Redskins prepared to tackle breakdowns

Defensive coordinator George Edwards bristled a bit when the subject of his defensive line came up yesterday.

The Washington Redskins’ line is under increased scrutiny following Stephen Davis’ big day in Saturday’s preseason loss to the Carolina Panthers. Davis averaged better than 10 yards a carry, a potential sign Washington should have done more to boost the line’s personnel and shouldn’t have cut defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson.

That’s not what Edwards is thinking, though. He’s thinking the Redskins’ run defense broke down because of a unit-wide bout of missed tackles, and his tone indicated he’s tired of all the defensive line questions.

“Those guys are working their butts off, and you can’t point a finger and say it was just the defensive line,” Edwards said somewhat gruffly. “We had linebackers miss tackles, we had safeties miss tackles, we had corners miss tackles. Everybody was in on it.”

Bad habits, born from practicing against each other in training camp, contributed to the tackling problems. Players said they got used to making arm tackles and going easy on each other. Arm tackling is precisely the way a player gets run over by a powerful back like Davis, who had something to prove to his old team.

Nose tackle Brandon Noble expects to see a difference by Saturday’s game against New England.

“Tackling is something you don’t get out here a lot,” Noble said. “Believe it or not, it’s not something you can just go out and do. Obviously if it’s a problem again this week, then we’ve got some work to do. But I think it’s something that can be easily remedied.”

To that end, Redskins coaches yesterday instructed players to full-on tackle in practice. Less than two weeks after safety Matt Bowen drew coach Steve Spurrier’s ire for nailing Trung Canidate, the club shifted its focus and made sure certain ballcarriers hit the ground.

The results were a few on-field scrapes, which didn’t please Spurrier. Players, however, realized something needed to change.

“There were times in the game where we made the hit but didn’t tackle, and the ballcarrier got an extra 10 yards,” linebacker Jessie Armstead said. “That’s a reflection on us as a defensive unit.”

Tackling is crucial in any defensive scheme, but the gap-control nature of the Redskins’ set emphasizes it. In essence, each player is responsible for a certain gap and he trusts his teammates will take care of their gaps. If each player does his job, the ballcarrier comes down. If not, there could be little backup.

“The biggest emphasis is just everybody having their responsibility,” Edwards said. “Nobody’s got to do more than just handle their assignment.”

The missed tackles disguised the fact Washington’s line held its ground fairly well, players and team officials said after reviewing tape. Of course, Davis’ series of big runs made that tough to tell.

“Right afterwards I felt really bad,” Noble said. “I watched the film and there are things that need to be cleaned up, but it’s not as bad as it appeared originally. Inside, we played well. We weren’t getting knocked off the ball. We were just missing tackles.”

Despite being confident the current players will improve, the Redskins are monitoring personnel. They continue to hope for a starting-quality defensive tackle on the market, and yesterday newly signed tackle James Cannida was at practice, hoping to get up to speed and in game shape. Although he isn’t viewed as a key player, he might help Washington strengthen its rotation.

Scheme-wise, the team also seemed to be doing more with the 3-4 defense in practice. Edwards, though, is loathe to talk about tactical issues. He said there was no correlation between Saturday’s performance and yesterday’s use of the set.

“We ran the 3-4 last year, and it’s still in our package this year,” Edwards said.

The preseason, in any case, isn’t about schematic adjustments. Teams run basic sets and don’t try to do anything tricky. The focus now is simple: Get in position, make tackles, be tough and show some improvement against New England.

“I’m not going to get too concerned right now,” cornerback Champ Bailey said. “It’s the first game. You’ve got to give guys a chance to really show themselves. We’ve got three more preseason games, three more opportunities to let the talent show.”