Earlier today I posted my questions and answers with Rich Tandler, the Washington Redskins correspondent for Comcast Sportsnet Washington, in regards to their offense. Here's what I asked him about their new 3-4 defense and their poor stats against the pass.
Here are the questions I answered for Rich over at CSNWashington.com.
APC: The pass defense has been giving up over 300 yards per game and leads the league with 119 completions against them. Can they slow down Aaron Rodgers?
Rich Tandler: The pass defense stats are skewed by the huge game (497 yards) that Matt Schaub of the Texans put up in the second game. And they have been giving up a lot of yards late in the game while utilizing the dreaded prevent defense. It did prevent a win against Houston but (barely) worked against Dallas and Philly. That being said, the Redskins pass defense hasn't been solid. They have been good at preventing the big play but receivers are piling up some nice yardage after the catch thanks to loose coverage and the pass rush pressure has been good but not great. As long as Rodgers remains patient and doesn't try too hard to push for the big play, he will be able to pile up some yardage against the Redskins.
APC: How much might we see of Albert Haynesworth and what is his current role in the defensive rotation?
Rich: Albert played his best game of the season by far against the Eagles. He played on 33 of 78 defensive snaps, which doesn't sound like much but it was the second-most among defensive linemen (they rotate heavily according to the situation and run with two-man fronts on occasion). Haynesworth was credited with four tackles and he drew two holding flags. It has taken him this long to learn his role in this defense which is primarily as an end with an occasional snap at nose tackle. Haynesworth is paying the price for refusing to attend minicamp and OTA's, where he could have learned the new defense. It would appear that the war between Albert and Shanahan is over, with the coach winning in a rout. But things have looked peaceful at times in the past only to have another A-Bomb (A is for Albert, of course) blow up and create another firestorm.