Turnovers Haunt Redskins

By Ben Linton

The Philadelphia Eagles scored 13 points off of three Washington Redskin turnovers as they defeated the Redskins 27-17 on Monday Night Football. This loss puts  Washington at 2-5 for the season and sends Philadelphia home with a 4-2 record. Here is the Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from week 7:

The Good

1. Other than two electric plays by DeSean Jackson, The defense stifled the Eagles offense throughout the night. They were constantly put in bad position after turnovers and a stagnant offense, but continued to fight and never gave up. They seem to be the only bright spot on this team. They really only gave up 14 of the points scored by Philadelphia.

2. After Chris Cooley got injured early in the first half, Fred Davis stepped up and caught eight balls for  78 yards and a touchdown. New Offensive Play Caller Sherman Lewis did a good job of getting the ball to the tight end; Cooley’s numbers should increase due to this change. The play calling cannot be blamed for this loss, at some point the players have to go out there and execute what is called.

The Bad

1. I guess benching Jason Campbell the previous week did not influence him to come out and play well. He threw one interception for a touchdown, fumbled deep in his own territory to set up a field goal, and got sacked plenty of times. Although the offensive line is not a standout bunch, Campbell is still taking too much time to make decisions when the blitz comes. Some of the sacks were on him.

2. Antwaan Randel El has continued to be a dud on the punt return unit; He bobbled another punt and gave Philadelphia the ball in the red zone. This led to a Philadelphia field goal, and was at a key point when momentum was shifting in the Redskins direction with the score 17-7.

The Ugly:

1. On Monday Night Football there was a great stat about Daniel Snyder. Since taking over the franchise in 1999, here’s what the Redskins have done:

• 78-88 record (10 seasons)
  
• 3 winning seasons
• 3 playoff appearances
• 6 head coaches
• 10 quarterbacks

In order to be a successful franchise, one must have stability at the head coach and quarterback position. Until this situation gets solved, the Redskins will continue to struggle.

Jason Campbell to Start vs. Eagles

By Ben Linton

Even though he threw from 89 yards and an interception in one half against the worst defense in the NFL, Jason Campbell will be given a chance to redeem himself on Monday Night Football when the Redskins host the Philadelphia Eagles. He was benched after the first half against the Chiefs, and was replaced by Todd Collins who did not fare much better. Since Jim Zorn will not be calling plays in favor of Sherman Lewis, the Redskins may want some stability at Quarterback with all the other shifts surrounding the offense. It will be very interesting to see how this fares.

Another report says that Jim Zorn almost resigned after his play calling duties were stripped from him following Sunday’s loss. This was brought forth by Steve Largent, a hall-of-fame wide receiver who played with Zorn and still remains in contact with him. Largent claims that this was an attempt to get Zorn to resign, and he says Jim would not do that. Largent also explained, “The formula that the Redskin owner and the Redskin general manager have for producing a winner on the field is not a winning formula, meaning they can’t make all the decisions on the coaches and the personnel and then hire some guy off the street to be the head coach and win with what they put on the field. Because it doesn’t work…That has been proven for 10 years in a row. … The failure of the Redskins is not about Jim Zorn. The failure of the Redskins starts above him, above his level.”

I agree with Largent’s statement 100%. Even though Zorn has not been successful at all as a play caller, its better than someone who has been forced out of retirement and around the team for only two weeks to be calling plays. I mean nobody really even knows who this guy is. There’s no way that the Redskins will succeed with this formula; this is just a recipe for disaster. I don’t even see the Redskins scoring a point on Monday Night, and they might become the laughing stock of the NFL. If the front office wanted Zorn gone, they should have just done it then and there instead of trying to take everything away from him bit by bit. The only thing this organization can do right now is make headlines, and last time I checked publicity does not equal wins.

Disarray in D.C.

Sherman Lewis will call the plays for Washington from here on out.

By Ben Linton

Two weeks ago he was calling bingo, now Sherman Lewis is calling plays in the NFL. After the Redskins’ horrid loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Jim Zorn was stripped of his play calling duties and has handed the reigns over to Lewis.  Lewis has not called a play since 1999 with the Green Bay Packers, and takes over an offense averaging 13 points per game. Good luck with that.

I don’t understand the decision to only take away calling plays from Zorn. Why not just fire him right on the spot after the game? At least show Zorn some decency instead of pulling him along for the ride. Taking away play calling is one thing, but taking away another man’s dignity is wrong.  Zorn claims to say he has a “knack” for calling plays, but that’s completely erroneous because the Redskins offense is predictable and doesn’t keep defenses on their heels. Mike Ditka said it the best on Mike and Mike in the Morning, “If you don’t want him, get rid of him.” Its not a matter of if Zorn will get fired, it’s a matter of when. So why not just do it now?

Also, it has not been announced but it seems clear that Todd Collins will start on Monday Night Football against the Philidelphia Eagles this week. With a new quarterback and a new play caller, put your money on the Eagles to win this one. They will want to take their anger out on somebody after losing to Oakland 13-9 last week.

“A New Set Of Eyes”

By Ben Linton

The Washington Redskins have had struggles on the offensive side of the ball so far this year. No doubt about it. The Redskins are 12th in total yards, which is respectable, but a lackluster 27th in scoring and red zone efficiency in the NFL. This prompted owner Daniel Snyder and Vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato to bring in 67 year old Sherman Lewis to be an offensive consultant for Jim Zorn.

Lewis has a successful history with the West Coast offense. He coached running backs and wide receivers with the San Francisco 49ersunder Bill Walsh. He moved on to Green Bay and was the Packers’ offensive coordinator under Mike Holmgren for eight years, and won a Super Bowl there in 1999. He worked for Dennis Green with the Minnesota Vikings and Marty Mornhinwheg with the Detroit Lions. Now he stops in Washington to help this struggling offense that hasn’t scored 30 points in Jim Zorn’s tenure as coach.

What Lewis will basically do is consult Jim Zorn and help him prepare for games. This can be seen as a threat to Zorn and Washington pushing the panic button, but Cerrato and Snyder assured reporters that was not the case. They believe that Lewis will bring a “new set of eyes” to the offense to hopefully help it progress through the rest of the season.

I don’t believe these guys one bit. I think Lewis is there to get used to the offense, and if and when Zorn gets fired he can take over the offense in the middle of the season. Watch out Zorn, because Lewis is breathing down your neck. Will this move help the offense? Hopefully, but the only way we will know is when the Skins take on the Panthers this Sunday at 1.