As much as Redskins fans, and indeed fans of either the Dallas Cowboys or Philadelphia Eagles as well, may want to try and ignore it, the fact is that Odell Beckham Jr is a rare talent.
If Washington is hoping to improve upon their 4 and 3 all time win-loss record on Thursday Night Football (not including Thanksgiving games), then stopping Beckham is going to be crucial. That is a job that proved hard to do last year when the Redskins first faced Beckham, with the then-rookie setting the Meadowlands on fire with 143 yards in the air and 3 receiving touchdowns.
This year, the Redskins defense is a vastly different unit, and there is perhaps no Defensive Backs Coach in the entire NFL who is better equipped to contain Beckham than new Redskin and former Giants Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell, who had the opportunity and responsibility all last year of watching his Giants defense go up against Beckham every practice.
Indeed, although Coach Fewell is no longer with the Giants as their Defensive Coordinator, Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin admitted this week that his team is still utilizing the same Offensive scheme that they did last year, saying:
“He certainly is a great addition to that staff there based on the fact that he knows our personnel and pretty much knows the scheme as well, but he would do a good job regardless.”
There is, of course, a vast chasm between being able to implement a scheme to curtail Beckham’s explosiveness, and actually having the players take the field and being able to execute it.
The New York Giants week 2 opponent Atlanta Falcons certainly had their struggles, with Beckham racking up 146 yards and a touchdown. However, their game was a tale of two halves, with Beckham being targeted by Eli Manning ten times in the first half, but only twice in the second. Beckham did almost all of his work in the first half, only having one catch for 7 yards in the second half, as well as a play where he drew a Defensive Pass Interference penalty that moved the chains 30 yards down the field.
How does Defensive Coordinator Joe Barry and the Redskins defense limit Beckham, then? Let’s take a look at some film:
When you see a receiver total 146 receiving yards, with a majority coming in one half of football, it is only natural to assume that they were making big play after big play. Against the Falcons in week 2, this wasn’t especially the case for Beckham. Instead the Giants utilized Beckham’s quickness via a combination of quick comebacks, slants, and posts for a majority of his targets, opting to try and expose the soft underneath of the Falcons defense.
For the most part, at least in the first half, it worked. Instead of trying to get over the top of the Falcons secondary, Manning got the ball into Beckham’s hands and relied on having him use his elite physical gifts to make big plays happen, such as this 67 yard touchdown:
This is the first week of the regular season that Perry Fewell and Joe Barry will have all three of their top Corner Backs available to play together. Chris Culliver and DeAngelo Hall are the outside Corners, with Bashaud Breeland the Nickel Corner. Throughout the first two weeks of this season, Beckham has almost exclusively lined up at either the Z or X outside receiver position, therefore it will be up to Culliver and Hall to match up against him.
Whilst Hall hasn’t seen Beckham up close before, Culliver has. Along with his team mate Perrish Cox, Culliver and his 49ers beat the Giants 16-10 last year, and kept Beckham out of the endzone completely, limiting him to 6 catches and 93 yards. Whilst 93 yards is still high, it has to be noted that Beckham had a long catch of 37 yards. His other 5 receptions averaged 11 yards a piece, and he was quite well covered all day.
What we’ve seen work against Beckham is tight and physical press man coverage, and ensuring that there is a defender both above and below him seeing as though so many of the passes thrown his way come on those aforementioned short routes.
In the second half last week, the Atlanta Falcons defense definitely adjusted to this and it saw Beckham’s targets drop from ten in the first half to two in the second, and then late in the fourth quarter with the game on the line, Eli Manning had to fire a touch early to Beckham due to the coverage closing in around him, resulting in a tipped ball that fell incomplete:
If Joe Barry and Perry Fewell have done their homework, they’ll have Culliver and Hall playing close and tight on Beckham all game, ensuring that there is Safety help over the top, especially from Free Safety Dashon Goldson who is capable of limiting any Yards-after-Catch if and when Beckham does get the ball in his hands.
Beyond that relatively simple game plan though, there exists a very real possibility that Linebackers such as Trent Murphy, Ryan Kerrigan or even Keenan Robinson may shade towards Beckham to try and position themselves between receiver and quarterback, and to discourage Eli looking for his big playmaker.
Tonight’s game will be the first huge test for Joe Barry and Perry Fewell, who haven’t had to account for any truly elite offensive weapons yet in 2015. It is going to be fascinating to see how they attempt to handle it.
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