Redskins defense needs more takeaways, victories

By JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer

ASHBURN, Va.(AP) — After signing his $100 million contract in
February, Albert Haynesworth readily discussed how his presence
might make the Washington Redskins defense better.

“What I should have said,” Haynesworth said this week, “is we’ll
get some more wins. That’s the thing I failed to mention.”

For the most past, the Redskins’ expectations for Haynesworth
and the rest of the defense have come to pass. He has made the
players around him better. Andre Carter already has 6 1/2 sacks.
Brian Orakpo leads all rookies with 3 1/2. Overall, the defense
is tied for fourth in the league in yards allowed (283.4) and is
fifth in points allowed (17.6). The Redskins have gone 30 games
without giving up 30 points, the longest such streak in the NFL.

But it’s hard to express much pride when the team isn’t winning.

“You’ve just got to look at what you are as a team,” said middle
linebacker London Fletcher, who leads the league in tackles.
“We’re 2-5, so what else is there to say?”

For the sake of unity, the defensive players have done a good
job biting their tongues about the offense’s failure to pull its
weight. The Redskins have yet to score more than 17 points in a
game, rendering many of those defensive stats meaningless in the
win-loss column. They talk about the defense holding down the
fort until quarterback Jason Campbell and the banged-up
offensive line can get their act together.

Yet there’s also more the defense can do. For all the increased
pressure the Redskins are putting on quarterbacks, for all the
solid play against the run, they still haven’t cured their
years-long takeaway problem. Washington only has seven, last in
the league again.

“We have the numbers, but we don’t have numbers in areas that
change games,” secondary coach Jerry Gray said Thursday. “We
don’t have the interceptions, the turnovers, stuff like that. I
think if we did, we’d be a lot better off.”

DeAngelo Hall has three interceptions; the rest of the team has
combined for zero. The defense has forced 11 fumbles – that’s
pretty good, tied for fifth in the NFL – but it has recovered
only four.

“The big thing is when the ball’s in our hands, we’ve got to
intercept it,” Gray said. “When the ball’s on the ground, we’ve
got to pick it up. We know we’re doing the blue collar work of
causing fumbles; now we’ve got to do the blue collar work of
picking them up. … It hasn’t bounced our way.”

If that quote sounds familiar, it is. Versions of it have been
uttered at Redskins Park for much of this decade. Last year, the
defense ranked 28th in takeaways. It was 25th the year before
and at the very bottom of the league the year before that.

Gray contends that if the pass rush keeps getting to the
quarterback, the turnovers will finally start to happen over the
second half of this year.

“If we keep hitting them, either they’ll keep getting hit or
they’ll throw the ball sooner,” Gray said.

Even a defense that’s playing well can succumb to frustration.
Whether it comes from more points by the offense or more
takeaways by the defense, the Redskins need a formula that
generates a win or two to keep the morale up on both sides of
the ball.

“We’ve got to do something here,” Haynesworth said. “Our losses
are starting to pile up, and if we get a few more we can count
ourselves out of the playoffs.”

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