You can reach Rich Tandler by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net
Chief among the concerns of the Redskins these days is their
pass defense. Even during their recent two-game winning streak the opposing
passing game has put a scare into the team and its fans. While the Skins are
playing with fire, it is possible to have a successful season without anything
resembling a shut-down pass defense.
The 1983 Redskins went 14-2. The team scored 541 points,
which at the time was the NFL record for the most points scored in a season.
They had the Smurfs, a group of diminutive wide receivers. The Hogs had grown
from being a group of large, sweaty linemen into a certified pop culture
phenomenon. The Fun Bunch, which had some Smurfs as part of its membership,
celebrated touchdowns.
There was one other group with a nickname, one that wasn’t
particularly cute or complimentary. The defensive backfield came to be known as
the Pearl Harbor Crew as it was getting bombed with alarming frequency.
It started in the opening game when Danny White rallied the
Cowboys from a 23-3 halftime deficit with three second-half touchdown passes.
Two of them were to Tony Hill covering 75 and 51 yards. In the fifth game
against the Raiders, they got hit with the ultimate bomb, a 99-yard touchdown
pass from Jim Plunkett to Cliff Branch. A couple of weeks later Green
Bay’s Lynn Dickey got into the act, throwing for 387
yards in a Monday night thriller that the Packers won.
After that game, the Redskins were last in the NFL in pass
defense. Nobody was all that worried, however, since they were 5-2. In fact, they finished the season allowing
an average of 273 yards a game through the air; they ranked 28th out
of 28 teams in pass defense but they were able to joke about it because they
were 14-2.
There were a few reasons why the team put up such poor
stats. One was that teams almost always found themselves trailing the high-scoring
Redskins in the early going, forcing them to put the ball up early and often.
Also, it was very difficult to run against the Washington
defense; they finished the year ranked #1 against the rush. “Running at them is
like throwing popcorn at a battleship,” commented former Eagles coach Dick
Vermeil at the time.
Another was that the Redskins had a lot of new faces in
their secondary. At cornerback Joe Lavender had retired and Jeris White sat out
the year in a contract dispute. Taking their places were rookie Darrell Green,
who was talented but very raw, and second-year player Vernon Dean. At safety,
Tony Peters, a Pro Bowl performer the year before, was out serving a
drug-related suspension, leaving Curtis Jordan, a veteran much better suited
for special teams duty, to start alongside Mark Murphy, who was a savvy veteran
but one who was slow afoot.
The current Redskins aren’t quite as low as their ’83
counterparts in the NFL rankings against the pass after four games this year.
The 232 yards per game they have allowed so far puts them 26th in
the 32-team league. Certainly, you can’t look at the team having large leads as
the reason for the high opposition totals. The Redskins have trailed or have
had a single-digit lead for the vast majority of the time this year. They have,
however, been solid against the run, giving up an average of just 79.3 yards a
game, fourth in the NFL. If I’m an opposing offensive coordinator, I’m probably
going to be throwing it all day, too.
And, certainly, there has been turnover in the personnel.
Adam Archuleta and Kenny Wright are new to the defense and Carlos Rogers
started just five games last year and played in 12.
While the original Pearl Harbor Crew did get blasted for
some big plays, they also made a lot of their own. Washington picked off 34
opposition passes that year, a theft pace that this year’s group will be
hard-pressed to match. If they keep up their current rate of one every two
games they’ll have eight picks by the end of the year.
Rich Tandler is the
author of The Redskins From A to Z, Volume 1: The Games. This unique book
has an account of every game the Redskins played from when they moved to
Washington for the 1937 season through 2001. For details and ordering
information go to http://www.RedskinsGames.com
