Yes, the Redskins lost to the Lions 19-14 Sunday afternoon. Yes, Detroit broke their 19-game winless streak against the Skins.
And oh boy, I was enraged. I felt anger and pain, but most of all, I felt confused about where the team is headed.
Some points:
The Jason Campbell show is finished.
Until now, I was unsure whether Campbell would continue to be the starting QB of the Washington Redskins after this season. His performance against the Lions solidified my belief that he will not be. Yes, he put up ok numbers Sunday, but not when it mattered. And he never really seems to be in charge of games like a starter should be.
I wish that Colt Brennan wasn't on IR so that we could see if Brennan has what it takes. Alas, we've probably wasted Brennan's time on the team yet again.
Jim Zorn is on very thin ice, but not finished. Yet.
I'm sure most fans would like to see Zorn gone right now, and I think that he is calling some piss-poor plays (especially in the red zone). But it's not time to kick the head coach off of this island. I think if this season turns south, it'll be the end of Zorn's tenure here, and I can only blame Zorn. He chose to attach himself to Campbell. He chose to keep the play calling duties despite the fact he had never been an offensive coordinator before, much less a head coach. Nothing about his tenure in D.C. has been good.
What happened to the defense?
The Lions were able to drive up and down the field pretty much at will. Detroit continually took advantage of the Redskins' defensive backs and completed 55 percent of their third-downs. (The Redskins completed just 20 percent.)
I do believe that Mr. Greg Blache is in denial about how poorly his defense played against Detroit. The Lions held the ball for over 36 minutes and had drives of 99, 74, 86 and 84 yards. Those are whoppers of drives.
If this is a reflection on how the defense will perform, the team is in trouble. On top of this, Haynesworth's hip injury is a huge concern.
Some (too few) positives
- I don't think the Lions are as bad this year as people are making them out to be. Blache pointed this out in a post-game interview. They lost to the Vikings, who are unbeaten. They lost to the Saints, who are unbeaten.
- Santana Moss still proves he's the Redskins' best receiver. He had 10 catches, 178 yards and a touchdown. That's double what he had coming into the game. He needs to be consistent for the Redskins to have any success.
- Hunter Smith is awesome. The Skins haven't had too many good punters over the last 20 years. Hunter the Punter averaged 45 yards per punt, with a long of 58 yards. Simply excellent.
A question
Is it too early to talk about "blowing up" the team? I'm talking about a complete overhaul. New QB. New RB. New coach. A new general manager. Everything.
Posts
I don't think it's too early to consider blowing things up. Mark and I were talking about who DO you keep? Fletcher, Moss, maybe portis, Haynesworth and Orakpo. Definitely need help O-line.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you can pin a ton of the blame on Campbell for this one. It's nearly impossible to say he's the answer at QB but he's also not the root of the problem. Stat-wise he had a good day and the Offensive line was kind of...offensive really. That was part of the reason Portis wasn't able to get anything started.
Matt from http://dcsportsjam.wordpress.com
I don't think Portis is off limits. Moss and Fletcher aren't getting any younger, either.
ReplyDeleteI do think Haynesworth and Orakpo are worth keeping.
Campbell has done nothing in his entire career to say that he is anything but a mediocre quarterback. He won't make mistakes, but he won't win the game.
And that ain't enough.
New general manager? Try general manager, period. Cerrato enables Synder to think he has something valuable to offer on football-related questions. Snyder is ultimately responsible for the state of things, but Cerrato gets my vote as chief architect of the dismal state of this team. He panders to The Danny, while being king of the offseason. The Redskins need to ditch Cerrato in favor of a real general manager and experienced coach wiling to spend 3 or more years rebuilding first the roster and only then the reputation of the Washington Redskins.
ReplyDeleteWould Washington (and The Danny) give a coach three years? Gibbs is one thing, but someone else?
ReplyDeleteI think any new coach needs to say in his press conference, "Hey, give us time. We're going to rebuild. Expect crap."
That may be the only way this fan base will calm down about this team. Every year the expectations are to compete for a championship.
Maybe we need to be told to calm down and expect crap for a change.