When addressing accountability for Washington, it’s vital that coaches tighten up in key areas
by Jamual Forrest
In defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s weekly press conference with the media he made a very good comment regarding the performance of his players when he said “consistency is the truest measure of performance”. That is a solid and very true statement, and that same comment can be said for coaches as well. The defensive side of the football for Washington throughout this year had spurts of consistency, where they played sound and disciplined football in the secondary and in the trenches. Their best outings were during the 4 game winning streak against the Ravens and Eagles. Against Baltimore they stifled the Ravens passing attack, sacking Joe Flacco 3 times and producing constant pressure, and after the first quarter shut down the rushing game of Baltimore even pitching a shutout in the second half. In the Eagles game they completely shut down the offense of Philadelphia, not allowing a touchdown the entire game, sacking quarterback Carson Wentz 5 times and holding their top 10 rushing attack to under 100 yards on the day. There have been flashes of competence, but there has realistically been no signs of consistency as the season went along.
As far as coaching go on the defensive side, Joe Barry has often times been reluctant to produce change, or call plays to put his defense in the best position to win.
A few examples for specification:
Against the Cardinals, the defense for Washington got off to a bad start allowing a 15 play drive for over 70 yards and a touchdown, but after that the next two drives they were able to get off the field, creating pressure and being able to stuff David Johnson at the line as well. There were adjustments made by the Arizona offense, where they stopped taking deep drops and started getting the ball out of Palmer’s hand at a faster rate. Throughout the game even after the Cardinals’ adjustments, Barry was relying on the pressure to get home with a few stunts from the pass rushers in an attempt to get a free rusher to the quarterback, but by that time Palmer was already throwing the out route or slant to David Johnson or Larry Fitzgerald. In this instance (and I am not a defensive coordinator for the record, I think), you would consider more pressure schemes that gets his rushers to the quarterback at a quicker speed or even send blitzes that rattle the immobile Palmer.
During the season, the conclusion made about Josh Norman since week 2 was that he was limited to the outside cornerback position and not the slot. However, when facing the Cardinals this past week he used Norman in the slot a few times to matchup with hall of famer Larry Fitzgerald or even sending him on a blitz – exactly where was this during the earlier portions of the season? Or even when receiver Stephon Diggs abused the slot corner in week 13 when the Minnesota Vikings came into FedEx Field?
These issues mentioned are just two examples of issues many fans and media members that cover the team has had problems with Barry, the lack of constant adjustments which is required in every of the 60 minutes of a football game, and the constant decisions to limit his players when he can put them in positions to win. It should be noted that the issues are not all on Barry as Washington simply does not have much talent across the board defensively; however, when reading into his “Consistency is the truest measure of performance” quote, defensively it has been lacking year long, and it is not just a player issue.
This comment made by Joe Barry does not just fall on the defensive side as well.
Offensive coordinator Sean McVay is a great young offensive mind, producing this year’s 2nd best offense in terms of yards and 10th best in terms of points, but the flaws lie in the opponent’s territory. As good as those numbers are, the Redskins have one of the worst red zone offenses in the league, and that is due to lack of execution, but more importantly irrational and heavily imbalanced play calling once reaching that area of opponent’s territory.
A few examples:
In the Arizona game, there was a first and goal from the 1 yard line that was then pushed to the 6 after an illegal shift. Shortly after that they were given an opportunity from the 1 yard line on 2nd and goal to punch the ball into the endzone, and after a 0 yard gain from Robert Kelly the Redskins’ offense attempted a fade route to 5’10” receiver Desean Jackson on a top 5 cornerback, Patrick Peterson. That was on the 1 yard line. The probability of getting 1 yard is in favor of the offensive team but an unfavorable play call was made for the offense resulting in 3 points instead of 6 for the Redskins. These instances have put the Redskins in trouble all year, as they have put themselves in disadvantageous situations by just play calling alone. The fade routes all year long, the one direct snap to Robert Kelly with poor execution, the imbalance of more pass to run where you need way more balance: simplicity in this area of the field is the best option and Washington constantly outthinks themselves when in position to score.
Also in the Arizona game Robert Kelley was having a good amount of success, and he finished the game with 63 yards on just 14 carries which is a 4.5 per carry average. It was obvious that Sean McVay strayed away from the run far too often in the game. Kelley didn’t get his second carry in the game until the second quarter. The biggest issue in some eyes is his willingness to go away from the hot hand. His first carry went for 13 yards for a first down and was immediately subbed out for Chris Thompson the next play. That happened often throughout the game, as Washington often indicated to through personnel what play call was coming, and Arizona took advantage teeing off on quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Redskins finished the game with 16 rushing attempts by running backs, in a game that was very successful for them on the ground, a rushing attack would have alleviated much of the pressure being sent by the Cardinals if there was an effort to stay true to the ground game. The numbers back up their inability to remain balanced in their losses, as they average just 19 rushing attempts in their losses to 28 in their victories. Now, of all people, I’m aware to how the flow of a game dictates play calling as well, and if the quarterback has the hot hand there is no need to stray away from the air attack. Let him win it for you, but often times they have completely gotten away from it when it can open up the play calling even more.
No better time for change than the present:
Season long the consensus was “hey, they are struggling now, but they’ll get back on track and even things out”, but that time has still not arrived. So for the last time for this season and for the sake of their playoff hopes, the coaches have no choice but to get better and provide consistency in their play calling and personnel decisions. Offensively things have went well, but they should be well aware the odds are they will not win if they do not produce more touchdowns rather than settling for field goals. Defensively the coaches have an opportunity to put their best players on the field, also not limiting the talent they do have, while being more aggressive in play calling. Accountability is needed all throughout the team if playoffs happen for Washington. Coaches and players both have to step their game up.