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'Skins cold on getting rivals to cough it up
Rested Redskins visit Falcons
Date published: 11/8/2009
BY RICH CAMPBELL ASHBURN-- It was the type of you've-got-to-be-kidding-me moment that the Washington Redskins have come to know too well this season.Linebacker Chris Wilson and defensive end Andre Carter met in the backfield where Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb had set up to pass. Carter delivered the sack and forced a fumble. Wilson saw McNabb had lost the ball, but he couldn't find it. He frantically scanned right. He scanned left. He scanned right again. And by the time he looked down--right between his feet--Philadelphia's LeSean McCoy had recovered the loose ball that was there the whole time. Wilson knew then that he had missed a glorious opportunity to make a big play the Redskins desperately needed. And he felt even worse after he watched the play on film the following day. "I told my wife to take the bullets out of the gun so I don't kill myself," Wilson cracked this week. "It's frustrating, you know." But that's life for the Redskins' defense again this season. It ranks among the NFL's top five in forced fumbles, yards and points allowed, but it has produced a league-low seven turnovers--not enough to compensate for the offense's ineffectiveness. "We have the numbers, but we don't have numbers in areas that change games," secondary coach Jerry Gray said. "We don't have the interceptions, the turnovers and stuff like that. I think if we did, we would be a lot better off." It's not a new problem. The failure to force turnovers has prevented several good Redskins defenses in recent years from achieving elite status. But there's a difference this season. The offseason additions of defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and rookie defensive end/linebacker Brian Orakpo were supposed to fortify the pass rush, which in turn was supposed to force opposing quarterbacks into making bad passes more likely to be intercepted. But while the pass rush has improved, Washington is still last in takeaways. The Redskins' 18 sacks rank seventh in the NFL, but their three interceptions (all by cornerback DeAngelo Hall) are the fewest. There's a disconnect in the formula, and the Redskins are trying to pinpoint where.
Date published: 11/8/2009
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