense.. When they are just Defensive Coordinators they are pretty good.

[justice98]

As Kyle has shown, you're only as good as your players....

Kyle's very underrated by Redskin fans. Kyle's pretty good, with or without players, I don't think RG3's making him. He's making him better, but Kyle's legit in his own right. Let's remember, he scraped together a 16th ranked defense with a questionable line play, 3 different starting running backs, Jabar Gaffney as the leading receiver, and Rex Grossman and John Beck at QB most of all. That's pretty impressive, in my estimation. I think Kyle's better at coaching offense than Haz is at coaching defense.

---------- Post added December-26th-2012 at 10:38 AM ----------

I respect the opinion of several folks on here who insist that Haslett is a horrible DC and the defense had three years to improve but hasn't despite the 6 game winning streak. But Haslett has worked with a defense missing 4-6 starters all season and relatively weak depth at some positions. Missing both safeties all year created a huge problem from the getgo, and the loss of Orakpo and Carriker for most of the season neutralized the front 7 pass rush. I'm not so sure other DCs could have done much better. By that argument, Kyle and Mike Shanahan should have been fired last year. Add an elite QB and everyone on offense looks better, as does K&M. The Skins have some quality players on D, but no stud defender that scares the opposing team. Haslett has schemed hard to avoid the weaknesses in defensive personnel. It's hard to hide that all game long let alone over six games.

IF Danny Smith has not been fired by now, I have a hard time believing Jim Haslett will be fired by Mike Shanahan at the end of the year. And neither Crennel nor Rivera generate much enthusiasm from me. Neither have had very good defenses since they left their original teams that gave them their reputation. And those teams had some very fine players that made the defense work. Bottom line, the players are more important than the coaching in the NFL. However, selecting the RIGHT players for your defense or offense is a critical component to success. Not convinced the Redskins have the right players to succeed on defense.

Danny Smith has compromising pictures of the owner though. lol

[Skins Wingman]

I am still unsure about Haslett's initial game planning. His/Their adjustments are fine and must be commended. I don't care for the way we start the game defensively.

this is how i feel. if he was a good coordinator, he wouldn't have to make adjustments because the gameplan would be good from the start.

[Riggo-toni]

It will depend upon who is available. I wish we'd offered a king's ransom to lure Wade Phillips here after the girls booted him. I think Crennel is worthless w/o Belichek. I doubt Rex Ryan gets fired. I'm just not sure who will be available. I have never been a Haz fan.

[DarkLink]

I think it's simple. If there is a better DC in the offseason, you replace him. If not, you keep him.

[Lavarleap56]

this is how i feel. if he was a good coordinator, he wouldn't have to make adjustments because the gameplan would be good from the start.

Agee.. Funny how people have forgot the first few games of the season where the D was good in the first half then fell apart in the second. Haslett was killed for not making adjustments.

The defense seems to only put together one half of solid football under Haslett.

[thomasroane]

I've been consistent thinking that he should stay. Changing just for change's sake is what the Redskins used to do. I disagree that we have a talented corp of DB's. Josh Wilson is the closest player we have to being a shut down corner. And he's not big enough to truly be labeled that. We all know D-Hall is a good ball hawk and a good zone corner. Crawford has potential but still makes rookie mistakes. The safeties (the very backbone of your secondary) would have a hard time starting for any other NFL team.

The Front 7 has been Haz' forte'. Raheem was brought in to improve the secondary. Slowik was horrible last year. Morris has been better lately but they still give up some bad plays. The front 7 has been solid despite missing Rak, Carriker, and Keenan Robinson. If you're going to blame Haz for underachieving players then you also have to give him credit for coaching up Rob Jackson and the One man Gang as LB's. The pressures he's dialed up have been great and timed almost perfectly. Those pressures have led to most of the turn overs the defense has created.

Mike Shannahan wanted the 3-4 and wanted a defense that created Turn-overs. You can check that box big time! And that's been the secret to success for a lot of playoff teams lately. To fire Haz for doing what Mike S wanted would be dead wrong and have us starting over next year. I don't care if the players get mad at Haz. The days of players calling shots are long gone and should remain in the past! You show me a 'player's coach' and I'll show you a loser. (See Norv Turner and Wade Phillips).

Just as an added bonus, the Front 7 has been a beast vs the run all year long! There have been a couple of break aways but the avg per run has been pretty damn good all year. That's good coaching.

Keep Haz!

[MrJL]

Yeah, I really think it comes down to the Dallas game. If we play soft like we did 2nd half Thanksgiving and lose 34-31, he might be gone. If we win, you'd have to keep him around for a playoff team with some injuries and the cap hit. Next year we'll have Carriker, Rak, Meriweather, Jackson, and a few draft picks and FAs. We MIGHT be able to be a top 10 defense next year.

Merriweather and Jackson have done nothing to earn their way onto this team next year and were signed as stopgaps. There will be other stopgaps next year, if we have to have them

[WSHRedskins3ATLBraves3]

No, we need to bring in a 3-4 guy to run this defense.

I hate watching us settle into soft zones with 3 man rushes at the worst possible times.