Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Redskins vs. Rams)

[Beemnseven]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

We agree more often than not, but I'm going with the former on this one. I think it's system. However, the truth is usually found somewhere in the middle. But if I had to put it on one or the other I would say it's Zorn. Has to be. This team moved the ball up and down the field yesterday, almost at will, until it got into the red zone. The same Redskins players that amassed those stats between the 20s marched right into the red zone. It wasn't the players that changed, it was the play calling and the tempo. That's on Jim Zorn. Besides, how would you know if you have playmakers if you don't call the right plays to even find out? Further when I look around the league, there are more mediocre and average players than great ones. So it's not about having a stud at every position.

The Cowboys took Brandon Jacobs out of the game last night, so what does Coughlin do? He kept chucking the ball to Manningham. At some point Tom Couglin said, we can't score 30 points and keep up with the Cowboys pounding the ball up the middle. So he abandoned the run relatively early and spread the ball around. They even lost one of their top receivers and top defenders, both playmakers, and still pulled it out. That's good coaching.

Certainly I didn't mean to imply that Jim Zorn is blameless. He very well could be lost and clueless, but looking at it as objectively as I can, I wonder if our "playmakers" are as good as we all think they are. And I don't believe our offensive issues are limited to just the red zone. Our success between the 20's could be due to the relative health of the O-line. But if you think back to last year, as the guys up front began to get nicked up, it was no picnic between the 20's either. To assume that the offensive line will be able to maintain good health for the season is a notion that has already begun to fall apart.

Chris Cooley is a world-class tight end. No doubt about it. Though with only one TD catch last year, obviously he isn't being utilized to his best ability. The Clinton Portis debate might rage on forever, but no one can rationally argue that he's just as explosive five years ago as he is today. He gets you the tough yards; he's more of a workhorse back than a home-run threat.

Santana Moss hasn't been close to the level he was at in 2005. Defenses are better able to take him out of the game and reduce his ability to be a factor than ever before. In addition to all of that, it now looks like his head's not completely in it, with some attitude issues to boot.

Randle El is a possession guy only, and he hasn't once been able to add the extra dimension to the offense the way we, and I think the team, envisioned. Simply put, he's not a dynamic playmaker.

So that's a brief, but I think accurate rundown of our four so-called playmakers. And don't forget this: These are the same four guys who were here when Joe Gibbs was running the offense, when Al Saunders was running the offense, and now for Jim Zorn's offense. The results seem to be the same no matter who the coach is. There's not a game-breaker on our roster, and while Zorn's scheme hasn't proven it can get the best from the players on our roster, I'm not sure our best would be good enough no matter what the system is, or which coordinator is running it.