Post by ironmaiden on Dec 26, 2009 6:39:04 GMT -7
DMN:D.C. Divided: Redskins in disarray as their tumultuous 2009 season nears end
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LINK
Gerry Fraley
The Washington Redskins are eerily similar to the Cowboys.
The 2002 Cowboys.
Like those Cowboys, the Redskins are playing out a lost season. Like those Cowboys, the Redskins have suffered massive humiliation, losing to Detroit in September and getting waxed by the New York Giants, 45-12, on Monday night.
Like those Cowboys, the Redskins are preoccupied with palace intrigue as they try to focus on Sunday night's game against the Cowboys. History suggests the Redskins will have a hard time of it, helping the Cowboys' push toward the playoffs.
"From top to bottom, the whole thing is in disarray," quarterback Jason Campbell said in a telephone interview.
Sounds familiar.
Flash back to the 2002 Cowboys. On Dec. 16, owner-general manager Jerry Jones started a dance with coach-turned-broadcaster Bill Parcells, who wanted back in the game. At the time, Jones had a coach in Dave Campo and a team that had two games to play.
No matter.
Word of the Jones-Parcells pairing leaked out. The team, realizing Campo and his staff were doomed, mailed in the last two games, losing 27-3 to Philadelphia and 20-14 to Washington.
The Redskins reached the resigned-to-their-fate stage against the Giants. It was not coincidence, Campbell said, that the collapse followed yet another week of turmoil during which a new general manager, Bruce Allen, arrived in place of ousted former power-broker Vinny Cerrato; an assistant coach, Jerry Gray, was alleged to be a football Judas by interviewing for head coach Jim Zorn's job; and an unemployed Super Bowl-winning coach, Mike Shanahan, lurked in the background, just like Parcells in 2002.
For the Redskins, the game has become secondary to matters of internal strife and backbiting. The chaos continued Friday, when Zorn sent defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth home from practice for being late. Zorn said Haynesworth will not start against the Cowboys but could play.
"We've been dealing with so much this year," Campbell said. "The distractions. The questions. A lot of things up in the air. I knew there was going to be one time when it all caught up to us. It all caught up to us on Monday night.
"We looked totally out of it and totally dysfunctional. Everything that has been going on all season collapsed on us."
Zorn had done well to keep the Redskins together as long as he did. Before the Giants' fiasco, Washington had won two of its previous five games, and the three losses were by a total of seven points. The Redskins took New Orleans into overtime and gave the Cowboys a blueprint for how to beat the previously undefeated Saints.
Now the air has gone out of the Redskins, who were "flat" against the Giants, according to Zorn. With time running out on his tenure, Zorn tried to regroup his team. It is a difficult task.
"There have been some things that could draw attention away," Zorn said. "I like that the players have hung in there, even though there are a lot of things that could cause them to move on."
Zorn, who is 12-18 in his first and probably last head coaching job, has managed to keep his integrity despite being "whacked in the face with some of this stuff," he said. The players look to him to be the coach, Zorn said. He will not quit on them.
"I made the decision a long time ago not to allow anything to pull me from the responsibilities I have," Zorn said.
If this is the end for Zorn with Washington, he will go down swinging. Against the Giants, he pulled out the gimmick of a "swinging gate" fake field goal. It failed miserably, but Zorn is unbowed. Look for more gadgets against the Cowboys. Jim Zorn has nothing left to lose.
POINTLESS
The Redskins have been among the NFL's lowest-scoring teams since Jim Zorn became their coach last season.
Team Pts.
St. Louis 391
Cleveland 431
Oakland 438
Chicago 492
Detroit 501
Washington 511
__________________
We lose 2 the skins this week and Tumultous is the understatement about what will happen in dallas! ironmaiden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK
Gerry Fraley
The Washington Redskins are eerily similar to the Cowboys.
The 2002 Cowboys.
Like those Cowboys, the Redskins are playing out a lost season. Like those Cowboys, the Redskins have suffered massive humiliation, losing to Detroit in September and getting waxed by the New York Giants, 45-12, on Monday night.
Like those Cowboys, the Redskins are preoccupied with palace intrigue as they try to focus on Sunday night's game against the Cowboys. History suggests the Redskins will have a hard time of it, helping the Cowboys' push toward the playoffs.
"From top to bottom, the whole thing is in disarray," quarterback Jason Campbell said in a telephone interview.
Sounds familiar.
Flash back to the 2002 Cowboys. On Dec. 16, owner-general manager Jerry Jones started a dance with coach-turned-broadcaster Bill Parcells, who wanted back in the game. At the time, Jones had a coach in Dave Campo and a team that had two games to play.
No matter.
Word of the Jones-Parcells pairing leaked out. The team, realizing Campo and his staff were doomed, mailed in the last two games, losing 27-3 to Philadelphia and 20-14 to Washington.
The Redskins reached the resigned-to-their-fate stage against the Giants. It was not coincidence, Campbell said, that the collapse followed yet another week of turmoil during which a new general manager, Bruce Allen, arrived in place of ousted former power-broker Vinny Cerrato; an assistant coach, Jerry Gray, was alleged to be a football Judas by interviewing for head coach Jim Zorn's job; and an unemployed Super Bowl-winning coach, Mike Shanahan, lurked in the background, just like Parcells in 2002.
For the Redskins, the game has become secondary to matters of internal strife and backbiting. The chaos continued Friday, when Zorn sent defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth home from practice for being late. Zorn said Haynesworth will not start against the Cowboys but could play.
"We've been dealing with so much this year," Campbell said. "The distractions. The questions. A lot of things up in the air. I knew there was going to be one time when it all caught up to us. It all caught up to us on Monday night.
"We looked totally out of it and totally dysfunctional. Everything that has been going on all season collapsed on us."
Zorn had done well to keep the Redskins together as long as he did. Before the Giants' fiasco, Washington had won two of its previous five games, and the three losses were by a total of seven points. The Redskins took New Orleans into overtime and gave the Cowboys a blueprint for how to beat the previously undefeated Saints.
Now the air has gone out of the Redskins, who were "flat" against the Giants, according to Zorn. With time running out on his tenure, Zorn tried to regroup his team. It is a difficult task.
"There have been some things that could draw attention away," Zorn said. "I like that the players have hung in there, even though there are a lot of things that could cause them to move on."
Zorn, who is 12-18 in his first and probably last head coaching job, has managed to keep his integrity despite being "whacked in the face with some of this stuff," he said. The players look to him to be the coach, Zorn said. He will not quit on them.
"I made the decision a long time ago not to allow anything to pull me from the responsibilities I have," Zorn said.
If this is the end for Zorn with Washington, he will go down swinging. Against the Giants, he pulled out the gimmick of a "swinging gate" fake field goal. It failed miserably, but Zorn is unbowed. Look for more gadgets against the Cowboys. Jim Zorn has nothing left to lose.
POINTLESS
The Redskins have been among the NFL's lowest-scoring teams since Jim Zorn became their coach last season.
Team Pts.
St. Louis 391
Cleveland 431
Oakland 438
Chicago 492
Detroit 501
Washington 511
__________________
We lose 2 the skins this week and Tumultous is the understatement about what will happen in dallas! ironmaiden