Haslett downplays defense yardage rankings

[Ram_of_Old]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...s-jim-haslett-yardage-rankings-are-for-losers

Said Haslett: "Teams that are winning and got big leads, you give up yards at the end of the game. Offenses that aren't very good, they get yardage at the end of the game, so they can rank high. That's not the object. The object is to get the ball back for the offense, let them score points."

The Redskins are going to be sorry they kept Haslett on as DC...

 

[Rams and Gators]

I agree yardage is a joke measure of D, imo the quality of a D is their ability to not give up points and their ability to create turnovers, now Washington wasn't much better in either of those categories but his original point stands.

 

[Yamahopper]

The mantra of all bad defenses. Yardage doesn't matter.
A good defense limits yardage. Yardage turns into points.

 

[Ram_of_Old]

I agree yardage is a joke measure of D, imo the quality of a D is their ability to not give up points and their ability to create turnovers, now Washington wasn't much better in either of those categories but his original point stands.

I would say the former dictates the latter, it that makes sense. The Redkins have some play makers on D, but the D did not play like it had that talent. Thus...they sucked.

 

[Angry Ram]

Washington's defense is terrible.

 

[leoram]

Haslett was the worst DCoordinator the Rams ever had. It seemed every blitz he called got picked up and resulted in a big play for the offense. As creative as he is in his gameplans, his playcalling is atrocious and has been since he left the Saints.

 

[CGI_Ram]

I love Hasslet's fire and intensity. When he coached NO, he seemed legit as a leader to me.

But like Spagnuolo, I'm not sure he's the best at adjusting his scheme.

 

[RamFan503]

I'd agree that yards allowed don't necessarily translate to say your defense is good or bad. Great defenses tend to get the ball back for their offense without letting the opponent score many points. When I think great defenses, I think points allowed and turnovers. I also like to see how the time of possession battle went. People used to argue that our 2001 defense was better than the 1999 defense. But even though the 99 defense ranked #6 in yards, they ranked #4 in points and a lot of those points were in garbage time. The 2001 team ranked #3 in yards allowed but #7 in points. The 99 team was also better at forcing turnovers.

I do think it's funny that Haslett would bring this up being that the Redskins ranked 30th in points allowed last year and 22nd the year before.

 

[Ramrasta]

I understand the concept of draining the clock but sitting on a lead and basically retiring your offense for the game is a weak move. If it's not within the two minute warning, keep your foot on the gas! The Spags/Haslett type coaching of always believing your lead is safe and then just fielding a predictable offense with no aggression is how you lose late in the game by small margins. Stay on the attack and show the other team no mercy!

 

[Boffo97]

What Haslett said might have some merit if the offense was scoring 50 points a game, and the defense was playing Prevent the whole second half of games as a result.

That really isn't what has happened though.

 

[Rams and Gators]

What Haslett said might have some merit if the offense was scoring 50 points a game, and the defense was playing Prevent the whole second half of games as a result.

That really isn't what has happened though.

Although they were put in awful positions by RG3-10 .

 

[LesBaker]

Didn't they play decent defense the year before? Maybe it was injuries I didn't pay any attention to them other than the scores and the won-loss record, which was very satisfying I might add.

 

[Rams and Gators]

Didn't they play decent defense the year before? Maybe it was injuries I didn't pay any attention to them other than the scores and the won-loss record, which was very satisfying I might add.

22nd in scoring D, so not as bad as this year but still below average.

 

[EliteRam]

2002 Bucs Defense: 1st in yards, 1st in scoring, 2008 Steelers Defense: 1st in yards, 1st in scoring, 2013 Seahawks Defense: 1st in yards, 1st in scoring. Haslett is a moron.

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

every time i see the word haslett i picture him on the sidelines at the end of the wild card game against the rams in the 2000 season. he was as white as a ghost. i thought he was about to faint. then az fumbled the ball.

.

 

[EliteRam]

Not bad, they can't help that their offense was turning the ball over 31 times and having like 10 fumbles/picks returned for TDs. 2012 Atlanta was 5th in scoring D but 24th in yards. Eventually good teams are going to exploit that in the playoffs, which is why they gave up 28 points at home in back-to-back playoff games. Both yards and points are important in having a great defense.

 

[Thordaddy]

I guess people expect him to say ,we suck?

I agree a guy who says my defensive numbers are becuz our offense is dominant and we play prevent has a point if it moves his D down a slot or two.When we were scoring at will our defense didn't get a lot of time to rest cuz a three and TD isn't much more time than a three and out.
I don't like Haslett and I don't think without a good to great offense his defenses would rank real high if they had to be in the limit yardage biz ,so whatever Jim, that principle applies in some cases, just not to you.

 

[bluecollarram]

I give Haslett credit, he has been a DC for a long time without having good defenses. I don't know why. Oh and the "garbage" yardage really on a 3-13 team how many leads were they sitting on?

 

[Selassie I]

Thanks Jim.