Zorn Will Still "Do it All" in 2009

[The Goat]

Originally Posted by Hail to the Redskins

I agree that the line should be held accountable a little... but to me, the West Coast Offense is supposed to be a 3-5-7 step drop, then get rid of the ball kind of offense.

Many times, Campbell would plant and hold or pump fake, being afraid to throw into SINGLE coverage if he thought it was tight. My assumption is that Zorn drilled into him from day one "do NOT turn the ball over"... which is GREAT and understandable...

But look at the whole equation and you also see our receiving core as:

* One short,above-average receiver who was doubled for the MAJORITY of the season (Moss)

* One short receiver who really isn't a "receiver" that runs crisp routes, escapes jams, and is finding holes in the D (Randel El)

* 2 completely unreliable (to HC & QB), yet "tall", young receivers who are just NOT understanding that being an NFL receiver isn't just "run and catch" and that there is a massive playbook that involves READING in order to truly be effective and trustworthy. Obviously, Zorn didn't trust them to run routes effectively, and Campbell didn't, at the end, trust that they's CATCH the ball. (If you heard the broadcast Sunday the announcer mentions on one play that D Thomas had one-on-one coverage deep and Campbell looked off of him and threw the ball away)

* and... one great receiving TE that was focused on & surrounded every play once down inside the opponent's 30 yd line.

So to me, I think that you add Campbell's desperately NOt wanting to throw INTS + Receivers not being "clearly" open, and there is half of the sacks this season.

Eventually though, Campbell started to learn to just pack it in and take off, which is one good lesson that came out of it all for next year.


Also..

I think our running game suffered at the end because teams figured out that they didn't have to worry about the deep pass as most of Zorns plays call for 6-9 yd routes, and that Campbell was hesitant to "throw one up", so safeties were up, linebackers weren't pressed into coverage (as you saw other teams do to us), etc... If we had a passing offense (that included stretching the field), the run game would come back

Good post. I think people mistakenly associate the flailing offense w/ our perceived lack of commitment to the ground-game. Like you've pointed out defenses keyed more and more on our backfield because the air attack fell apart and they didn't have to play us honest. Develop the air attack and Portis starts to break open long runs again (as opposed to gaining 4 or 5 yards on pure grit and toughness).