Redskins Secret Weapon Against the Cowboys

The Redskins secret weapon against the Dallas Cowboys isn’t who you think it might be, as it isn’t anyone who will be playing on Sunday Night. Instead of it being one of the 46 active players, the Redskins secret weapon is defensive backs coach Raheem Morris. What’s even more curious is his contribution to the Redskins will have nothing to do with him getting his unit to play better, rather his contribution is his knowledge of Monte Kiffin and his defense

Morris started his NFL career as a defensive quality control coach on Kiffin’s staff in 2002. He worked his way up the ranks until he was an assistant defensive backs coach when he left in 2005. After his one year stint as a defensive coordinator at Kansas State, Morris was back as the defensive backs coach under Kiffin from 2007-2008. Not only does Morris have 6 years under Kiffin, and understands his defense completely, but his experience is recent. Morris was under Kiffin, in 6 of Kiffin’s last 7 seasons in the NFL before coming back this year. This isn’t a case of knowing a coach from 10-15 years ago, where the experience might not be applicable.

Not only does Morris have a strong understanding of Kiffin and his concepts, but with the extra week off the Redskins had the time to really benefit from it. Had it just been a normal week of practice, the offensive staff may not have had enough time to really utilize Morris as much as possible. Also, on a normal week Morris would have needed to spend quite a bit of time trying to help his beleaguered secondary.  The extra week though eliminates those concerns, and should have allowed Mike and Kyle Shanahan plenty of time to work on an offensive game plan to exploit the Cowboys defense for Sunday’s crucial game.

The Redskins offense is going to need the help as they only managed a total of 10 offensive points in the first half this season. In fact most of the Redskins offensive scoring and yards production has still come when the game was well out of hand, and defense was in more of a prevent mode. The Redskins can’t afford to have their offense stall out in the first half against the Cowboys if they hope to win in Dallas.

The Cowboys just put up 48 points on a Denver Broncos defense that is considered to be far better than the Redskins. While the Broncos were able to put up 51 on the Cowboys, the Redskins aren’t a team that is built for shootouts. They fare much better when they throw the ball fewer than 30 times, much less the 42 attempts the Broncos needed. Instead of a slugfest, the Redskins need to exploit any possible holes in this defense and Raheem Morris is the guy who will likely be able to spot the biggest pressure points to attack. Morris’s insight should hopefully give the Redskins the extra advantage they need for this must win game, and get them out of Dallas with the win.