tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518999264103251377.post3499814890498790419..comments2023-07-02T04:32:09.689-04:00Comments on Oblong Spheroid: HallelujahChris Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04996455466572610983noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518999264103251377.post-64581176131673046472009-10-01T11:48:55.094-04:002009-10-01T11:48:55.094-04:00This is pretty awesome. It also has relevance to ...This is pretty awesome. It also has relevance to the Posnanski piece.<br />http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/30/AR2009093004775.html<br /><br />~<br /><br />It's absurdly early to write off the 2009-10 Redskins as a failure at 1-2. But it's a decade into Snyder's tenure as owner, and not too early to reach a verdict on the joyriding amateur interference that passes for his management. What's ultimately wrong with the Redskins, the reason they annually fight to be merely average, is not the fault of Jim Zorn, Jason Campbell or any other employee, it's the fault of Snyder. Anyone who doubts his involvement needed only listen to Zorn on Monday following the Redskins' loss to the winless Detroit Lions. "I'm sure I'll be spending a lot time with him this week," Zorn said. Now, surely Zorn has better things to do than to explain the elementary and the obvious to his owner: They don't have an effective offensive line or a pass rush.<br /><br />This is Snyder's team; he was intimately involved in assembling it. He keeps his favorite players on speed dial, watches practices on the sidelines and demands face time and explanations from the coaches he personally hired. Whatever you think of Zorn, he is Snyder's own selection. It was Snyder who told Joe Gibbs, "He would make a great head coach." He is personally responsible for naming Vinny Cerrato, a proven failure, executive vice president of football operations, for the Redskins' lack of core strength, for their inability to power the ball in the red zone, which is thanks to his decade of neglect of the interior lines in favor of big free agent signings. <br /><br />~<br /><br />But it says something about the dark, untrusting environment at Redskins Park that a team of highly paid veterans doesn't yet know its character and is fighting for its soul after just three games, trying stave off panic and finger-pointing and to remain cohesive. After losing to the Lions last week, cornerback DeAngelo Hall said, "You either want it or you don't. A lot of these guys don't want it. They want the other stuff." The paycheck-player, where's-mine environment is set by an owner who never seems to value the right qualities, and who so often seems to equate the size of a contract with character. How long can some players continue to give more while making a lot less? And how long can all of them keep fighting for Zorn when no one in the front office will step forward and preach real loyalty, by publicly declaring, "This is our coach and the path we're on."Patrick Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08457532328133529987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6518999264103251377.post-67048303756030992192009-09-30T13:58:23.495-04:002009-09-30T13:58:23.495-04:00FWIW, I don't think this year's version ca...FWIW, I don't think this year's version can be described as having "enough flashy talent to win a few games and get up near playoff contention, fooling you, before falling short." I do agree that it's what they've been over the past decade for the most part, sometimes making the playoffs and other times not coming close; but mostly flirting as you said.<br /><br />This year's team is likely to be terrible. There will be no flirting with playoffs this year. Let's face facts here. It's great Detroit is off its streak, but that team is still a bad football team. And the Skins got beat. Not cause they were asleep at the wheel...they saw this coming a mile away and still got flat beat. They could barely handle the Rams at home.<br /><br />Look up and down this schedule. There's a lot of weakness there. Their next three opponents are a combined 0-9 right now. These next three weeks will tell us everything we need to know about just how bad this team is. If they're 2-4 or worse after that, there is only one winnable game - @ Oakland - the rest of the way. It's entirely possible to imagine Washington as a three win team.<br /><br />Even if they go 2-1 to be at .500 over that stretch, I still think they'd be a 4-6 win team. If they go 3-0, then maybe I'll take them as more of a flirt. But I don't see that happening. Carolina isn't good, but they're not as bad as their record, and I don't see the Skins going there and winning that game.Chris Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04996455466572610983noreply@blogger.com