Washington Redskins’ Tale of the Tape
If you want to know why the Washington Redskins are the coldest team in the NFC East over the last five games, you only need to go to the video tape to find the answer.
No, I’m not talking about instant replay or highlights, but opposing coaches having a body of work to game plan against the once-mysterious Jim Zorn offense.
Don’t get me wrong. The Redskins are still a team to be reckoned with on Sundays, and they are far from pushovers on either side of the ball. But what once came as a surprise to opposing defenses is now a given, and any coach worth his weight in the league should be caught up to speed on what the Redskins like to do and when they like to do it.
How else can you explain the dramatic drop off in offensive production? In the last five games, Clinton Portis has run for more than 100 yards only twice. In the five games prior, he ran for more than 120 yards four times. And the games where he hasn’t run for a buck or more in the last five contests? The Redskins are 0-3.
Same thing with Jason Campbell. In the last five games he’s thrown four interceptions and taken 19 sacks. That’s four more picks and six more sacks than he took in the previous seven games combined.
The Redskins began the season with a balanced attack that kept defenses off balance, but coordinators have caught up to the Redskins’ tendencies, and its beginning to show in a major way. Zorn has the capability to fix it, and the players to execute it. But with two tough games in Baltimore and at home against the Philadelphia Eagles remaining, it will be a photo finish to make the NFC wild card.
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