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Are the wheels coming off?

Boone

The Commissioner
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atv_wheels_off.jpg


Wow.

Minutes after a Redskins home opener win. All should be right with the Universe. Glory, celebration, and good cheer should fill the air.

But there's a stench hovering over this Burgundy and Gold land - the stench of something rotten, just barely out of view. Like a dead mouse, trapped in a wall - you can't see it or touch it, but you can smell....that smell...

These Redskins aren't very good. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Is it Jason Campbell's fault? I think the more we see, the more we realize - probably not. Campbell, at worst, has made the most of his limited opportunities. His 2009 offense couldn't get on the field in game 1 against the Giants. They fared better today against the Rams, and Campbell was just fine. Far from a perfect performance, Campbell did plenty of good things, most notably keeping a number of plays alive with his feet, shifting in the pocket to buy a precious extra second or two, and most importantly hanging in there under pressure to make a throw. I've decided, although JC will never be a perennial Pro Bowler, we can win with him. Unfortunately, we have another problem.

Coach Jim Zorn is coaching scared. Rex Ryan he is not. In fairness, Zorn inherited Jason Campbell. However, as the saying goes, you gotta dance with the date you brung, and there is no question that as Jason Campbell goes in 2009, so go the Redskins, and ultimately Jim Zorn's head coaching career. Zorn does not trust Campbell. It is clear and it is indisputable. Running up the gut repeatedly in the red zone, running trick plays in a panicked attempt to score says one emphatic thing. I do not believe in my QB.

Thats really a shame.

Because, if Campbell cannot be trusted, the Redskins 2009 season is over before it's begun.

The rumblings after our weak showing in a game 1 loss to the Giants have turned into a loud protest. Soon, they will be a roar. Both local media and fans are turning on this coach and team. Never have I heard such criticism, anger, and harsh words directed at a team following a home win. The city of DC and hordes of lifelong Redskins fans are close to saying 'I've had it'. They're tired of their pocket-padding owner, they're tired of the crap stadium experience, and most of all, they're tired of a team and coaching staff that plays scared, sloppy, and underachieving football.

I hope Zorn gets it, and gets it soon. He has two choices - make a QB change if he cannot trust Campbell to run this offense, or set his misgivings aside, and give Campbell the opportunity to succeed or fail on his own merits. Drifting somewhere between the two got us dominated by an NFC rival, and nearly beaten by one of the worst NFC teams out there (one that had to travel halfway across the country to nearly best us). Without a sea change in Zorn's mindset, despite one of the softest schedules in the NFL this season, the Redskins will be lucky to get to .500.

We'll see if Zorn and his coaching staff can somehow slap some duct tape and super glue on these wheels and get us back on the track to Redskins football again.

Color me hopefully skeptical.
 
Zorn's aura appears blanketed in desperation and confusion to me.

I hope I'm wrong. I doubt I am.
 
I didn't like Norv getting whacked before the season was out

That said, maybe we need to start thinnking that way with Zorn

He's obviously way, waaaaaaaay in over his head
 
Zorn is clearly in panic mode ahead of time.

The Randle El option pass last week I couldn't understand at that time of the game.

This week same thing.

In the fourth quarter and up 2 points, you kick the field goal and then put it on the defense to protect a 5 point lead.

In both situations Zorn took the ball out of Campbell's hands and showed the team he expected OTHERS to make the necessary plays to win.
 
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If Zorn didn't want Campbell as his quarterback, he had plenty of time to switch it up. Maybe he doesn't trust Collins, Brennan or Daniel either.

I'm not sure how it'll play out, but I don't think it'll be good to switch coaches midseason. And especially not until the Redskins are officially out of the playoff hunt.

Boone, Danny Snyder picked his horse. He hitched himself to Zorn and he's got to live with him.

With every game that goes by, I'm getting less and less excited about this season. The Redskins did enough against the Rams, but I'm not sure it'll work late in the year.
 
I wouldn't say the wheels are coming off. I'd say the wheels are spinning in place.
 
There won't be a change in mid-season. Blache doesn't want the job and he is the only staff member that would carry credibility in the locker room (Bugel would but he is too old to be a HC now).

Besides, Mike Shanahan isn't going to take a job as an interim. He wants to start off in January with a clean slate for FA and the draft.

This season is Zorn's to win or lose.

He's fumbling his cause so far.

The truth is the Redskins didn't come out and execute crisply against either the Giants or the Rams. Last week they looked a bit like they still believed it was preseason.

That's just not acceptable.
 
I've read opinions that Zorn just needs an OC so he doesn't have to call plays.

I seem to remember that Zorn was hired by Snyder to fill another position before he changed up and hired him as head coach. Does anyone remember what position that was?
 
The truth is the Redskins didn't come out and execute crisply against either the Giants or the Rams. Last week they looked a bit like they still believed it was preseason.

That's just not acceptable.

Or like last year, Bulldog.

Over the final 8 games of last year, the team scored an average of 12.5 ppg.

This years average, so far, looks remarkably similar.
 
ugly game.
fans are having enough, myself included.
While I was not one of the booing fans at the game, I fully agreed with them and this team can't finish drives.
 
If Thomas makes his catch, and Sellers makes his, no one is talking about any wheels coming off at all. The game at that point gets called differently.

I think it's about time some of these players who are making the big bucks are held accountable for their play, or lack their of and a little more of the blame gets put where it belongs.

Do I think Zorn has some issues? Of course I do but.....

It wasn't a pretty win at all but it was a win.

Lets hope they continue to get better.
 
What everyone here doesn't understand is we're running a "prevent offense" instead of WCO.

I don't know if Zorn is in over his head or doesn't trust Campbell...probably a combination of the two. The thing is both need to start playing to win and not to lose. Campbell still holds the ball too long. Big Ben can get away with this, but Campbell can't. That is reason he was almost sacked for a safety. Zorn seems to be desperate...I mean second game of season and already called three gadget plays.

Thankful we have Cooley, Fletcher, Haynesworth, Orakpo, and MacIntosh to name a few.

The thing is we looked disorganized. For Danny Smith to speak up when to call timeout to ref shows Zorn is not in the game. To have tall WR's and not to try fade is questionable. I would say this team is somewhere between medium and medium-rare.

Maybe this is why feel so bad after a win.
 
The thing is we looked disorganized. For Danny Smith to speak up when to call timeout to ref shows Zorn is not in the game. To have tall WR's and not to try fade is questionable. I would say this team is somewhere between medium and medium-rare.

That thing with Danny Smith was incredible. Did anyone ask Zorn about that yet? Haven't seen an explanation.

The red zone offense was abysmal. And you know what? It's not just about the lack of the the fade. That was one issue, but not all of it.

To my memory (I'll check the DVR tomorrow), the Redskins threw exactly ONE pass into the end zone yesterday, and it was Portis throwing the pass to Cooley.

ONE pass into the endzone? Come on. Oh sure, we had some screens and some other passes that went either past the end zone or didn't get into the end zone, but I can only remember that one pass, in what? 12 plays? that went into the end zone.

I'll give Zorn credit - he really wants to run the ball in the red zone. We tried time after time to run the ball down there and failed miserably every time.

That's why we failed in the red zone - we couldn't run the ball.
 
Campbell threw to (I believe Kelly) on first FG drive in end zone but he dropped it.

On the drive home heard an interesting (sad) stat. Over last 133 games we've only scored 30 or more points 16 TIMES! How sad is that!?
 
You're right. It wasn't Kelly, but Devin Thomas. Alright, two passes into the end zone.

The funny thing about our offensive troubles is that we've been trying to build our offense up.

We hired Spurrier to build the offense. Then Gibbs and Al Saunders. Now Zorn, another "offensive" coach.

For all of our pursuits, we still have the mediocre offense we've always had.
 
To my memory (I'll check the DVR tomorrow), the Redskins threw exactly ONE pass into the end zone yesterday, and it was Portis throwing the pass to Cooley.

ONE pass into the endzone? Come on. Oh sure, we had some screens and some other passes that went either past the end zone or didn't get into the end zone, but I can only remember that one pass, in what? 12 plays? that went into the end zone.
Actually EatSleep, I think it was two. There was also the pass that Sellers dropped. If you can actually stomach that again, more power to you. I usually watch the games twice, but I've already deleted this one. :puke:

Your point is well taken though. The play calling in the first game put significant doubt in my mind about Zorn. Yesterday's crapfest sealed the deal for me. Zorn has officially lost me. I just wonder now how long it takes for him to lose the team.
 
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Zorn was brought here, I think, to install a West Coast offense similar to the one that Seattle ran during its Mike Holmgren era. And that offense was pretty darn good with Matt Hasselbeck as quarterback. I haven't seen the new offense under Jim Mora there, yet.

Hasselbeck doesn't have a great arm. But he makes quick decisions and has a very quick release.

So Zorn, a quarterback coach in Seattle, comes to D.C. to be an offensive coordinator. He had never called plays before and this was the next step in coaching.

Only Snyder, after dalliances with really likes what he hears from Zorn, and decides that Zorn will be his next head coach.

So Zorn comes to D.C. and has Campbell leading the way.

Campbell, who has a cannon for an arm but has one of the slowest releases I've ever seen this far from Byron Leftwich. And Campbell's decision-making has been called into question.

So, my reaction to all of this is this:
a. Zorn probably wasn't ready to be a head coach.
b. Zorn isn't handling play calling and being a head coach at the same time very well right now.
c. Zorn needs time to figure out what he can and cannot do.
d. Zorn may need to give up some of his responsibilities if he can't handle them all. Maybe give up the play calling and just manage the game.
e. I remember Zorn specifically saying that he was looking forward to calling plays - something he had never done before.
f. This situation could improve ... but it's not looking good for Team Zorn right now. But he needs time.
 
I just wonder now how long it takes for him to lose the team.

That is my concern. During drive home heard Moss made the statement we can only do what we're allowed to do. Sounds like Zorn is close to losing them. Other concern is how long before we have a division in locker room between the offense and defense.
 
Zorn was brought here, I think, to install a West Coast offense similar to the one that Seattle ran during its Mike Holmgren era. And that offense was pretty darn good with Matt Hasselbeck as quarterback. I haven't seen the new offense under Jim Mora there, yet....

Only Snyder, after dalliances with really likes what he hears from Zorn, and decides that Zorn will be his next head coach.

So Zorn comes to D.C. and has Campbell leading the way....

f. This situation could improve ... but it's not looking good for Team Zorn right now. But he needs time.
I agree EatSleep. However, I will point out that the whole Zorn as HC thing almost certainly only came about due to Snyderatto's idiotic move to hire an OC before hiring a HC. I said before on ES that it was likely the reason that Spags turned Snyder down and why we weren't able to find anyone else to take the job. As a result, Zorn became the default choice due to Snyder and/or Vinny painting themselves into an incredibly stupid corner.

So while I blame Zorn for making a number of mistakes due to inexperience, I also realize that in many ways he was almost forced into being a HC before he was really ready. That's obviously made much worse by virtue of his not having the proper support network around him.
 
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