Why The Redskins Defense Will Improve This Coming Year

Last year the Washington Redskins defense struggled mightily. They gave up a lot of touchdowns. And on top of all that they had a 4-12 season.

       But this year, I have a feeling that they will improve. Here are 5 reasons why:


        1: The Redskins picked up CB Chris Culliver from the San Francisco 49ers. He is a young and talented player who is only 26. The Redskins need that kind of young talent. He also had 4 interceptions in the 2014 season and only missed two games. The Redskins need someone who can stay healthy on the defensive end. He will be a threat when the Redskins go up against other teams.

        2: They have DeAngelo Hall healthy again after him missing 13 games of the 2014 season. If the Redskins will want to have success this coming year, they will have to keep him healthy as well. He is a very important part of there defense. Hall is also a very experienced CB in the NFL having played for ten years and having 43 career interceptions but there will be much more of those to come this season.

         3: They have Bashaud Breeland back again and he will make a very dynamic group with him, Chris Culliver, and DeAngelo Hall. Last year, Breeland only had 2 interceptions but matched up very well against some star wide receivers like Dez Bryant and Jeremy Maclin. He is another tough CB and only in his second year. The Redskins secondary has really changed a lot only a little bit through the offseason.

         Now let's move on to the Redskins defensive line.

         4: The Redskins acquired nose tackle Terrance Knighton from the Denver Broncos who used to play along side Demarcus Ware. He had 30 combined tackles in the 2014 season. Knighton has played for two different teams and the Redskins will be his third. He has played for the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Denver Broncos so far. Since linebacker Brian Orakpo left to the Tennessee Titans, Terrance Knighton will be the perfect addition.

         5: And then you have Ryan Kerrigan who is a big threat on defense having a career year last season with 13.5 sacks and 5 forced fumbles. With him and Terrance Knighton, they could be a much feared dynamic duo. Kerrigan can be unstoppable when it comes to sacking the quarterback. He was named to the NFL's Top 100 list being #78. He is a very powerful pass rusher and can put major pressure on the quarterback.

         With the Redskins defense improved, they will be a threat in the NFC East and maybe the whole NFL.

Washington Wizards vs Atlanta Hawks Game 5 Pregame Analysis

This back and forth series will come down to this game. The series is tied 2-2. One team will break the tie. The first game Washington won 104-98 surprising the Atlanta Hawks in the fourth quarter. In the second game Atlanta bounced back with a 106-90 win to make the series 1-1. In that game, John Wall got injured and did not play for the rest of the game. In game 3 in Washington the Wizards beat the Hawks despite John Wall's absence 101-103. In game 4, the Hawks beat the Wizards 106-101. So this really has been a back and forth series. No team has won two games in a row.

       Today's game will be very important. For the Wizards, John Wall will make a game time decision if he wants to play in today's game so that brings back some hope for this inexperienced playoff team. Even Wall himself is not sure if he can play. " If your not confident in your ability to do what you want to do," Wall said. " Then there's no points in playing."
         The Wizards are 5-0 with him in the playoffs, and 1-2 without him. That is how big of a difference he makes on this team. The swelling in Wall's hand has diminished substantially over the last week. If he does play his minutes will probably be limited.

         On the Wizards side of the court there will be one hard task: to keep John Wall from the paint if he does play. Demarre Carroll has been playing great basketball for the past few games as he has during the playoffs. Jeff Teague is back to himself after having 26 points the other day in a win over Washington.

         Paul Millsap had 19 points in his return to the lineup after battling the flu the other day.

         For the Wizards if they want to win, there big men have to get into the game more. For the past few games, Marcin Gortat and Nene, Washington's power forward and center, have not been a big factor for them.

         Bradley Beal also had an outstanding performance in game 4 with a playoff high, 34 points, along with 7 assists.

         Both teams will be looking for a win today and one will come out with the win and break the tie. Tonight's game will decide on the first team to 3 wins and an advantage for game 6.  

Washington Wizards vs Atlanta Hawks Game 2 Pregame Analysis

" Just withstanding adversity." We know they're going to come out and give us a punch right away." Those were the words of point guard John Wall on the Washington Wizards after surprising the dominant Atlanta Hawks in a 104-98 game 1 win in Atlanta. John Wall was one of the big reasons why they won. He had 18 points and 13 assists. Bradley Beal also tied his career high in points for the playoffs. Last year, the Wizards were a young and inexperienced team which prevented them to get far into the playoffs. This year was a different story after sweeping the Toronto Raptors in the first round and beating the Atlanta Hawks in the first game of the semifinals. The Washington Wizards still remain undefeated in the 2015 playoffs. Atlanta's key players did not play so well in game one. Jeff Teague went 4-14 on shooting and Kyle Korver shot 3-11 on three pointers. But fortunately, Demarre Carroll backed them up with another impressive performance with 24 points. 

              Today's game will be critical for the Hawks. If the Wizards win then they will be two games away from moving on and if the Hawks win, the series will be tied up. Today's game will also be played in Atlanta so the Hawks have another chance at home. Demarre Carroll will need to play another fantastic game like he has done in the past few games. Atlanta's defense will be important too. They can not let John Wall get into the paint that much. If he does get there, there will be so many options that he will have because he is such a talented player. The Hawks will also need Kyle Korver to make his perimeter shots. In game 1, his shots were not that successful. If he can make his shots that would make a big difference. The Hawks will all have to look out for Bradley Beal because he is averaging 22.2 points a game in the playoffs. Al Horford had a very well balanced game in game 1 having 17 points, 17 rebounds, and seven assists.

               For the Wizards they are playing great team basketball right now moving the ball around and getting good shots. For John Wall it's the same thing: he just has to keep taking the ball to the hoop. Nene will have to get going again after being held to no points in game 1. And Marcin Gortat had a pretty efficient game a couple days ago with 12 points so he just has to keep that up. 

               The Hawks look to bounce back in this game to get back into this series and get back to there normal selves again.

                The Hawks will win game 2 107-101. For the Hawks Demarre Carroll will have 23 points and Paul Millsap will have 18 points and the Hawks will take game 2. 

Bulls vs Cavaliers Game 1 Pregame Analysis

Both teams have made it to the semifinals but only one can stay in the playoffs and move on. This series will especially be a very interesting series to watch. Before we talk about this upcoming game, we will first talk about how both teams got there.

              The Cleveland Cavaliers started the playoffs with a sweep against the Boston Celtics. Although the games weren't a complete blowout. Kyrie Irving played his first ever playoff games in his NBA career and he played them like they were any other games and he might have even played better than what he usually plays like. Of course Lebron James has a lot of playoff experience. He actually had played in more playoff games than all of the players on the Celtics roster together.

                The Chicago Bulls played the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round and won that series 3-2. That series again was not a complete blowout. The Bulls were up in the series 3-0 but Milwaukee came back to make the series 3-2. Then the Bulls closed out the series with a 120-66 game 6 win. Now we'll dig deeper into this match up.

              The Bulls will have a slight advantage over the Cavs because the Cleveland Cavaliers will be playing without power forward Kevin Love and shooting guard J.R. Smith. Chicago will definitely be hungry for some revenge on Lebron James after he eliminated them 3 times through 2010-2015. The Bulls will be with Derrick Rose so he will be going up against Kyrie Irving. Lebron will definitely have no problem going up against them because he averages 27.1 points a game against them in the postseason and he is 12-3 against them in the postseason. I would like to see if Tom Thibideau would switch Jimmy Butler over to Lebron James if he gets going to see if he could stop him. Joakim Noah will be a big factor for the Chicago Bulls on defense. He will be going up against Timofey Mozgov one-on-one. Also Mike Dunleavy's outside shooting will be important for the Bulls to stay in the game. And Pau Gasol will be playing the power forward position as always and he will most likely be guarding Tristan Thompson. The Bulls bench will also be important. The main big body on the Bulls bench will be Taj Gibson.

             The Cavaliers will end up winning game 1 101-95 and Lebron James will have 32 points and 9 rebounds. For the Bulls, Derrick Rose will have 23 points and 8 assists. Jimmy Butler will have 28 points and 7 rebounds.                                                        

Clippers vs Spurs Game 7 Pregame Analysis

Both teams have the same goal to achieve in this particular season. To win an NBA Championship. But first, one team must get past the first round. Tonight's game will obviously be very hard fought. The series has been going back and forth. First, the Clippers won the first game with the help of point guard Chris Paul and power forward Blake Griffin. Then the Spurs won two games in a row to make the series 2-1 in their favor. Then the Clippers won to make the series now 2-2. Then the Spurs bounced back and won despite Blake Griffin's 30 point game. And then on Thursday, the Clippers won so now the series is tied 3-3 with one game left. The team that wins it will be the one to challenge the Houston Rockets in the semifinals.

                   Everybody knows about how Chris Paul and Blake Griffin and Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard can contribute but now let's talk about the players on both teams who come off the bench who can make a difference and chip in a little.

                    First, we'll talk about Glen Davis, power forward/center for the Clippers, and how he can help them out. Glen Davis's numbers don't show it to you, but he is a very hard worker. He can box out to get rebounds because of his big size, and he is also a very discipline defender. And on occasional times you can feed the ball to him in the post and he'll give you some points. The only concern for him is if he can defend Tim Duncan throughout the game if Blake Griffin is not on the court. Another factor in this game for the Clippers will be Austin Rivers. He is very quick and can get to the hoop for them if they are in need for points. He can also shoot the 3-ball pretty efficiently. He has a size advantage on Tony Parker so he should be able to defend him pretty well and not allow a lot of points on him. He will also have to distribute the ball to the open man a lot when he is in for Chris Paul.

                     Now we'll move to the Spurs side of the court. One of the players that come off the bench that will make a difference will be Manu Ginobili. His shooting is superb from outside and he has been showing some impressive defense throughout the series. The only concern for him will be if he can put some points on the board for San Antonio because on Thursday in Game 6, he was just 1-6 on shooting and he had just 3 points.

                      I think the Spurs will win because they have more experience in the playoffs and the score will be 101-97. For the Clippers Chris Paul will have 21 points and 10 assists, and Blake Griffin will have 28 points and 12 rebounds. For the Spurs, Tony Parker will have 19 points and 7 assists, and Kawhi Leonard will have 26 points along with 8 rebounds and 4 steals.

                      There is only one game left in the series and only one team can come out winning.