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Redskins Prepare for 'Problem'
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"Our coaches made the adjustments, and you see what we did then," Carter said. "That definitely shows we can be something special."
Taylor was playing for the first time since injuring his right knee Aug. 23 in a preseason game against the Carolina Panthers (earlier this week he acknowledged his knee "isn't 100 percent"), and scouts have expressed doubts about Taylor's effectiveness against the run.
In his first 11 seasons with the Miami Dolphins, Taylor, who is listed at 244 pounds on Washington's roster, sometimes weighed less than 240 pounds. It appeared the Giants targeted Taylor either because of his injury or the belief he is a weak link in the Redskins' run defense, and Shockey is considered a better blocker than Boss.
"We feel like he'll be better this week just physically [because] his knee's better," Blache said of Taylor. "You've got to understand it was a heck of a task for him to show up last week and compete. I have a lot of respect for the man doing it."
Players hold Blache in high regard. Many in the locker room were pleased when owner Daniel Snyder, after deciding to fire former assistant head coach-defense Gregg Williams, promoted Blache, who had coached the defensive line for four seasons, to run the defense.
A successful defensive coordinator for five seasons with the Chicago Bears before joining the Redskins, Blache has streamlined Williams's system so much that "what they are doing on defense now, it's like night and day from how they looked under Gregg Williams," said a league source who has studied the Redskins' defense on tape. "It's so basic now. They're not really trying to hide much. It's like the Colts or the Bears, but I'm not sure they have the players to back it up. There's no [Brian] Urlacher or [Lance] Briggs. There's no [Bob] Sanders or [Dwight] Freeney. It's a very different look now."
But different does not mean worse, players said. "Oh, man, it was just one game," cornerback Fred Smoot said. "Yeah, you want to win, but you look at the adjustments our coaches made [at halftime], and I think they did a great job. We just have to keep it going now and do what we're supposed to do."
Staff writer Jason La Canfora contributed to this report.
