For the Redskins, Pressure Situation

"This year, we're playing better teams, better quarterbacks. A lot of people want this to be a video game, to move a player here, put another one there," Williams said. "But there is a human part to every game. As soon as we looked on the schedule, we saw that every quarterback we faced had the chance to be better than the ones we faced the previous year. Combine that with what we've faced in terms of injury, and you have a different dynamic."

Beyond the crunching of the numbers is a growing sentiment around the league and also among some Redskins players and coaches that the team is rapidly approaching a crossroads. The Redskins are still ranked in the top third of the league defensively, yet have been susceptible to big plays, especially in the fourth quarter.

"Here's the thing," cornerback Shawn Springs said after Sunday's loss to Oakland. "We're not good enough to give up any big plays. All it takes is one or two. We give up that big play, and we lose."

Of the last 21 plays of 27 yards or more the Redskins have allowed, 13 have come in the last five games, and while the coaches do not believe the big-play susceptibility to be a sign of exposure, the defense has sounded a familiar refrain: quarterbacks look as if they know what's coming. Offenses have chosen to max protect, shorthand for the maximum protection formation. Randy Thomas, the Redskins' right guard, remembers facing Williams's Buffalo defense as a member of the New York Jets, and the mantra always had been to max protect.

"It was always confusing, because Gregg never did the same thing," Thomas said. "You thought you had something going, then you looked and they held you under 200 yards. Sometimes we only sent one or two guys out in the pattern."

That means the offense is anticipating a blitz and sends fewer receivers into pass patterns in favor of more blockers. "Anyone who was watching the game closely saw that they were protecting with everyone but their mama," defensive end Renaldo Wynn said of the Raiders in the second half, when Collins threw for 236 yards and a touchdown. "That's what teams are doing against us. They leave everyone back in max protect and leave it to the quarterback to find the spot."

In such a formation, both the offense and defense can claim an advantage. The offense will have enough blockers to find and contain the blitzing defenders, while the defense has fewer receivers to cover.

"If you've got a good, steady quarterback and a smart center, they're going to have an idea," Arrington said. "They might not necessarily know exactly where the pressure is coming from, but they'll know something. Whether you can stop it or not when we're coming, that's the whole thing."

Over the past two weeks, the advantage has gone to the offense. Springs has no sacks and no interceptions. Cornerback Walt Harris has been a target against the blitz. No Redskins cornerback has recorded an interception this year. Arrington has no sacks.

Against the Bucs, Simms recognized the blitz from the linebackers and cornerbacks and challenged the Redskins to stop their wide receivers one-on-one. It was against the Buccaneers that Williams was demonstrably upset by how his team responded to his teaching. He had instructed his secondary not to be beaten by balls over their heads, and yet 169 of Simms's 279 yards came on five backbreaking passes, all of 24 yards or more. The final was a 30-yard touchdown from Simms to Shepherd with 54 seconds remaining.

"Gregg Williams's teams are going to bring a lot of pressure. He has a formidable defense, and with the blitz, you know you're going to get your [butt] kicked," said CBS analyst Boomer Esiason, a former NFL quarterback. "But you also know you're going to get big plays, especially if there's no pressure from the front four. The D-line is the heart and soul of any defense, and without pressure, you're leaving yourself susceptible."

Over the past two weeks, it became clear to Williams that the difference between making plays and giving up big ones stemmed from the technique of his secondary.