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Zapsnap 4 Comments 458 Read Dec 13, 2008



As usual, this has been an up and down year for the Redskins.   They started the year 6-2 and have lost 4 of 5.   I hear a lot on the radio and at work that Zorn isn''t a genius anymore, that he is playing too conservative.  He isn''t head coach material.  To validate this comment, we should compare the first five games and the last five.

The start of the season looked pretty tough and, in retrospect, it was.   The Giants are the best team in the league, the Saints are fighting for a playoff spot as are the Cowboys and Eagles.  The Cardinals have already clinched their division.   All five can make the playoffs and at least three will.

The latest string of games started with the Steelers who I think has the best defense in the league. The Redskins then played the Cowboys again, then the Seahawks, then the Giants, the best team in the league again, and finally the Ravens.  

So what is the difference between 4-1 and 1-4? Simple. It is the competition and injuries. The Redskins are not a top flight team right now.  Their talent puts them somewhere between 8-8 and 10-6.  To think they can beat the Steelers, Ravens or Giants this year is ludicrous.  The offensive line cannot stand up to those team''s defenses, and the Redskin receivers are average.  No matter how much of a genius Zorn is, there are some matchups you face where nothing is going to work, no matter what you try.  Unfortunately, the teams that match up well against the Redskins were their opponents in three of the last five games. 

The difference in the first and second Dallas games were a healthy Portis and Moss. With just one of those two hurt, the offense sputters.  When both are gimpy, get ready for a subpar offensive display.

The first five weeks tell us the Redskins are in the top echelon of teams when Portis and Moss are healthy, but are not elite.  They are good enough to be a playoff team, but do not have a chance to win the Super Bowl.

So back to the question at hand.  Does Zorn deserve to be fired?  I say no.  He was very innovative against the quality opponents at the start of the year.  You can''t be innovative against the Ravens, Giants, and Steelers because your quarterback will get killed.  

Bring him back next year.  Oh and Vinny......can we please sign and draft a couple linemen this year?

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freddie mccain says on Tuesday, September 29th at 9:07pm

zorn does not no what the hell he is doing. make a change mr snyder before it is to late. by the way let cambell go with him. collins can run the show. the last time a playoff game was won was when collins was the quartedback. i may become a free agent fan after this year because of the teams woes.

yerblues says on Monday, December 15th at 8:12pm

I'm losing patience with Jason Campbell. How long are we gonna have to wait for this guy to be Joe Theismann? Or are we already seeing the new Kyle Boller? Jim Zorn will be fine, especially if Clinton Portis gets healthy again.

Zapsnap says on Saturday, December 13th at 6:48pm

I agree 100% with your comments Shae. I heard an NFL Films guy said that Campbell can't be blamed for the issues with the offense right now. The offense is predicated on WR's winning one on one matchups, and the receivers aren't good. This explains why Campbell looks so dumb in the pocket sometimes. Nobody looks smart when they have no one to throw to.

Shae Cronin says on Saturday, December 13th at 6:36pm

First and foremost, Jim Zorn is NOT the Redskins' problem. Is he a little shaky at times? Absolutely, most first-year coaches get that way. However, Zorn and his style of coaching is not the reason why our team loses games. The only thing I would change about Zorn is the depth of his playbook. A West Coast system has plenty of plays to score with but it seems as if Zorn doesn't want to open it up very often. Whether you're playing the Steelers or the Giants, you have to try something because conservative play simply won't get the job done.

Secondly, the talent that our team has is mediocre at best. Do we have big names? Sure, but they don't necessarily equal big performance. Our offensive line is old, our defensive line is useless, two thirds of our starting linebackers are old, our receivers are underperforming (as expected), and our quarterback hasn't learned the playbook completely. To me, this does not fall on the coach, this falls on the guys who assemble the team. Cornelius Griffin? Give me a break. Jason Taylor? He's better off acting. Jon Jansen? Please give me Heyer back. Ladell Betts? We would trade him if we were smart. Antwann Randle El? The most overpaid second receiver in the league, and he has no where near the talent necessary to be a number two. Of the ten kids we selected in the draft, only Chris Horton (our 7th rounder) has contributed.

And that leads me to my final point, the reason why the Redskins have been the way they have these past few years is because of the ownership and the embarrassing football operations. Dan Snyder may have deep pockets and he may be willing to spend the big bucks, but if you're spending money on 'has-beens' then you're not spending the money the right way. Bringing in has-been players like Mark Carrier, Deion Sanders, and Jeff George is not how you turn a program into Super Bowl contenders. Hiring Vinny Cerrato as the VP of Football Operations is definitely not the way to turn a team into Super Bowl contenders. There is a reason why Vinny was fired when Marty Schottenheimer was the coach in D.C., once Marty was fired, Vinny was hired back. Marty went on to help turn the Chargers into contenders and Vinny has continued to poison the Washington Redskins. The last lineman we drafted, ON EITHER SIDE OF THE BALL, was Derrick Dockery which came in the 3rd or 4th round. Before that we took Chris Samuels and made him into one of the most overrated lineman of the decade. And what is Vinny's excuse for that? He doesn't have one, other than the fact that he has zero football knowledge. He backs himself up by talking about his involvement with the 49er's during their glory days, but gimme a break - we all know Bill Walsh was the push behind the engine.

Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato either need to stop running my beloved Washington Redskins like a fantasy football franchise or they both need to leave D.C. Dan Snyder claims he is a life-long Redskins fan but he apparently doesn't realize the damage he is doing. Note to Dan Snyder: fire Vinny and bring in a guy that knows how to run a team because of experience and not because he has played Madden 09 on the PS3 console.



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