Even in the cases when Bowen got his sacks last Sunday, the plays were not created solely for the safety to do so. There were other players blitzing from other lanes and other positions on the field at the same time -- "If you've got a heartbeat and a jersey you get a chance to pressure," safeties coach Steve Jackson said -- and their success is not only measured in sacks, but in doing anything they can to disrupt the timing of the offense.
"Everybody has got to know where they fit within the scheme on any call that comes up," defensive lineman Joe Salave'a said. "Matt Bowen happened to be the guy last week, but there were other guys not too far away from having the kind of game Matt did, and that's the luck of the draw. You take what the offense gives you and you run with it and try to exploit them as much as possible."
Matt Bowen sacked Tampa Bay's Brad Johnson twice last Sunday. It was the Redskins safety's first sacks since 1999, his senior year at Iowa.
(Jonathan Newton -- The Washington Post)
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Warner said: "They do a lot of different things and they have guys that can win one-on-one matchups across the board, and that's what you love to see, because it allows a defense to attack from a lot of different angles and do a lot of different things. And they've got some great personnel so far in what I've seen. I've noticed them flying around making a lot of plays -- a lot of big plays -- and putting guys in one-on-one situations and those guys are playing very well and winning those matchups a lot."
The Redskins blitzed on 70 percent of Tampa Bay's offensive plays, an extraordinarily high ratio even for Williams. "I've never been in a game where we've pressured that much before," he said.
But those decisions were based on the Buccaneers' offensive formations and their refusal to bring in extra tight ends and blockers to protect the quarterback. Having watched that tape, lacking talent on the offensive line and knowing that Warner has a history of concussions, the Giants place more of an emphasis on protecting the quarterback.
"We'll have to adapt when teams max protect more," Williams said. "For whatever reason Tampa chose not to max protect, and New York might, and if that happens then we're going to have to adapt."
Despite holding Tampa Bay to 169 total yards and three points (the Buccaneers defense scored Tampa's touchdown), last Sunday's debut for the defense was far from perfect.
Williams believes his team's effort and enthusiasm covered up some mistakes. Washington was nearly burned on a safety blitz in the first quarter, for example; Bowen came after the passer and rookie Sean Taylor, the free safety, took a bad angle on wide receiver Joey Galloway as he raced toward the end zone, Williams said. Taylor did well to recover however, and Galloway failed to grab a sure touchdown pass.
"Sometimes you've got to be lucky," Williams said.
The first game was also the smallest of windows into what Williams has in store. The defensive coaches revealed little, using the same formations repeatedly while relying heavily on four or five calls. "We were able to get through that game and not actually show too much of what we have," Arrington said. There was an occasional bit of trickery and rotation, with cornerback Shawn Springs lined up along the defensive line at times and linebackers shifting around, but far less motion than will be prevalent once the players get more settled in the system.
By that time, under Williams's plans, safeties will align as linebackers and vice versa in a maze of activity that will end just moments before the ball is snapped. The true formation will be disguised for as long as possible. Substitutions will be frequent -- "We're going to use as many different people as we can and as many different packages as we can," Williams said -- and the Redskins believe the opposition will often be left guessing as to where the blitz will originate.
"You have to be concerned, is Lott coming?" Jackson said, referring to Redskins' free safety Andre Lott. "Is Taylor coming? Is LaVar coming? Is [linebacker] Marcus [Washington] coming? Are the tackles dropping? Are the ends dropping? They all work together in unison on those things and last week it was Matt. This week it could be 'Big Stick' [Fred] Smoot. It may be Coach Williams coming off the sidelines. You never know."
