If you're not a true Skins fan, than you might as well skip this post. If you are, I'm curious to know what you think of the Campbell/Zorn experiment.

My anger has been stewing all night and into the morning and I think I just need to vent. I'm going to bypass the obvious Cerrato/Snyder debacle and go to the next biggest problems.

1) WTF has Jim Zorn been teaching Campbell these last 2 years? He still doesn't have basic QB fundamentals. He still doesn't understand how a "pocket" works and even when given plenty of time to throw (with receivers wide open) can't hit the broad side of a barn. Whether you believe Zorn should call the plays or not, he should be fired as the QB coach.

2) I'm sick of the offensive line being lambasted when they aren't nearly as bad as the media makes them out to be. Sure they get beat sometimes, but so does every offensive line in the league, especially when other teams constantly blitz because they have no respect for our passing game. Watch the Patriots O-line and you'll find that Tom Brady has as little or less time back there than Campbell. The difference is Brady's understanding of the pocket and him actually using it to buy time. Same goes for the other good QBs.

3) Audibles. Jon Gruden said that Portis told him he hasn't heard an audible since he was in Denver. If this is true, WTF? How can any team be successful without using audibles?

4) Campbell has NO authority. He looks frightened even while he's in the huddle. They always show him on the sideline relaxing or pouting, but never actually looking at film of the opposing defense.

5) Every week, the woeful Redskin offense, led by campbell gives the opposing team points. Last night Campbell gave the Eagles 10 (the difference in the game) and the 2 weeks before, there were 2 safeties. Campbell is the other teams best scorer.

6) The Eagle are darn near as bad as the Skins and aside from their 2 big plays, did NOTHING! The Skins defense played hard and kept them in the game, but there was absolutely NO sense of urgency in the second half. This is Zorns fault. He doesn't believe in yelling or pumping up players and that was clear last night.


The bottom line is, IMO, neither Campbell or Zorn are ready for prime time. Zorn would rather blame the O-line for all the trouble than diss his failed golden boy project, Jason Campbell.
It's time to start building for next year, and that means cleaning house and starting over from scratch. The first move is to fire Cerrato with extreme prejudice, then Zorn, all the offensive line and position coaches and several of the players.

At this point, all everyone is doing is repeating the same old stuff.

• Campbell sucks.
  
• The O-Line sucks.
  
• Zorn sucks.
  
• Vinny sucks.
  
• Snyder sucks.
  

Everyone knows this season is over. It's a shame we have to play the other 9 games. This off-season will show whether the ownership has learned its lesson or not. I'm afraid all that will happen is that 2010 will be uncapped, leading Snyder to go on yet another fantasy football session where he spends a ton on a bunch of big name free agents, but does nothing to build team cohesion or a sustainable foundation into the future. We all remember how well that went in 2000 Deion Sanders, Bruce Smith, etc.

1) Zorn was a mediocre QB who happened to have a great receiver in Steve Largent. I don't think Zorn really knows the position as much as he is given credit for.

2) The O-Line does suck, but more for run-blocking than for QB protection. Campbell obviously doesn't have a feel for the pocket, because even when the pocket was holding, he would walk into the blitz.

3) Campbell was calling audibles last year, so I'm not sure what Portis is talking about. One of Moss's game winning post routes last season was a Campbell audible. Maybe he was referring to an audible in terms of protection. I don't know, but I think Gruden was massively kissing Snyder's ass on the air last night, so I think Gruden will be the coach next year.

4) Campbell should have been scared. I swear to God I thought he wasn't going to get up a few times last night after being sacked.

5) This offense scored like shit with Brunell, Collins, etc, under Gibbs. It sucks because the personnel sucks.

6) The Eagles have always had a suspect offense but they manage to make it to NFC Championship games all of the time. The lack of urgency was due to the fact it is hard to run a hurry up offense when eighteen people have to vet each play before the QB receives it.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/2009 11:51AM by WashingTone-Locian.

K36eH Wrote:
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> At this point, all everyone is doing is repeating
> the same old stuff.
>


That's not entirely true. Anyone catch Zorn's presser last night?

"I could blame the loss on play-calling duties being assigned to someone else, but I'm not that kind of person."

I would call it passive aggressive if it weren't so fucking blatant.

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The whole program needs to be fixed. Last nite's debacle just goes to show you that the problem wasn't just Zorn's play-calling- the whole sytem is out of whack. I'm not saying Zorn isn't culpable- not at all, he should be fired at the end of the season, but, for Snyder to sit their and think he can just bring in Sherm Lewis and get the team on track- it's ridiculous. And for Cerrato to sit there and question Chris Cooley's mental toughness, it's just stupid, and he deserves to be fired as well.

They need to make dramatic changes now, not just a new coach or QB, they need big changes, even if it means a 3-13 season in 2010, someone's gotta start rebuilding this franchise instead of "tweaking" it. Otherwise it'll be YEARS before this organization is a winner again.

WashingTone-Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 6) The Eagles have always had a suspect offense
> but they manage to make it to NFC Championship
> games all of the time.

Wait a minute.

The Eagles have "always" had a suspect offense - even with that non-overrated QB Donovan McNabb?

WashingTone-Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> K36eH Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > At this point, all everyone is doing is
> repeating
> > the same old stuff.
> >
>
>
> That's not entirely true. Anyone catch Zorn's
> presser last night?
>
> "I could blame the loss on play-calling duties
> being assigned to someone else, but I'm not that
> kind of person."
>
> I would call it passive aggressive if it weren't
> so fucking blatant.

I went to bed during the 3rd period, so I missed the press conference. I'm amazed Zorn would say that because it implies that the Redskins could have won if Zorn had been calling the plays. It doesn't matter who calls the plays, the Redskins are destined to lose...

Hmm, perhaps that second part was his point after all. "It doesn't matter who calls plays, in the end we're just a bunch of losers."

K36eH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At this point, all everyone is doing is repeating
> the same old stuff.


That's true to a degree. The thing is, I don't EVER remember being this dejected as a lifelong Skins fan. I've always maintained some semblance of hope, until now.

This is a place where fans have never really been. Even when their record was worse than it is now, I always thought they could snap out of it by upgrading a few personnel positions or even getting a new coach. I never before wished for an owners violent, slow and painful death before.

It's true it just a game, but it's the one positive thing about winter that I can hold onto and wait anxiously for on sundays. Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato have taken that from me, with no hope of relief in the coming years.
A plague on both your houses.

Big Lorton Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The whole program needs to be fixed. Last nite's
> debacle just goes to show you that the problem
> wasn't just Zorn's play-calling- the whole sytem
> is out of whack.


Here's what you've had under Snyder...

The creator of the Gator's "Fun and Gun Offense." No points.

A three-time Super Bowl winning Hall of Fame Coach. No points.

The creator of "The Greatest Show on Turf." No points.

Now Zorn and the West Coast Offense. No points.

It's not the system. It's the man. And that man is Dan Snyder.

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Howard Cosell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WashingTone-Locian Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > 6) The Eagles have always had a suspect offense
> > but they manage to make it to NFC Championship
> > games all of the time.
>
> Wait a minute.
>
> The Eagles have "always" had a suspect offense -
> even with that non-overrated QB Donovan McNabb?


Read my original comments on it. I have said someone may make the claim that McNabb is over-rated, but it's not because he's black. But beyond that, the offense has been suspect because of Andy Reid's over-reliance on passing versus the run. They were even talking about it last night. Reid prefers to use screen passes over hand-offs in short yardage situations.

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Numbers Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's true to a degree. The thing is, I don't
> EVER remember being this dejected as a lifelong
> Skins fan. I've always maintained some semblance
> of hope, until now.
>
> This is a place where fans have never really been.
> Even when their record was worse than it is now, I
> always thought they could snap out of it by
> upgrading a few personnel positions or even
> getting a new coach. I never before wished for an
> owners violent, slow and painful death before.
>
> It's true it just a game, but it's the one
> positive thing about winter that I can hold onto
> and wait anxiously for on sundays. Dan Snyder and
> Vinny Cerrato have taken that from me, with no
> hope of relief in the coming years.
> A plague on both your houses.


I'm with you. Even last night, before the game, I was telling friends, "I have hope for tonight. There is no logical reason for this, it's just a feeling. They'll come together somehow and win this one. Despite all the shit that's been going on. This one at least." And then: the game. Another God damn embarassment. It was worse than all the others this season.

I will not have that feeling again.

WashingTone-Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's not the system. It's the man. And that man is
> Dan Snyder.

It isn't only him, the problems are throughout. It isn't Dan Snyder's fault that Randel El, who's punt return duties evidently only amount to fair catches, lets a ball bounce off his helmet. It isn't Dan Snyder's fault that Santana Moss has three bounce-off-the-hands receptions for every big play he makes and then expresses his self-pride with the stupid turf ball spin.

The thing that touches all the problems is there appears to be no expectation of excellence at all levels of the organization. If it existed, GMs and coaches could do the jobs they normally do in the league, and if Snyder didn't like the result he'd fire the person. That is as opposed to hiring someone to be a placeholder for the Will of Dan. It's like any organization that hates its management because of top-down interference. Eventually the BS hits your guys in the trench, and no matter how many dollars you throw at them they will not be motivated to succeed. They will WANT the win but can't get it.

Until Snyder forms a football organization with authority at the various levels of management the Skins will be disfunctional.

Putting together an organization with good leadership and talent to match is an art - Dan Snyder cannot do it. Dan seems unable to hire someone to do it either. Snyder is not a football man.

The only way to move forward is for him to take ownership in name only, run the merchandising etc. and get a GM or President that can run everything. The people in place now certainly need to be replaced.

pgens Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WashingTone-Locian Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It's not the system. It's the man. And that man
> is
> > Dan Snyder.
>
> It isn't only him, the problems are throughout.
> It isn't Dan Snyder's fault that Randel El, who's
> punt return duties evidently only amount to fair
> catches, lets a ball bounce off his helmet. It
> isn't Dan Snyder's fault that Santana Moss has
> three bounce-off-the-hands receptions for every
> big play he makes and then expresses his
> self-pride with the stupid turf ball spin.
>
> The thing that touches all the problems is there
> appears to be no expectation of excellence at all
> levels of the organization. If it existed, GMs
> and coaches could do the jobs they normally do in
> the league, and if Snyder didn't like the result
> he'd fire the person. That is as opposed to
> hiring someone to be a placeholder for the Will of
> Dan. It's like any organization that hates its
> management because of top-down interference.
> Eventually the BS hits your guys in the trench,
> and no matter how many dollars you throw at them
> they will not be motivated to succeed. They will
> WANT the win but can't get it.
>
> Until Snyder forms a football organization with
> authority at the various levels of management the
> Skins will be disfunctional.



It's all Dan Snyder's fault because he sets the tone for the organization. He hires the people. If it were one or two years of this bullshit, you would be right. But it's not. It's been Snyder's entire tenure. And it's because he has buddies like Clinton Portis who don't have to do shit for the coach if he doesn't want to. And it's guys on defense who get bitter and play a little less harder because they can't get a raise from the league minimum while they see guys like Fat Albert getting $100 million for a part-time gig. And it's Snyder's management of the salary cap that results in marquee players being backed up by guys who haven't played in the league in four years. And it's Snyder's squandering of draft picks that results in the team having to start guys like Justin Tryon.

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To the OP, I feel your pain. Your only solution for the short term is to select another team to follow. I consider myself a Redskins fan, but I have such loathing for the owner, I'm almost happy when they perform like last night. I feel bad for the players, but Danny-boy deserves it. Fortunately for me, I'm also a Steelers fan. I jumped on their bandwagon back in the 70's (I was 12, cut me some slack) and have enjoyed (mostly) the ride ever since.

Big Lorton won't have to wait until 2010 for a 3-13 season. That's probably what they'll have this year. The remainder of the schedule is brutal, and now they've lost for the season one of the few good players they had. Cooley has been put on IR with a broken ankle.

Remaining schedule - How many wins do you see?

@ Atlanta
Denver
@ Dallas
@ Philadelphia
New Orleans
@ Oakland
NY Giants
Dallas
@ San Diego

-,SBS.- Wrote:

>
> Remaining schedule - How many wins do you see?
>
> @ Atlanta Loss
> Denver Loss
> @ Dallas Loss
> @ Philadelphia Loss
> New Orleans Loss
> @ Oakland Possible Win
> NY Giants Loss
> Dallas Possible Win
> @ San Diego Possible Win (It's fucking Norv Turner, after all)

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Johnny Walker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm with you. Even last night, before the game, I
> was telling friends, "I have hope for tonight.
> There is no logical reason for this, it's just a
> feeling. They'll come together somehow and win
> this one. Despite all the shit that's been going
> on. This one at least."

I had that feeling last night too. Then I let loose with one hell of a fart and it was gone.

WashingTone-Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's all Dan Snyder's fault because he sets the
> tone for the organization. He hires the people.

Vinny takes credit:

from John Keim: "Vinny told us today that he gave #Redskins coaches a playoff team. also said he felt team had good OL depth before season. Players disagree"

I'm sorry, it is throughout the org. The defects are top-down, but the entire organization is to blame.



New Riggo video, by the way. First half is rambling nonsense but then he gets around to rambling about the skins:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Cx0Ee7BjOY