For Foes, a Redskins Flaw Exposed

"None of this is new to us," Gray said. "Good players don't keep giving up the same play the same way and expect a good result."

'A Copycat League'

Statistically, Washington's deficiencies are evident. The Redskins are ranked 26th in total defense and 30th against the pass. No team has given up more pass plays of more than 40 yards, and only Green Bay's surrender of 32 pass plays greater than 20 yards exceeds the Redskins' 30.

Jimmy Johnson, the former Dallas coach who is now an analyst for Fox, is surprised the Redskins' defense has been so vulnerable for so long. "You have to re-route that slot receiver, where he doesn't have a clean release," Johnson said. "If you don't, I don't care who is back there, the safeties can't cover that much ground. Something will be open."

Of those 30 pass plays of more than 20 yards, 16 have been completed to the vulnerable seam inside the hash marks against Cover-2 or the dime 3-2-6. It was precisely the spot Wayne exploited and one of the reasons Vincent was brought in from Buffalo two weeks ago.

"You get paid to cover in the National Football League. There are certain safeties who play in the box or certain corners that are supposedly physical corners. At the end of the day, when you keep the big ball off of you, you stay in the National Football League," Vincent said. "When I can keep that big ball off of me, I keep the zebra stripes from putting up the touchdown sign, and I give my team another chance to line up again."

One league source suggested looking back to Aug. 26, in the third preseason game, when New England quarterback Tom Brady threw for 231 yards in just under two and a half quarters in a 41-0 demolition of the Redskins. It was in that game, the source said, that the middle seam was first exposed. Patriots tight end Ben Watson and slot receiver Troy Brown combined for 12 receptions and 161 yards, gouging the Redskins' middle for plays of 35 and 36 yards, respectively. The Patriots riddled the Redskins with the post corner route.

Afterward, Williams called it "stupid" to assume a preseason game contained any real significance. But on a night when the score didn't count, Brady found a weakness in the Redskins' defense that's been exploited ever since, according to league sources.

Williams on Thursday said he was confident that he had explained the problem to the Redskins secondary. Williams intimated that perhaps his players simply aren't good enough in certain situations.

"It never is any one thing or any one person. And sometimes we miss a tackle here, or there's been a personnel mismatch where a guy is just a better player at the point of attack," he said. "We've got to minimize those blows and it happens with technique. It happens with our personnel being better, but until you take it away, until you make a team pay, they're going to continue to do that. It's a copycat league."

Struggling for a Fix

During the bye week, the Redskins defensive coaches used PowerPoint presentations and gave players DVDs of game film to study to help fix the problem. The players were able to watch the film of Brady in the preseason game against New England, and, in this copycat league, each opponent that followed.

On opening day the Minnesota Vikings beat the 3-2-6 and the Cover-2, both on key on third-and-9 plays, both at the hash marks, for 22 and 29 yards, respectively.

A week later against Dallas, the Cowboys beat the Cover-2 when, like Archuleta on the Wayne touchdown, Taylor followed tight end Jason Witten underneath, leaving wide receiver Terry Glenn deep and alone in the seam against cornerback Kenny Wright. Wright was called for pass interference and Dallas later scored a touchdown.