Some Love from Jaworski

[Sociofan]

This article came from the ESPN Insider columns. It looks like we're 8th in total offense and getting better:


Bright times for 'Skins offense



By Ron Jaworski
ESPN Insider
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After last season, many pundits thought the Washington Redskins' hiring of Joe Gibbs would turn out to be a failed experiment. It was said in many quarters that Gibbs' offensive game plans weren't going to fly because of the athleticism of modern defenses and because the game had changed so much since Gibbs had last coached in the NFL.


Last season's offensive numbers seemed to support those statements fully, but those statements ignored several facts. One, the Redskins weren't playing with a quarterback Gibbs had full faith in throughout the season. Mark Brunell was brought in last season to be the starter, but he didn't look like the same player he was in the late '90s with the Jacksonville Jaguars. I honestly didn't think he had anything left in the tank after last season. He didn't look good throwing the ball and wasn't very mobile, and his mobility has always been a key to his effectiveness because it adds a different dimension to the offense. This season, he seems to have found his fountain of youth. He's moving well, has zip on the ball and is comfortable in the pocket.

The second major fact those statistics don't show is that the 'Skins lost offensive lineman Jon Jansen to an injury and never had a completely healthy Chris Samuels on the line last season. Those are Washington's best two linemen, so of course losing them made the team less effective. The 'Skins had no chance to create the holes RB Clinton Portis needed to be effective or to give the quarterback enough time to get the ball downfield.

So far this season, the Redskins haven't run into those problems, and they are clearly evolving in a positive way. I've watched a great deal of tape on this team this season, and the offense is very reminiscent of past Gibbs offenses where protection was the key. This offense's main concern is protecting the quarterback and allowing him the time to make decisions.

It has been quite baffling to opposing defenses, because they can't use exotic blitz schemes to ruffle the quarterback. It's not possible to beat this style of offense with trickery. Last week, the Denver Broncos weren't able to use the twists and stunts to blitz as they have successfully this season, because this commitment to protection forces defenses to play straight up. So far, not many defenses have been able to stop the 'Skins, who are ranked eighth in the NFL in yards per game with a 367-yard average.

The running game has improved noticeably over last season and is showing more wrinkles than a Gibbs running game normally does. Washington still runs the counter trey -- a Gibbs staple -- and Portis is definitely getting a better feel for how to run it, but the 'Skins also are running some downhill power runs with the H-back blocking as well as some traps and stretch runs. That type of variety has spiced up this offense and has helped keep defenses off balance, and the 'Skins have gotten better every week.

The scary part for opposing teams is that this team is going to continue to get better, because, despite its ability to drive up and down the field, Washington hasn't scored many points. I made it a point to look at this team's possessions in the red zone, and nothing jumped out at me that opposing teams were doing successfully or that the 'Skins had changed. Right now, I think this team is just going through a scoring slump, which isn't an abnormal situation; sometimes teams just get bogged down mentally. I fully expect this team to break out of the slump, because teams aren't going to be able to get at the quarterback and force mistakes.

It's starting to look as though the pundits who said Gibbs' offense wouldn't succeed in today's NFL are going to be eating crow. Former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski is a studio analyst for ESPN and a regular contributor to Insider.