How did the Washington defense confuse the Dallas offense?

ApolytonGP

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I'm a Skins fan, but I'd love to get some insight from "the other side". There is a famous book on military strategy by Hart, The Other Side of the Hill, where he interviewed German generals and got their perspective on which Allied generals were good/not (Patton better than Monty), which servicemen were braver (English better than Americans), etc.

Now of course fans are interested in how their players did (not the opposition). So the norm on fan sites is to read about "how our guys messed up" in a loss. This is the same for y'all, for Commanders, for the Browns, etc. And nothing wrong with that. Of course that is your focus.

But still, I'm curious what your impressions of the Skins defense were, from "the other side of the hill". It's perplexing to me how they were able to stymie Dallas, which has an explosive offense, when the Skins were down several starters (DT Allen, S Kurl, C BSJ (and Jackson before that), LB Davis and Bostic (and Holcomb before that).

We are very excited by Howell (and maybe there should be an analysis on why/how you didn't abuse him). But it seems like the victory was much more about the defense than the offense. A pick six, two turnovers on downs (one in punt defense), a fumble recovery in punt defense, and only 6 points conceded. Also, they seemed to stop both the run and the pass (from yardage totals).

Was there something schematic that Washington did to confuse Dak/Moore? Or some standard defense that matches well against them (might be repeated by other opponents)?

Just from snap counts, it looked like our normal "no base", with 4-2-5 (nickel) 80% of snaps, with a small amount of 5-1-5 (we call it "cinco", but it's really just a 3-4 front in nickel--one-two of the DEs standing up like an OLB in 3-4, and one MLB missing) and 4-1-6 (dime). So, our normal packages that we've run all year at least (not some strange Belichick thing). [I guess the one thing I heard was that for SS they switched a lot...tried to sub in Reeves, a coverage liability, on run downs and Butler on pass downs.]

Of course, I don't know how the DBs were deployed or how the line played their gaps. Hard to evaluate for a non-expert, watching live broadcast.

Obviously some aspects are luck (the punter sack), but others like the pick six seem more non-flukey. Fuller was in position for that two plays in a row. He also had a very similar pick six against the (other) Texans a few weeks ago.

Anyhow, just appreciate your thoughts. Was it all luck (or Dallas poor play) or was there something schematic (or even personnel strengths) of Washington that affected the outcome?

P.s. Off topic, but we really enjoy the Vanilla Gorilla. Just something funny about his attitude or how he looks. And he does some to shed well, to make tackles before they even get to the next level, in run defense.
 
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TexasHillbilly

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The Commanders just beat Dallas down on all sides of the ball. Fumbles and pick 6's didn't help either. I almost had to get out a calculator to count all the 3 and out's. Very frustrating all the way around.

Note: We are in the playoffs.
 

acr731

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This guy is easily confused, thats how.

220px-Dak_Prescott_WAS_%40_DAL_2021_%28cropped%29.jpg
 

32BellyOption

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Not sure it was so much confused as it was a team that obviously didn’t give a crap about the game. Y’all played good and congrats but the teams mental focus obviously wasn’t there.
 

Surfguy

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It’s funny this could have been a tie game at 6 if the cowboys didn’t turn it over 3 times per their own mistakes...even after WSH bullied and beat us up all night long dominating the LOS.
 

acr731

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Not sure it was so much confused as it was a team that obviously didn’t give a crap about the game. Y’all played good and congrats but the teams mental focus obviously wasn’t there.
If this team was mentally checked out or satisfied with the 5th seed, then they should just go ahead and forfeit the playoff game and go home. I'm tired of these losers and their loser attitudes.
 

JayFord

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they didnt confuse anything

Dallas didnt care and rolled in with the most vanilla plays ever...half of me thinks they were prepping for tampa all week

and if Washington was any good they win this one 50-0

we play like this against Tampa were done
 

Aven8

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For one you have an awesome Dline. That Dline played us better than any other this season IMO. Two, that was the second game against us and Rivera and Del Rio were sitting on every route like they knew the offense.

Not to bag on your team but this game for us was an outlier. Just as our first game was vs Tampa. The 15 in the middle were pretty darn good.
 

catskillthunder

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Credit to WSH and playing hard for each other and their coaches, they deserved that W. It is what it is man, I knew it was going to be "one of those games" when the mistakes were piling up in the 1st quarter. The muffed punt, the 3 and outs, etc immediately made me realize the team was not focused and had zero urgency to finish the season strong. I'm a huge believer in momentum and going on the road to TB coming off a loss is a recipe for disaster. I'll root for the team and be right there till the clock hits 0:00, but I also will not be one bit surprised if the outcomes is another 1 and done. When you don't have lofty expectations, you can't be too disappointed. That's where I have been with this team for years.
 

KMY_Amber

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they didnt confuse anything

Dallas didnt care and rolled in with the most vanilla plays ever...half of me thinks they were prepping for tampa all week

and if Washington was any good they win this one 50-0

we play like this against Tampa were done
The problem is that these same vanilla plays and formations (on both sides of the ball) may be all Moore and Quinn have at their disposal.

So, Brady and Todd Bowles are likely salivating, since Dallas doesn't seem to stray too far from the mean.

We should all be worried as fans.
 

GMO415

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Dallas offense didn't have a game plan. They were trying out plays they normally don't play and throwing it to WRs they normally don't target 20 times.
 

JayFord

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The problem is that these same vanilla plays and formations (on both sides of the ball) may be all Moore and Quinn have at their disposal.

So, Brady and Todd Bowles are likely salivating, since Dallas doesn't seem to stray too far from the mean.

We should all be worried as fans.
theyve played a whole year showing that they have an expansive offense and defense with creative plays and not just a basic vanilla playbook

the issue has always been situational playcalling....
 

ApolytonGP

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Thanks kindly for the many replies. Seems like it wasn't any bizarre scheme to confuse Dak/Kellen. More of an effort thing, the good DL (even with Allen out), and luck on the punt defense and punt coverage turnovers.

Yes, your team is better and had more success this year. Yes, Skins offense is not very explosive.

Good luck against the Bucs. I don't think they are a strong contender. Really, they don't scare me, rather play them than you. And Vegas agrees--you are favored.

P.s. Parsons looked like his hand hurts him. Saw him holding it at times. Maybe should have casted it longer. (But I'm not a doctor.)
 

exciter

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I'm a Skins fan, but I'd love to get some insight from "the other side". There is a famous book on military strategy by Hart, The Other Side of the Hill, where he interviewed German generals and got their perspective on which Allied generals were good/not (Patton better than Monty), which servicemen were braver (English better than Americans), etc.

Now of course fans are interested in how their players did (not the opposition). So the norm on fan sites is to read about "how our guys messed up" in a loss. This is the same for y'all, for Commanders, for the Browns, etc. And nothing wrong with that. Of course that is your focus.

But still, I'm curious what your impressions of the Skins defense were, from "the other side of the hill". It's perplexing to me how they were able to stymie Dallas, which has an explosive offense, when the Skins were down several starters (DT Allen, S Kurl, C BSJ (and Jackson before that), LB Davis and Bostic (and Holcomb before that).

We are very excited by Howell (and maybe there should be an analysis on why/how you didn't abuse him). But it seems like the victory was much more about the defense than the offense. A pick six, two turnovers on downs (one in punt defense), a fumble recovery in punt defense, and only 6 points conceded. Also, they seemed to stop both the run and the pass (from yardage totals).

Was there something schematic that Washington did to confuse Dak/Moore? Or some standard defense that matches well against them (might be repeated by other opponents)?

Just from snap counts, it looked like our normal "no base", with 4-2-5 (nickel) 80% of snaps, with a small amount of 5-1-5 (we call it "cinco", but it's really just a 3-4 front in nickel--one-two of the DEs standing up like an OLB in 3-4, and one MLB missing) and 4-1-6 (dime). So, our normal packages that we've run all year at least (not some strange Belichick thing). [I guess the one thing I heard was that for SS they switched a lot...tried to sub in Reeves, a coverage liability, on run downs and Butler on pass downs.]

Of course, I don't know how the DBs were deployed or how the line played their gaps. Hard to evaluate for a non-expert, watching live broadcast.

Obviously some aspects are luck (the punter sack), but others like the pick six seem more non-flukey. Fuller was in position for that two plays in a row. He also had a very similar pick six against the (other) Texans a few weeks ago.

Anyhow, just appreciate your thoughts. Was it all luck (or Dallas poor play) or was there something schematic (or even personnel strengths) of Washington that affected the outcome?

P.s. Off topic, but we really enjoy the Vanilla Gorilla. Just something funny about his attitude or how he looks. And he does some to shed well, to make tackles before they even get to the next level, in run defense.
Vanilla offense… basically just ran the pre season offense. Playing not to get injured!
 
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