For the Redskins, Pressure Situation

It was against Tampa Bay that Williams, who considers himself more of a teacher than a coach, seemed frustrated by his players' execution. He responded by teaching more. What he began to see was his secondary failing to recognize the difference between a receiver's routes and his moves -- the feints, fakes and shifts that attempt to keep a defender off-balance. It was, said safeties coach Steve Jackson, a critical distinction.

"If you treat them the same, you'll be behind every play," he said. "If you can recognize one over the other, that a receiver is making one move to set up another, then you'll be able to be a more aggressive player."

The combination of falling for moves and not recognizing routes in the secondary, combined with the lack of a pass rush and offenses adopting max protect, has created the opportunity for big plays that did not exist a season ago.

Nevertheless, Redskins coaches do not believe the defense has been solved. As proof, Coach Joe Gibbs points to the Redskins' overall defensive rank, which despite obvious cracks during this 2-5 stretch, is ninth in the league. Defense was not the culprit in last week's tight loss to Oakland; however, it wasn't particularly stout when the Raiders mounted the game-winning drive. Against the Raiders, the defense yielded 16 points. In four previous games this year, the Redskins were unbeaten when giving up fewer than 18.

"What I'm proud of is that no one has done anything consistently to us," Gibbs said. "It's very difficult to be a top-10 defense with all the talent in this league."

Through the first seven weeks of the season, the Redskins had not given up consecutive 100-yard games rushing or receiving and had not surrendered consecutive 250-yard passing games. It was on this point that Williams appeared bolstered. "We're going to make you one-dimensional," he said. "The first thing we will do to you is take away the running game. If you're going to make yardage against us, it will have to be in the passing game."

During the last three games, McNabb, Simms and Collins each has passed for at least 279 yards, and two wide receivers, Joey Galloway and Porter, caught passes for 131 and 142 yards, respectively.

In the end, the worst scenario for Williams appears to be if he resigns himself to the belief that this season will be one where he never quite attained the personnel mix to be consistently effective. He says he hasn't reached that point, that his issues, and by extension the defensive leaks, are the byproduct of recognition, of reaction, elements he believes can be repaired by repetition and teaching.

"I think the big thing with Washington is, are they physically capable of carrying out what they are doing?" Phil Simms said. "Can they be so aggressive and continuously challenge the other team? And can they keep getting away with it?"