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Redskins Ingredients for Improvement: Resilience is key

By Ian Cummings

BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 30: Head coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins looks on against the Baltimore Ravens in the first half of a preseason game at M&T Bank Stadium on August 30, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 30: Head coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins looks on against the Baltimore Ravens in the first half of a preseason game at M&T Bank Stadium on August 30, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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LANDOVER, MD – NOVEMBER 04: Tevin Coleman #26 of the Atlanta Falcons heads for the end zone on a 39-yard touchdown catch and run in the first quarter of the game against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on November 4, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD – NOVEMBER 04: Tevin Coleman #26 of the Atlanta Falcons heads for the end zone on a 39-yard touchdown catch and run in the first quarter of the game against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on November 4, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

No. 2 – Repair the damage to the Alabama Wall

What happened to the Alabama Wall?

In the weeks leading up to Washington’s bout with the Atlanta Falcons, the Redskins’ defensive line, referred to as the Alabama Wall, hadn’t given up more than 61 rushing yards to a rusher yet this season. They came into the game as a top five run defense. Against a Falcons line ailing from its own injuries, it was assumed that the Redskins’ front would have some success.

Instead, Tevin Coleman rushed for 88 yards on 13 carries. Ito Smith ran for 60 yards and a touchdown on ten carries. And the Alabama Wall was left behind in a cloud of dust, battered, uneven, and defeated.

The Falcons used clever run designs to negate the Wall’s impact, running to the outside and exploiting Mason Foster and other linebackers. That said, it wasn’t the finest outing for the Wall’s members. Matt Ioannidis logged a sack, but the unit as a whole was shut down for most of the game. Jonathan Allen, in particular, was handled rather easily by the Falcons’ interior.

This week, Jim Tomsula has to bring the urgency back into the trenches, and resurrect a defensive line that used to make plays all across the field. When Washington’s front is on, the defense is utterly unstoppable. But as Sunday showed, when they aren’t, it makes the opposing offense’s job that much easier.

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