Burgundy & Gold Reaction: Comprehensive Disaster

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October 12, 2021

by David Earl

Is it Miscommunication or Scheme

It was a different week, but the results were the same on defense. Mark Bullock, as usual, is all over this mess we call a defense. Whether Jack Del Rio is unable to coach up this unit or the players are too selfish to follow the scheme, in many fans’ eyes the issues seem to be very clear each week: communication, or the lack thereof. In the NFL, all too often the intermediate to deep areas of the field are exploited by opposing offenses as a result of what appears to be miscommunication, such as the Darrius Slayton touchdown drop against the Giants on Thursday night.  In the play shown above, William Jackson III was clearly releasing off coverage expecting the safety to roll over the top but Collins, once again, was out of position, apparently expecting man coverage by Jackson. Perhaps it’s more poor scheme than miscommunication here in Washington, but in consecutive weeks we’ve seen a big play for a touchdown over the safety Landon Collins. In what appeared as zone coverage and William Jackson III releasing off Deonte Harris, Collins was never able to recover and was beaten for a 72 yard touchdown. What’s perplexing about this, though, is that Collins starts off near the line of scrimmage and simply never gets in position quick enough to even potentially disrupt the play. It appears to be another play where Washington’s safety is simply not on the same page as the cornerback, much like Cordarrelle Patterson‘s 42 yard touchdown a week ago in Atlanta.

The creme de la creme with the Hail Mary play was that after Landon Collins told the media that Washington’s defense was prepared for anything but the Hail Mary, Ron specifically said that they were in fact prepared. I mean you can’t make this up – not only can’t this team properly coordinate on the field, but they are not in unison off the field whatsoever, as seen by 2 very different answers. I hear this defense just has too much talent to be this bad, but after 5 weeks the players continue to be out of position in the secondary and the big plays have become an epidemic. While I’d love to simply isolate all blame on Collins, Jackson, and the rest of this swiss cheese secondary but Jack Del Rio is just as culpable too. Anytime you allow a scenario where Collins is isolated in deep coverage and Bostic (pre-injury) has to drop into zone coverage that’s just negligence on his part, especially when William Jackson III and Kendall Fuller have been as bad as they’ve been this year. There also lies another issue: coverage scheme best suits this secondary? Play zone and Collins becomes the mismatch offenses exploit, or go to man coverage where Fuller is weakest and Jackson III looks to be out of sync despite the fact that it’s supposed to be the strongest part of his game. However you dissect this debacle we witness each and every week, the fans seem to have truly had enough:

Where is the Accountability???

Week in and week out the talk from the players and coaches is about “getting it right” and having “closed-door meetings”, with both Jack and Ron expressing frustrations over the miscues, yet nothing has remotely changed. Through 5 weeks, no effort appears to have been put in place to address the defense’s issues and the only significant change made came when their hand was forced when they lost Bostic for the year. While I agree this defense has a lot of new pieces and the chemistry takes time to develop, that does not excuse a box safety schemed to play the deep middle of the field nor a run-stuffing specialist linebacker constantly being relied on in coverage. I mean for God’s sake, Jamin Davis‘ specialty is in coverage, but he only got 13 snaps in this game…THAT’S 13 SNAPS!!! Second-round pick Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (JOK) for the Cleveland Browns is not only an impact starting linebacker but in the conversation for Defensive Rookie of the Year.  Meanwhile, Washington’s first round pick, Davis, can’t find a significant role on this horrendous defense. At this point of the season don’t tell this fan base “He is still getting used to the NFL speed” because if JOK, the second round draft pick, is having success this quick there’s no excuse Jamin isn’t afforded the same opportunity now. Of course, the possibility exists that maybe Ron reached on Jamin because he’s a man of integrity with a great military background, but that isn’t how players should be drafted in the NFL. Enough with the excuses from the players and preaching from the coaches to the media. It’s time to shut up and man up because any hope this team had to bring back the fans is quickly fading away.

My Closing and Disgusted Final Thought

This poor attempt to bat down a Hail Mary they were ready for but not ready for exemplifies just how the season has gone. The effort has been lackadaisical (at times heartless), preparation is amateurish, and the over-hyped talent is just simply pathetic at all phases of the game. This team had a winnable game on their hands as due to miscue after miscue by New Orleans – good teams win those types of contests, but Washington simply is not there right now. Let’s completely back off any idea of this roster being playoff caliber.  What they have shown through 5 weeks is they are barely a 4 win team, especially considering their tough schedule. Whether you feel last year’s defense was merely an aberration due to the lack of quality teams Washington faced or that the direct cause of this year’s disappointment is lack of cohesion, with so many new pieces inserted, the cruel reality today is that it only gets harder from here. What is being claimed as “fixable” will be hosting Patrick Mahomes next week plus Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, possibly a Russell Wilson return, and Dak Prescott twice in the coming weeks. The gauntlet of quarterbacks coming up are terrible mismatches for a “fixable” defense with serious communication issues and players who seem to be a poor scheme fit as a collective no matter what scheme they run. I guess one positive is that at this rate, this team won’t need to mortgage the future for a quarterback in the 2022 draft because they are on pace for a top 5 pick anyway.

Speaking of quarterback, I am not ready to throw the towel in for Taylor Heinicke even though many have started to call for Kyle Allen. He may certainly not be Washington’s future but allow him to prove just that going forward. His mobility and poise from the pocket have proven to be valuable assets in keeping plays alive and pushing the ball down field. We need to see just how he recovers from these poor performances and just how much further he can develop his game throughout this season. I get the sense of urgency but it serves this team no good just running through young quarterbacks without allowing them to work out their issues and adjusting. Besides, if this defense makes a few more stops and plays to even half of its supposed potential, the conversation around Heinicke would be very different right now. I won’t call for patience as that would be disingenuous, but it’s also a bit callous to suggest, “let’s give him just a little more rope over the next few weeks, because the worst that could happen is ending up with a top 3 draft pick.” Life is never without harsh realities, and occasionally gives a gut punch or two.