Redskins’ misery continues in loss to Eagles

By Bud L. Ellis

With Sherm Lewis and not Jim Zorn calling the plays, the results were woefully the same for the Washington Redskins.

Losing four turnovers to the Eagles and tight end Chris Cooley to an ankle injury, the Redskins’ season of misery marched on Monday night in a 27-17 loss to Philadelphia.

The Eagles scored 13 points off the four Washington miscues, building a 20-point lead that would be far too much for a Washington team that hasn’t scored more than 17 points in a game all season.

Jason Campbell, benched at halftime last week, returned to starting quarterback duties. Campbell didn’t play bad — he completed 29-of-43 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns — but he was sacked six times, and the turnovers put the Washington defense in bad field position most of the night as the Redskins fell to 2-5.

Cooley, a Pro Bowl selection, broke his right ankle in the game. Lewis, hired by the team just weeks ago as a consultant, called the plays for the first time instead of Zorn, the embattled head coach who looks likely to lose his job at some point in the coming weeks.

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Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 5:56 am by bud

Tags: Chris Cooley, Jason Campbell, Jim Zorn, National Football League, Philadelphia Eagles, Sherm Lewis, Washington Redskins

Struggling Redskins face rough slate

By Bud L. Ellis

The spotlight of the National Football League descends on the Washington Redskins Monday night, and the bright lights reveal quite a mess.

Nothing has went right for the Redskins this season. Detroit found an end to its epic losing streak against the Redskins. Head coach Jim Zorn has battled critics all season, and had his play-calling duties stripped this week. Starting quarterback Jason Campbell was benched at halftime of last week’s 14-6 loss to woeful Kansas City.

Now this: the Redskins get a Monday night date against NFC East rival Philadelphia, the Eagles still smarting from an ugly upset loss to the Raiders last week. Zorn said Campbell will be back under center for the Philly game, but for how long if the former Auburn signal-caller struggles?

It won’t get any easier from here for Washington. The Redskins are off the week after the Philly game, then travel to Atlanta, play host to Denver, play back-to-back road games at Dallas and at Philadelphia, then play host to the Saints.

Sitting at 2-4 entering this rough stretch, it’s not a real reach to say the Redskins could be 2-10 entering the final four weeks of the season.

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Friday, October 23, 2009 at 10:29 pm by bud

Tags: Atlanta Falcons, Auburn, Denver Broncos, Jason Campbell, Jim Zorn, National Hockey League, New Orleans Saints, Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins

Zorn to Finish Out Season

Redskins executive vice president Vinny Cerrato announced that head coach Jim Zorn would finish out the season as coach of the Redskins.

Zorn has fallen under much criticism this season and is widely considered the coach on the hottest seat currently. After suffering an embarrassing loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, the Redskins management forced Zorn’s hand in having him give up play-calling duty.

Zorn claimed later that he agreed to the Redskins terms “because I want to stay here and win … Sometimes we have to do things that are uncomfortable.”

On Tuesday, Hall of Fame wide receiver Steve Largent, a former teammate and longtime friend of Zorn’s, admitted that Zorn thought about quitting the team but he ultimately chose to stick it out.

The Redskins recently brought in former NFL assistant Sherman Lewis as an offensive consultant; he will be calling the plays for the Redskins as they take on the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football.

at 5:49 pm by bryan

Redskins QB Deal With Play-Calling Turmoil

Going into the season, the biggest news in Jason Campbell’s camp was that the Redskins had actually kept an offensive coordinator for more than one season, which would theoretically allow Campbell to blossom into the franchise QB that the Redskins have been hoping he’d be.

Now, six weeks into the season, all those good feelings are dead and gone, as Campbell has led the offense to nothing but putrid performances, and the Redskins management just stripped head coach Jim Zorn of his coaching duties in favor of Sherman Lewis, an assistant who was retired and calling Bingo games three weeks ago.

Campbell is getting ready to deal with the probable mayhem that’s about to unfold with the Redskins’ playcalling.

“There’ll probably be a couple of plays I have in my head,” the Washington Redskins quarterback said, “just in case if some reason it doesn’t get in on time.”

Lewis will be calling the plays from a box upstairs, relaying them down to Zorn, who will then let Campbell know what to do. Given that scenario, Zorn appears to have the chance to overrule Lewis’ playcalling.

“I need to have composure,” Zorn said. “I need to understand what the reality of the situation is, and I think our players expect me to rise up. We expect them to play under adverse conditions. We expect them to risk it all. … I’m conscious of what’s going on. I’m not naive about what’s going on, and yet I have to just hold back on any feelings and make the decisions.”

While Lewis doesn’t have a full grasp of the playbook and protections yet, some on the Redskins seem to think the transition won’t be as difficult as imagined.

“I know he’s been studying last year’s game against the Eagles and seems to have a pretty good idea how he wants to call the game this week,” backup QB Todd Collins said. “It’s the same plays. He might coach them a little differently or highlight some different areas, but the offense hasn’t gone under an overhaul or anything like that.”

Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 11:55 pm by bryan

Zorn Considered Quitting Redskins

Hall of Fame receiver Steve Largent suggested on Tuesday that Redskins coach Jim Zorn thought about quitting after the team stripped him of his play-calling duties on Sunday.

“Yes, he did consider it, and no, he did not want to give up those responsibilities,” Largent told KJR radio of Seattle, “but they went to the point of pulling out his contract and saying, ‘You have got to do whatever the owner tells you to do.’ …

“But in my opinion, and this is just totally my opinion — Jim has never said this, never implied this — I think what Daniel Snyder was trying to do was to force Jim to resign so he was not liable for his contract any longer. And Jim is just not going to do that.”

During the radio interview, Largent attacked the Redskins organization, and specifically owner Dan Snyder, who made the decision to bring in Sherman Lewis to call plays.

“I think it will be humbling and it will be embarrassing, but not for Jim,” Largent said on the radio interview. “I think it’s humbling and embarrassing for the Redskins and the Redskins owner and management that made the decision.

“To think that you can bring a guy in from a retirement center who is pulling out Ping-Pong balls in the bingo games — and literally, that is what he was doing in Detroit — bring him down here for two weeks and say, ‘You are going to call the plays for the next game against the Philadelphia Eagles, a division opponent, on Monday Night Football,’ and think that is going to be successful, that is a joke.”

Whether Largent proves prophetic or not will be seen on Monday night, as the Redskins take on the Phialdelphia Eagles with Sherman Lewis calling the plays.

at 11:46 pm by bryan

Shanahan Turned Down Redskins Coaching Job

NFL Fanhouse reports that Redskins owner Dan Snyder came to former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan recently and approached him about becoming the head coach of the Redskins this season.

“Shanahan told the franchise there was little he could do in the middle of the season for them and that changing coaches during the season in the NFL rarely works,” a Redskins management source said. “Several people that Dan Snyder trusts have suggested, if he makes a move, he should turn it over to secondary coach Jerry Gray. That could still happen.”

After another embarrassing loss on Sunday – a 14-6 stinker to the previously winless Kansas City Chiefs – Redskins management met with current head coach Jim Zorn and stripped him of his playcalling duties, handing them to offensive consultant Sherman Lewis. Lewis was retired, calling Bingo numbers at a retirement home three weeks ago.

“We are trying to give Jim every chance to turn it around. The move to [bring in offensive consultant Sherm] Lewis is to take more off Jim’s plate, especially the play-calling, because it is not working, and that is where Jim is spending much of his time. Now he can coach the entire team. Let’s see where that gets us.”

With the Eagles coming to town on Monday, fresh off the upset of the season by the Oakland Raiders, it’s safe to say they’ll be fired up. Will the Redskins be, assuming Zorn’s job could be on the line?

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 11:11 pm by bryan

Jason Campbell to Start on MNF

A league source told ESPN that Washington Redskins head coach Jim Zorn has decided to start QB Jason Campbell on Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Zorn benched Campbell at halftime in the midst of a 14-6 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, prompting a swift meeting from Redskins management after the game. Zorn has since been forced to abdicate his playcalling to Sherman Lewis, who was retired and calling Bingo three weeks ago, but now will be calling the Redskins’ plays against a division rival fresh off being upset by Oakland.

Zorn still made it clear that he reserved the right to name a starting quarterback. Lewis will be calling the plays from upstairs, relaying them to Zorn, who will signal them to Campbell; this could lead to a situation where Zorn overrides Lewis play calls.

ESPN’s NFC East blogger Matt Mosley explains the implications of Zorn’s benching of Campbell on Sunday:

“Zorn was hired to take Campbell to the next level, so it was a huge moment to see him bench his starter at halftime of a close game. Until that point, it appeared that Zorn was Campbell’s biggest ally at Redskins Park. He stood by the quarterback while owner Daniel Snyder and executive vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato made overtures toward Jay Cutler and Mark Sanchez. Now, the Redskins appear to be a team in chaos. They have a head coach who’s been essentially stripped of all power and a play-caller who’s still trying to brush up on the players’ names.”

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 8:00 pm by bryan