It has been mentioned over and over how the Redskins do not focus on the Defensive line.  How it appears that Daniel Snyders deep desire to Win is steeped in him trying to build a high powered offensive...maybe the philosphy has not worked but is it working?

I have been thinking of how the Redskin's owner given all of his faults has continued with a basic objective of fielding a Winning team.  Countless articles and posts have been written on how Daniel Snyder tried to build a "fantasy Football team" with a real club, but ask yourself why... he just wanted to win.  He hired a college coach who was winning year in and year out with a high powered offense, but ask yourself why...he just wanted to win. 

The philosphy was not working; he recognized this as well when he was able to get the famed Joe Gibbs to return ask yourself why...he just wanted to win and he wanted to learn from a winner.  Gibbs II was not totally succesful in that the Redskins did not consistently win, only making the playoffs twice, did not make it to the Superbowl or even the NFC championship game.  It was very succesful, in a hall-of-fame coaching way, in changing the mindset that an NFL team must have top quality depth at all positions, ask yourself why...To be able to win it all!  The focus continues to be on maintaining the Defense while trying to improve the offense.  Is it working?

Rich Tandler, who writes for the Bleacher Report as well as has his own blog which is part of Hog Haven's Blogroll has taken my thoughts, not on purpose, and clearly wrote the direction I was taking, he even included facts.

Naysayers Focus on Process... by Rich Tandler at Bleacher Report 

  

The main complaint about the Washington Redskins draft that is making the rounds is that they didn’t "address" the defensive line. It’s a complaint heard almost every year as the Redskins do generally ignore the D-line during the annual selection meeting.

Rich is reviewing the Draft this year on, and it's the issue which is highlighted in Texskins More Draft Reviews . He even pushes the Defensive Line being a part of draft in 2009.  The Redskin's owner I believe has changed and he has learned but the focus is still the same, he wants to improve and develop a high powered offense. 

 A funny thing has happened during the time that the Redskins have been neglecting the defensive line on the last weekend in April. The defense has been pretty good. Not necessarily great, not dominant, but good enough to win with.

How good? Starting with the 2000 season, the Redskins defense has been ranked 7, 13, 21, 24, 5, 9, 27, and 11 in points allowed. In those eight years they’ve been in the top 10 three times and in the top half of the league a total of five times.

The Defense has been good enough, and while it's been preached to me since I was kid that Defenses win championships, the Redskins have had Defenses which were good enough to win a championship.

The Redskins have not been mediocre this decade because of their defense. They have struggled because they haven’t been able to score points. In that same eight-year span, from 2000-2007 their NFL rankings in point scored have been 24, 28, 25, 22, 31, 13, 20, and 18. They haven’t been in the top 10 once and they were in the bottom half of the league in seven of the eight years.

The Redskin's owner remains focused on building a Top-10 offense, even when the Redskins were drafting defensive backfield players with thier top picks during the Gibbs era they were also doing everything possible to "build" an offense which would score points.  And while most of the NFL is looking to build a defense to mimic the Giants, the Redskins continue to focus on developing an offense.

We keep on hearing that the Redskins should go after beefing up the defensive line because that’s how the Giants won the Super Bowl. It’s a copycat league and trying to overwhelm the other team with a fierce pass rush is a solid strategy in any era.

The focus is not going to change with this owner, and in my opinion it should not because maintaining a top defense is important but the Redskins need a high powered offense to take the next step...the focus has not worked but I think it's working and so does Rich Tandler...Ask yourself?

It’s funny how just a couple of plays can turn the perception of how you should build your team. If the ball bounces out of David Tyree’s grasp when he hits the ground, you should build your team to score points and obliterate the opposition. He catches it and suddenly every team needs to find an Osi and a Strahan in the middle rounds.

Devin Thomas, Fred Davis, and Malcolm Kelly will not turn Jason Campbell into Tom Brady. The Redskins will not win their first 18 games in 2008 or set the all time scoring record. But in time, perhaps as early as midseason, Thomas, Davis, and Kelly will be helping the Redskins score more points. By then Campbell should find the trio providing much more appealing targets than were Keenan McCardell, Reche Caldwell, and Todd Yoder.

If that happens, the biggest problem the team has had over the past eight years will be on its way to being solved.