Joe Barry defends Redskins’ coverage plan against Steelers’ Antonio Brown
By Mike Jones The InsiderSeptember 15 at 5:14 PM
Washington defensive coordinator Joe Barry during training camp. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
Redskins defensive coordinator Joe Barry defended his decision to keep Bashaud Breeland in coverage against Antonio Brown while leaving No. 1 cornerback Josh Norman to cover secondary receivers in Washington’s 38-16 loss to Pittsburgh on Monday night.
Brown on Monday racked up eight catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns, with seven of those receptions and both touchdowns coming against Breeland.
Brown lined up predominantly on the left side of Pittsburgh’s offense, opposite Breeland. He twice lined up on the right, opposite Norman, but didn’t record a catch either time.
[Why wasn’t Norman trailing Antonio Brown?]
The first touchdown – a 29-yard fade on fourth and one – nearly wound up getting intercepted. Breeland appeared to miss the ball by inches before it dropped into Brown’s hands. Breeland said the ball actually touched his hand before Brown grabbed it. The second touchdown – a 26-yard fade on third and three – came when Brown got a better release and had a step on Breeland, who stumbled as the two crossed the goal line and couldn’t make a play on the ball.
Keep Reading
Critics, both former NFL players now working as analysts, and some current players, said that Barry should have had Norman – the cornerback Washington signed to a league-leading $75 million deal this offseason – cover Brown. But Barry said he wouldn’t do things differently even if he had the chance.
[‘What are you paying him for?’ Analysts criticize Redskins’ D]
“The strategy was simple. I felt really good – and I still do – with the plan that we had,” Barry said on Thursday as he addressed the media for the first time since the game. “I want, first of all, to say that it was a great throw by a great quarterback and a great catch by a great receiver. I would’ve been a little more concerned maybe if we got burned or there was some kind of incredible separation. But it was a good solid coverage against a great wideout. He made a play and we didn’t.”
Barry continued, “Our plan, we felt comfortable with our plan because we thought a number of our corners had a great offseason, and we felt a number of our corners had a great training camp. So we were confident in our plan, we were confident with Josh or Bree covering. And we still are.”
[Bog: Bart Scott rips Joe Barry on radio, offers to replace him]
Safety DeAngelo Hall said that he could have possibly prevented the first touchdown, but he was late getting over to help cover Brown because he was expecting a quarterback sneak. But Barry said while there were at times calls for double-teams with safety help, the two touchdowns were unique situations.
“When you throw a fade ball up the sideline,” Barry explained, “it’s not necessarily easy for that help safety to get all the way over, so again, I think it was – especially on the two deep ones – it was two phenomenal throws and a phenomenal catch by two phenomenal players.”
Barry was asked about his decision not to alter his approach and switch Norman to Brown’s side, or to simply have Norman follow Brown all over the field. The coordinator said that in his opinion, that’s easier said than done.
“It’s easy for the guy that’s doing it. It’s hard for the other three or four DBs,” Barry said. “If you’re coming to cover me, that’s easy. But him, him and him? I could go anywhere. I could line up at X, I could line up at Z, I could line up at W, I could line up in the backfield. I could line up anywhere. If I always told you I was lining up here, that’d be simple. You guys could play off me. But if you don’t know where I’m going to align, then these guys really have no clue. It’s easy for you to get lined up, but the other guys, it’s difficult, and that’s why most of the time, people are talked out of it. Especially with offenses that move their guys around, and these guys do a phenomenal job of that. People try to do that. But they make it difficult because of all the places he aligns. It’s hard for other guys to get lined up in a timely manner, especially in a no-huddle offense with a tempo.”
Some players said they didn’t see that as a potentially confusing situation, but asked about trailing Brown or not, Norman said, “who really, freakin’ cares?”
[Outsider: A closer look at Breeland’s performance against Brown]
Ultimately, he could be right.
The Seattle Seahawks last season used a cornerback to travel with Brown in their matchup and while the receiver finished with six catches for just 51 yards, Roethlisberger torched the rest of the defensive backs for 456 yards.
And in another example, the Denver Broncos switched off and on between using a cornerback to travel with Brown, and just letting the closest corner cover him.
Brown still wound up catching 16 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns.