The Skins and blowout losses

It's no revelation to point out that fans aren't fond of their teams getting blown out, especially in big games. But except for a select few elite teams, every team loses big at one time or another, like it or not. Now, I'm not saying the Redskins are an elite team, or even close to one, and I'm also not excusing their terrible, embarrassing performance against the Eagles on Monday night. But judging by some of the crazy reactions from fans, you'd think this kind of thing never happens to the Redskins, or at least hadn't happened for a long time.

But that's not true. Just going back a few seasons, the Redskins suffered two such losses that rival the 59-28 debacle against the Eagles.

Patriots 52, Redskins 7

On October 28, 2007, the 4-2 Redskins traveled to Gillette Stadium to take on the 7-0 Patriots. The undefeated Patriots were definitely thought of as the better team, but some still gave the Skins a fighting chance. Unfortunately, that hope didn't last long; the Patriots took a quick lead and didn't look back. At halftime, the Patriots led 24-0, and they kept their foot on the accelerator, eventually leading 52-0 with just a few minutes left in the game. With about three minutes left, a 15-yard touchdown pass from Jason Campbell to Chris Cooley cut the lead to 52-7, which ended up being the final score.

On that day, the Skins were completely dominated in every phase of the game. Here's the tale of the tape (Patriots numbers listed first):

Total yards: 486-224
Pass yards: 334-177
Rush yards: 152-47
First downs: 34-13
Forced turnovers: 4-1

Tom Brady finished the game 29-38 for 306 yards and three touchdowns. Oddly enough, he also rushed for two touchdowns. Jason Campbell, on the other hand, was 21-36 for 197 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Oh, and he also lost three fumbles.

Silver lining: The Redskins beat the Jets 23-20 the very next week, but they lost four straight games afterward. But then, with Todd Collins filling in for an injured Campbell and with heavy hearts following the death of Sean Taylor, the Skins put together four straight crucial wins to earn a playoff berth. Unfortunately, they lost in the first round against the Seahawks in Seattle.

Giants 45, Redskins 12

Most fans should remember this game; it took place just last season, on another Monday night (December 21) at home. The Giants came into the game as a decent (7-6) team, but they would eventually finish 8-8 and miss the playoffs. The Skins, however, were 4-9 and not a good team at all, though they had just returned home from Oakland after a 34-13 win over the Raiders.

Just like in the Patriots game above, the Giants took the lead in no time and were ahead 24-0 at halftime. Right before the half, though, the Skins pulled off one of the worst plays in NFL history. You probably remember it: Instead of opting for a 38-yard field goal to end the half and at least get some points on the board in an awful game, Jim Zorn sent out the special teams unit to attempt a crazy Hail Mary-type pass with punter Hunter Smith -- not once, but twice -- even after the Giants were prepared to stop it (which wasn't too difficult). If the loss in Week 3 to the Lions hadn't already sealed Zorn's fate after the season, that play certainly did.



The Skins scored two touchdowns in the third quarter (with a missed extra point and a failed two-point conversion), but that was it. The Giants scored the final points of the game, a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and ended up with a 45-12 win. A terrible, embarrassing loss? Yes, definitely.

Here's the tale of the tape for that game (Giants numbers listed first):

Total yards: 387-302
Pass yards: 273-213
Rush yards: 114-89
First downs: 23-15
Forced turnovers: 3-0

The Giants didn't necessarily dominate statistically, but they dominated the Skins in every other way possible. Also, Eli Manning was 19-26 for 268 yards and three touchdowns. Campbell, though, was 15-28 for 192 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He was also sacked five times.

Silver lining: Sort of. The Redskins lost their next two games and finished the season with a 4-12 record. But that also led to Zorn's firing and, more importantly, Vinny Cerrato's overdue departure. So yeah, losses aren't fun, but sometimes they lead to good things.

-----

Is there an overarching point in all of this? Maybe, maybe not. But it's clear that the Redskins are not an elite team, and they won't be until they stop making horrific personnel decisions and start keeping draft picks instead of giving them away for overrated, older players -- especially ones that don't fit a certain scheme that the team will run.

It's hard to watch Albert Haynesworth laying on the field against the Eagles (and in other games too) and think that the primary problem isn't effort or a lack of heart. But really, that's not it. The Redskins are too old at too many key positions, and they don't have solid backups behind them. That's not a defense of Haynesworth -- far from it. But until the Skins start operating differently -- and there are a few signs that maybe the Skins are, in fact, changing for the better -- these types of losses will continue to happen. And no amount of yelling or insane ranting is going to change that.

It takes time to build a consistent winner; Band-Aids rarely work.

With Zorn gone, Redskins in talks with Shanahan

After firing Jim Zorn with one year left on his contract, Daniel Snyder, as expected, is in talks with Mike Shanahan to fill the team's head coaching vacancy. According to The Washington Post, Shanahan flew in on Snyder's private jet yesterday and met/talked with Snyder and Bruce Allen and "were expected" to do so "into the night." Sounds like fun.

The job is obviously Shanahan's to turn down, and why would he do so if he's reportedly being offered around $8-$10 million per season over five years? Anyway, look for him to be named head coach by the end of the week.

If Snyder can hire Shanahan, with Allen already on board as the team's general manager, then can this season really be called a failure? Well, sure it can. This organization was the laughingstock of the league this season, with an embarrassing loss to the Lions, a confusing sign ban at FedEx Field, and a circus of an offensive system after Zorn was stripped of his playcalling responsibilities (among many other things). However, the team's terrible performance did cause Vinny Cerrato to finally lose his job, which fans had been calling for for years, and even Zorn wore out his welcome with frustrating loss after frustrating loss.

This team has a lot of needs, but there's plenty of time to talk about that later. Hiring Allen was a step in the right direction, and now it's time to find the right coach. Is that Shanahan? We'll find out soon enough.

Redskins fire Jim Zorn

Well that didn't take long, did it? The Redskins have fired head coach Jim Zorn after two full seasons in Washington, refusing to wait even 24 hours after the regular season had ended. I guess staying medium wasn't so effective after all.

The path now appears to be clear for Dan Snyder to hire Mike Shanahan to lead the team, especially since the team doesn't have to interview Jerry Gray again because they've already complied with the Rooney Rule.

After finishing 4-12 this season, Zorn's final record in D.C. was 12-20.

In a little less than three weeks, the Redskins have fired Vinny Cerrato, hired Bruce Allen to be the executive vice president of football operations and general manager, and now fired Jim Zorn. Yet again, the team will look completely different next season.

Zorn talks about the punt return situation

Are you confused as to why Antwaan Randle El continues to get the opportunity to return punts? Most Redskins fans are.

For the most part, Randle El has been a terrible punt returner this season. He almost never breaks a decent return -- his longest return is just 15 yards -- and he's also fumbled the ball away twice, which is obviously a big no-no on special teams.

In Washington's 34-13 win over Oakland on Sunday, Randle El had two punt return opportunites, and he fumbled on the second attempt in the fourth quarter. His fumble this week didn't hurt since the Redskins were comfortably ahead (oddly enough), but the fumble earlier in the season in the team's first game against the Eagles did hurt, as it led to an Eagles field goal.

It wasn't surprising to see Randle El in the second time against the Raiders, just because of the fact that, for some reason, he hasn't officially been replaced as the main returner. Here's Jim Zorn explaining the situation in his usual stumbling and bumbling -- but honest -- approach:

"I told Danny [Smith] I want Antwaan in there, because of the sure catch. And he just misjudged it. It hit him right up underneath the upper part of the shoulder pad, and he was taking off at the same time he was catching it....

"There was no [disagreement], I just said Hey, I want to make sure I've got Antwaan in here, and that decision obviously failed at that point. But we're gonna make some adjustments and things like that. It doesn't mean that Antwaan is gonna be totally sitting on the bench the whole time, but we're gonna try to get other guys involved. Truly, we just haven't had [options] besides Santana [Moss], with DeAngelo [Hall] going down. That was the guy we were trying to gear up.

"We're a little bit in a situation that we're gonna try to get Devin [Thomas] more involved now, Santana will be more involved, we'll see what happens as we go along with DeAngelo, just try to get him back there as well. That'll just be another guy in the mix. [Justin Tryon] hasn't shown yet that I would trust him and go Yeah, let's get him in right now. He hasn't worked at it from that standpoint of decision making, sure catching. Now, he should be working at it, which he is, but we haven't felt the comfort level.

"As a coach, you've just got to have the comfort level. That's why I had Antwaan in there. You know, I had a comfort level, and it proved to be a little of a backfire, but that doesn't' mean he's not gonna catch the next 10 in a row. It's just at that particular moment, it was a bad deal."

Again, the main problem isn't that Randle El fumbled; no one could really see that coming. The problem is that Randle El is still returning punts in the first place. It doesn't matter if the Redskins rotate punt return duties or give someone the full-time job -- Randle El should not be returning punts ever again.

Thursday night pick and some links

The Thursday night games on NFL Network begin this week (Week 10), so here's my pick for that game followed with some various links that have caught my attention so far this week.

49ERS (-3) over Bears

After starting the season with an impressive 3-1 mark, the 49ers (3-5) haven't been able to win a game since, dropping four games in a row against the Falcons, Texans, Colts, and Titans. The loss to the Falcons was a blowout, by 35 points, but the other three games have been decided by 14 combined points. The Bears (4-4), meanwhile, have been almost as bad after beginning the season 3-1. They've lost three of four, with the win coming against the Browns.

The 49ers are a little bit better on defense, allowing 21.8 points per game while the Bears give up 23.9. It's also easier to run on the Bears -- 119.5 yards per game vs. 93.3 yards per game for the 49ers.

If the Bears are going to win this game, then Matt Forte is going to need one of his better performances this season. After rushing for 1,238 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and scoring eight touchdowns on the ground last year, Forte has only 441 yards on the ground and has scored just three touchdowns. His yards-per-carry average is down to 3.6, and he's just not getting the ball as much as he did last year. Part of that can certainly be attributed to poor run blocking, but Jay Cutler's presence may also be taking the ball out of Forte's hands. To be blunt, Cutler has been pretty average so far this season. He's averaging 256 passing yards per game, but his touchdown-to-interception ratio is only 14-12, which isn't that good. Plus, his 12 interceptions are tied for the 2nd-most among all quarterbacks. Cutler's quarterback rating of 83.8 is also comparable to 49ers quarterback Alex Smith's (83.3), though Smith did just start take over for Shaun Hill a couple weeks ago.

I'll give San Francisco the edge. They're at home, and they should be able to run the ball more effectively. Besides, the Crabtree curse has to end at some point, right?

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• According to Carson Cistulli, the Orioles are in a pretty good position right now -- lots of talent for not a lot of money. [FanGraphs]


• Ben Reiter ranks the top 50 free agents and list the Orioles as the "Best Fit" for Adrian Beltre (No. 9) and Billy Wagner (No. 16). [Sports Illustrated]


• Brian Orakpo hates losing, and he wants to catch Andre Carter for the team sack lead. He also may be my new favorite defensive player. [Redskins Blog]


• According to Jason Reid, Jim Zorn actually got on his players at halftime during the Falcons game:
  

  
  "He hasn't done that before, not like that, anyway," said one veteran player who requested anonymity because what occurs in the locker room is supposed to stay in the locker room.
  
  "It was just different. Maybe that's what we needed all along."
  

  
  That, or, you know, to play better. [Redskins Insider]


• Chris Horton's season is over after being placed on injured reserve with an injured toe. Running back Quinton Ganther fills his roster spot. [Pro Football Talk]


• Aaron Harang could be an interesting buy-low candidate for the Orioles, who need another veteran starter or two. [Camden Crazies]


• With injuries to guards Randy Foye, Mike James, and Javaris Crittenton, the Wizards have signed veteran guard Earl Boykins. Let the height jokes begin. [Bullets Forever]


• Gilbert Arenas turned the ball over 12 times against the Heat, and a whopping seven of them came in the third quarter. Here's what they looked like. [Truth About It]

Also, congratulations to Adam Jones for winning his first Gold Glove, whether it was truly deserved or not. It's still a great honor for a rising young star.

Redskins notes: Largent, Sherman Smith, Portis's leg

As you may have heard, things don't seem to be going very well for the Redskins right now. Let's take a look at a few things that are going on and some others that are being said about the team (and the owner):

• According to Jason Reid, this is how the Redskins will be calling plays on Monday night:
  

  
  Zorn announced a new plan that includes offensive coordinator Sherman Smith. With Lewis up in the box, Smith will move to the field and relay the plays to Campbell while he's receiving them from Lewis. Although Zorn has been completely eliminated from the process, he also will hear the plays on his headset.
  
  "I'll be walking around," Zorn said. "I'll be listening to what's going on. I'm not going to be calling what's going on."
  

  
  Well, then. Nothing could possibly go wrong with that plan. [Redskins Insider]


• Steve Largent on Jim Zorn and the fallout from him being stripped of play-calling duties:
  

  
  "Yes, he did consider [resigning], and no, he did not want to give up those responsibilities," Largent told KJR, "but they went to the point of pulling out his contract and saying, 'You have got to do whatever the owner tells you to do.' ...
  
  "But in my opinion, and this is just totally my opinion -- Jim has never said this, never implied this -- I think what Daniel Snyder was trying to do was to force Jim to resign so he was not liable for his contract any longer. And Jim is just not going to do that."
  

  
  Would anyone be shocked if Snyder did that? Of course not. In fact, that was not only my first reaction to the situation, but many other fans' as well. There's no doubt in my mind that Snyder was/is trying to force Zorn to quit. Stay classy, Daniel Snyder. [ESPN]


• Sherman Smith on the offense's problems: "It's not the play-calling." [D.C. Sports Bog]


• Chris Samuels traveled to California to meet with a specialist today. He's probably out for the rest of the season -- and he's "strongly considering retirement." [Redskins Insider]


• ESPN's Matt Mosley says Albert Haynesworth is underachieving. Actually, he's not. [Mr. Irrelevant]


• The Redskins have signed offensive tackle Levi Jones, running back Quinton Ganther, and re-signed Renaldo Wynn for some reason. Marcus Mason, Anthony Alridge, and Glenn Pakulak were all released to make room for them. [Redskins.com]


• Clinton Portis on his lower-leg injuries:
  

  
  "It's really one leg," he said. "It's just my right leg. I've got plantar faciitis, an ankle, the inside of my MCL, and a calf all on my right leg. So if I can get a new lower leg, I'll be fine."
  

  
  Good luck with that. [Redskins Insider]


• SI's Don Banks asks a good question about Snyder: "Other than financially, has anyone been better off after going to work for Daniel Snyder and the Redskins than they were before they got to Washington?" Interesting point -- and the answer is no, probably not. Unfortunately, after ripping Snyder and the Redskins, Banks makes another lame joke about Sherman Lewis and bingo: "All I know is if Lewis's first few calls against the Eagles Monday night wind up being 'B-20' and 'G-17,' Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell might just want to audible." Zing! I'm pretty sure that joke hasn't been beaten into the ground yet. [Sports Illustrated]

Reflecting on the Redskins' loss to the Panthers

After the Panthers scored the last 18 points to sneak past the Redskins 20-17 yesterday, I have to be honest: I was mad, but I wasn't surprised at all. When the Skins went up 17-2, it was more of a mirage than anything. DeAngelo Williams's fumble (recovered by Albert Haynesworth) on Carolina's first offensive play set the Redskins up with excellent field position at the 13 yard line, as did DeAngelo Hall's interception in the third quarter that he returned 44 yards to the Carolina 1. So by forcing two turnovers in Carolina territory, the offense only had to go a combined 14 yards for two touchdowns -- that's 14 points. The Redskins scored only three more points, which is completely unacceptable. But is it shocking? No.

And that's the level the Redskins are at right now. The offense is so terrible that basically being spotted 14 points wasn't enough to pull out a win. Besides not scoring enough points, the offense had only 198 yards of total offense. Nice work, guys.

Other notes:

• Let's start with the good. The defense forced two turnovers and held the Panthers to 248 total yards. Carolina's running game was more than held in check by the Washington defense: On 32 carries, the Panthers averaged only 2.7 yards per carry. Carolina's longest drive of the game was also only 57 yards, and when Carolina scored three times in the second half, their drives were relatively short: 40 yards (TD), 38 yards (FG), and 12 yards (TD).


• Andre Carter had 2.5 sacks, and Brian Orakpo had half a sack. The Redskins forced a decent amount of pressure on Jake Delhomme, who looked average at best. So the defense didn't give up much yardage, forced two turnovers to set up the offense, and rushed the passer effectively -- which is basically what everyone has wanted from the defense. And it still wasn't enough to get a win.


• Jason Campbell finished the game 17-23 for 145 yards and a touchdown. For the amount of pressure he was under -- the Panthers had five sacks -- he was pretty efficient. But besides the touchdown pass to Clinton Portis, there weren't many, if any, explosive plays in the passing game.


• The rushing attack was ineffective. Portis ran 19 times for only 57 yards -- a three-yard average. He did run for a touchdown though, so that's something.


• No receiver had more than 44 receiving yards. Those 44 yards came from Santana Moss, who had four catches. The rest of the receiving corps combined for 13 catches and 101 yards. Shockingly, Chris Cooley failed to catch a pass, and I don't remember Campbell throwing his way even one time, but I could be wrong.


• As mentioned before, the Panthers had five sacks, and the offensive line looked really bad. Losing Chris Samuels so early in the game was a significant loss. The line failed to open up many holes for Portis, and by pushing the Skins' line back inside the five, the Panthers forced a safety. The Redskins have to have the worst offensive line depth in the NFL.


• Shaun Suisham made his only field goal attempt, and Glenn Pakulak filled in for Hunter Smith with an average game. The biggest play of the game, though, came when a player was pushed into Byron Westbrook on a punt return. The ball bounced off Westbrook and was recovered by Carolina deep in Redskins' territory. It's hard to believe that an opposing player can just shove a blocker into a returner, but these are the kinds of plays that happen to the Redskins on a routine basis. Losing teams put themselves in situations like that.


• The Redskins' clock management and Jim Zorn's carelessness with timeouts was terrible. When the Redskins needed to stop the clock late in the fourth quarter, all of their timeouts were gone.


• DeAngelo Hall's inability to tackle Jake Delhomme in the open field with the game on the line was hard to believe. Even Deion Sanders was (probably) shaking his head after that tackling attempt.

Now 2-3, the Redskins face the Chiefs, another team seeking its first win, at home on Sunday. If Kansas City wins, the Redskins will have allowed three teams to gain their first victory against them (not counting the Giants in the season opener).

Zorn, Redskins should embrace winning ugly

To put it mildly, the Redskins (particularly the offense) have struggled in the first four games of the season. They lost on the road to the Giants by six, beat the Rams at home by two, lost to the Lions by five, and beat the Bucs by three, meaning they're 2-2 even though they've been outscored by six points. The loss to the Giants is understandable: They're 4-0 and look like one of the NFL's best teams. But the other three teams are a combined 1-11 on the season.

In the next two weeks, the Redskins play at Carolina and at home against Kansas City. By the way, those two are a combined 0-7. But as the Redskins' early play has indicated, opposing teams' records don't really mean a whole lot. The Redskins have played down to their competition (unless they're just a bad team too), but they were also an onside kick away from getting the ball back against the Giants and potentially having a chance to score some more points. They were outplayed in New York, but they still lost by less than a touchdown. So, while the Redskins could have lost all four of their games if they didn't make a few key plays, all of their games have been winnable and have at least been competitive in the fourth quarter.

Anyway, here's the point: The Redskins have flaws. Every team in the NFL does, but the Redskins' flaws are more obvious than most: the offensive line is pretty bad; they can't (or haven't been able to) run the ball effectively; besides Santana Moss and Chris Cooley, other receivers haven't stepped up and haven't scared opponents; Jason Campbell sometimes holds the ball too long and doesn't make quick decisions; and the defense can't always get pressure on the quarterback and until recently has struggled to force opposing offenses off the field on third down. I know I left some out, but those are the major concerns.

As you probably have noticed, most of the correctable problems are on the defensive side of the ball. Rookies Brian Orakpo (15 tackles, two sacks) and Jeremy Jarmon (three tackles, one forced fumble) seem like they can get pressure on the quarterback and should keep improving. Albert Haynesworth has been criticized harshly at times, but he's doing a pretty good job occupying blockers inside. Chris Horton, LaRon Landry, and Reed Doughty have, so far, formed a solid group of safeties. Even Justin Tryon showed in the win over Tampa Bay that he's making some strides, taking over the nickel corner role for Fred Smoot and recording a sack. And, of course, London Fletcher is a tackling machine (leads the NFL with 52 tackles).

Obviously, though, the offense has been awful -- 27th in points scored (14 points per game). Jason Campbell has been about average, ranking 16th in quarterback rating (85.5), ninth in completion percentage (65.3), 11th in passing yards (963), and t-11th in touchdowns (five). But after his three-interception performance on Sunday, he's tied for the fourth-most interceptions with five and has been sacked eight times.

As for other individual performances on offense, Moss has 17 catches for 293 yards (10th among wide receivers) and two touchdowns. Cooley has 22 receptions for 254 yards (third among tight ends) and two touchdowns. Portis has the 10th-most rushing yards among running backs with 281 yards, but his 3.9 yards-per-carry average isn't even in the top 25 among qualified rushers. Part of that is certainly due to the lack of running room, but not every offensive line in the NFL is that much better than Washington's line.

But besides those three skill players, the Redskins really don't have any other weapons. No other running back has done much of anything, and Malcolm Kelly, Devin Thomas, and Fred Davis have a combined 10 catches for 82 yards. That's it. Oh, and Antwaan Randle El had a good first game against the Giants (seven catches, 98 yards), but since then he only has six catches for 60 yards -- and he didn't catch a single pass against the Bucs.

It's also worth noting that Rock Cartwright is 18th in kickoff return average (23.9) while Randle El has returned only four punts for 35 yards (an 8.8-yard average).

So, again, here's what the Redskins have:

• a defense that can certainly play better even though it's allowed only 15.5 points per game (against bad teams -- but still);
• an offense that has struggled to score points even against bad defenses;
• a lack of playmakers on offense besides Moss and Cooley (and sometimes Portis);
• an average (at best) offensive line and a group of inconsistent wide receivers who cannot be relied upon;
• and kickoff and punt returners who haven't set the offense up with a short field.

Even with all of this going down, though, Jim Zorn is still striving for perfection on offense:

"I'm just going to keep pushing. It's my responsibility. I feel like I'm the one it's reflecting on as well. It's reflecting on all of us, but I'm the focal point and it should reflect on me. I'm not going to be happy with that and we're going to keep pushing. . . . It's just been something that we're going to continue to push toward. We demand perfection out here during practice, but you really do have to take . . . you have to look at what's being given during a game and that's hard to take. It really is. I still want that perfection in a game as well."

I'm pretty sure the Redskins aren't getting perfection in practice out of many of their offensive players, but statements like that are fine. Coaches are supposed to say stuff like that. But there's basically nothing that this offense will be able to do perfectly. So far, they've seemingly had to struggle for every yard and every point. And that's fine -- improvement, at least some signs of it, should be coming soon. But deep down, I'm sure Zorn knows that this offense will never be a powerhouse and won't start scoring tons of points against anyone. But there's nothing wrong with winning ugly games, even against bad teams -- the key is actually winning. Whether or not the Redskins can actually keep doing that will depend mostly on how well the defense plays.

But a few more deep touchdown passes to Moss sure wouldn't hurt.

Portis will be a game-time decision vs. Bucs

The beginning of the season hasn't been kind to the Redskins -- or Clinton Portis. Already battling some ankle issues, Portis is questionable this week with a calf injury he sustained in last week's loss to the Detroit Lions.

Portis didn't have much to say on the issue and even offered some advice for the reporters: "Whatever Jim [Zorn] say. Game-time decision. Have a nice night, guys. Don't drink too much. Okay?" Well, that was nice of him.

The Redskins' offense, which is currently ranked 28th in points per game (13.3) yet is 13th in yards per game (341.3), could certainly use a healthy and productive Portis. But so far, Portis and the Redskins' rushing attack have struggled: In three games, he has carried the ball 47 times for 183 yards -- a 3.9-yard average -- and no touchdowns.

Over at Staying Medium, a relatively new Redskins blog that breaks down notable plays after games, Dave O. expresses some concern with the Redskins' ground game and the offensive line in general:

And some final wrap-up thoughts for the week:

- Casey Rabach and Chris Cooley are still the weak links of the Redskins running game.

- Much was made of Portis' bone spurs, but I don't think the injuries hurt him too much. When holes were there he made the most of them; the weak running game was due to the pass-heavy play calling in the first half and problems with blocking (see above).

- I'm worried about Chris Samuels. He hasn't been terrible, but he has appeared this year like an average tackle. I don't know if that is a result purely of age or if he is not fully recovered from last year's injuries.

- Chad Rinehart appeared... somewhat adequate. He was overpowered at times, but managed to not be conspicuously awful, which is all I really ask from a backup guard.

None of those things seem to be particularly hopeful at all. Even if Portis is still running well, injuries seem to be catching up to him. And if the line isn't opening up holes for him, this season may not turn around anytime soon.

Weekly Rundown: Zorn, Marbury, Corso

Weekly Rundown is a combination of links and brief comments on stories and topics that I couldn't get to during the week. If there's something important that I missed, don't hesitate to send an email or leave a comment.

(Quick note: This post is a day late, so I'm going to include some links from today. Anyway, I should have mentioned this before, but I've been pretty busy lately, and I probably won't be able to post as often in the next few weeks. But I'll still try to get as many posts up as I can. To those of you who do so, thanks for reading.)

• It's pretty funny to mention this now, especially after what happened yesterday, but Melvin Mora, last week, said that he wanted "to be an Oriole forever." [Baltimore Sun]


• Tony Kornheiser is planning a return to radio. [D.C. Sports Bog]


• Apparently the Redskins offensive line is one of the worst in the league. [FanHouse]


• Howard Bryant wrote a long, interesting piece about Billy Beane and Moneyball, but I'm still not sure exactly what point he was trying to make. Is Beane a bad GM? Is he too concerned with things outside of baseball? I don't think either of those things is true. [ESPN]


• Jim Zorn being Jim Zorn at Redskins training camp:
  

  
  "Here's what I did, I wanted to kind of cut down on all of the colors. We had an excellent color scheme last year, ok? I wanted to become more boring, and use our burgundy as the featured color. Because we had light gray, dark gray, black, smokey gray. We had dark burgundy, we had red. We had all kinds of colors. And then we had bellbottom sweats, where guys were taping around [their ankles]. You guys remember that? White tape around everybody's ankles? We looked like bike riders trying to keep their pants from getting greasy.
  
  So what I did is I got together with Brad Berlin, our equipment manager, and we kind of created just a cutdown on colors and styles of what we wanted the team to look like."
  

  
  Don't ever change, Zorn. [D.C. Sports Bog]


• J.A. Adande weighs in on the confusing and odd Stephon Marbury situation. [ESPN]


• Posnanski on advanced fielding statistics: "They’re not as good as they could be or will be ... I think everyone would agree about that. But they try (and often succeed) and taking an objective look at how effective a player performs defensively. Those numbers say [Yuniesky Betancourt] is a disaster at shortstop. Flawed numbers or not, I would tend to believe those over my lyin’ eyes." [Joe Posnanski]


• Brendan Haywood is better than you think he is. [Truth About It]


• Check out this crazy catch by the Pirates' Delwyn Young last week that the umpires (understandably) missed. [FanHouse]


• Rob Neyer is a fan of the George Sherrill trade:
  

  
  I'm not going to criticize the Dodgers for trading Josh Bell. Who knows? Maybe Casey Blake will live forever.
  What I will do is send up a big hip-hip-hooray for the Orioles, because the single best thing any rebuilding manager can do, ever, is trade a relief pitcher in late July for a couple of solid prospects.
  
  Let me repeat for anyone not paying attention: a relief pitcher.
  
  Relief pitchers are, well, I would say that they're "fungible" except that word always makes me think of a massively fun and rigid airship. Instead I'll say that a relief pitcher, purely in terms of value, is not worth two solid prospects.
  
  Bell and Johnson are solid. Bell opened the season as the Dodgers' eighth-best prospect, and has done nothing this season to damage his credentials -- he's got mid-range power and a .364 career on-base percentage. Johnson is 21, almost 22, certainly throws hard enough (90-93) and has struck out nearly a batter per inning in his five minor-league seasons.
  
  If I were an Orioles fan, I would be organizing a party right now.
  

  
  Oh, and I'm also a fan of the trade. [SweetSpot]


• Mike Williams has lost more than 100 pounds in eight months. Next step: Play better in training camp. [Redskins Insider]


• Speaking of losing weight, Ralph Friedgen has lost 95 pounds. [FanHouse]


• Could a quarterback controversy be coming for the Redskins? [Hogs Haven]


• Is PFT's Mike Florio at it again? [Mr. Irrelevant]


• Lee Corso is on the comeback trail, and I wish him the best of luck. [Awful Announcing]

Jim Zorn is original -- and pretty quirky

ESPN's Elizabeth Merrill wrote a fascinating article on Jim Zorn today that included plenty of quotes and anecdotes from his time with the Redskins and earlier in his career. Two things caught my attention.

First, Zorn might not be on Gilbert Arenas's level when it comes to quirkiness, but he's close. Here are three quotes from the article that demonstrate just how different Zorn is from other coaches (and people for that matter):

• Zorn: "There's a method to what I'm doing. I'm not just kind of bouncing down the stream here like a pebble. I do have a plan. We've got things in place in an organizational standpoint where we're going hard and fast."


• London Fletcher: "I think initially, you may be a bit taken aback, so to speak. You're kind of like, 'Oh my goodness, who is this guy?' Then you realize that's his personality, and you kind of just appreciate it. He's not trying to be somebody else. He's very comfortable within his own skin. It's refreshing."


• Zorn: "I always look at the patience of the NFL game. We have sort of the patience of instant coffee, you know? You pour hot water over instant coffee, and poof, we've got coffee here. But the best coffee is the coffee that's brewed."

I'm sure you get the idea.

Second, Zorn commented on the Jason Campbell offseason situation:

A few months into the offseason, after the Redskins' offense sputtered in an 8-8 year, Zorn sat Campbell down in his office. He told Campbell that the front office was looking into the possibility of obtaining Jay Cutler, who was disgruntled in Denver.

The conversation lasted about 10 minutes. Near the end of it, Zorn encouraged Campbell to stay focused and everything would work out. Zorn knows he could've lost his quarterback there, or in the following weeks when the Redskins mulled over Mark Sanchez, who was eventually drafted by the New York Jets.

"I tried to be as upfront with him as I could," Zorn says. "I just think with myself...it's easier for me if I'm dealt with up front than sort of this circumventing, and then on the back end of this thing you finally find out what the truth really was."

I'm glad that Zorn talked to Campbell and was open and honest with him. I don't think the Redskins treated Campbell very well this offseason, but he's still the starting quarterback and will need to improve.

I'll be honest too: After Joe Gibbs retired, I didn't want the Redskins to hire Zorn to coach the team; I wanted them to hire Gregg Williams. I thought Zorn would take the team in the wrong direction and, basically, would be a bad hire. But I have to admit that I like what he brings to the table. He's different and it's refreshing. He obviously works hard, and he devotes everything he has to the team. But he isn't sacrificing who he is to accomplish the goal of winning.

Unfortunately, this season, which will be Zorn's second with the Redskins, may be his last if he doesn't guide Washington to the playoffs. John Clayton agrees. So, while I'm glad Zorn is an interesting guy and is extremely quotable, he needs to win right now -- or else he's gone. Is that fair? Not really, but that's Dan Snyder's way.

Weekly Rundown: Roberts, Steve McNair Jr., Camden Yards

Weekly Rundown is a combination of links and brief comments on stories and topics that I couldn't get to during the week. If there's something important that I missed, don't hesitate to send an email or leave a comment.

I decided to play some pickup basketball yesterday, so that's why the Weekly Rundown is a day late. Anyway, here are some non-LeBron links that I thought were worth mentioning:

• Dave Trembley talking about Brian Roberts last week:
  

  
  "He hasn't played up to his expectations on a consistent basis, and I think that's bothering him. I think he's searching for an answer for that. I think he feels like he's let some factors get to him and affect the way he's played. He told me the other day that he accepts responsibility for that. He felt like he let me down, let his teammates down. I told him all he can do is go forward. You've got to put the past behind you and you've got to go forward."
  

  
  Roberts is still having a decent season, but his overall numbers -- .273/.339/.433 -- are down compared to the last few seasons. Still, he already has eight home runs (he hit nine last season), and he's driving in a lot of runs (42) out of the leadoff spot. I don't think he'll continue to hit as many homers, but hopefully he starts to walk a little more to raise his BB/K ratio from 0.63, which would be the lowest since his rookie season. [Orioles.com]


• WJFK (106.7) will broadcast Wizards games for the next few seasons. [D.C. Sports Bog]


• Apparently Oscar Salazar and Felix Pie are on the trading block. [Baltimore Sun]


• According to Jason La Canfora, who now works for NFL Network, Redskins veterans with four years or more NFL experience won't have to spend the night at training camp this year. That Jim Zorn is a nice guy. [Pro Football Talk]


• Steve McNair Jr. looks to carry on his father's football legacy -- at wide receiver. [FanHouse]


• Michael Lee on the Wizards and last season's attendance:
  

  
  ...[G]ate receipts for the Wizards declined more than $4 million last season, which put them among the 10 worst teams behind Sacramento ($9.7 million), Toronto ($9.1 million), Los Angeles Clippers ($6.8 million) and Miami Heat ($5.3 million). [Ken] Berger writes that Charlotte and Indiana also went down more than $4 million from the previous season.
  
  The Wizards finished 21st in attendance last season averaging 16,612 fans, which was a dropoff from the season before when the Wizards ranked 15th at 17,962. Overall, the Wizards had 55,344 fewer fans walk through the turnstiles (about 1,350 per game). [Wizards Insider]
  



• Mark Buehrle may decide to hang up his spikes when he turns 32, and his decision will have nothing to do with his pitching abilities. [Yahoo! Sports]


• Last Tuesday, in a tribute to Michael Jackson, Ken Griffey Jr. wore one white batting glove and came to the plate as "Billie Jean" played over the sound system. [Big League Stew]


• Want to see a "true baseball story" at the movies? Rob Neyer doesn't think it'll happen. [SweetSpot]


• LZ Granderson does his best to, sort of, defend Holly Robinson Peete, who wrote a few semi-controversial things on Twitter as the Steve McNair saga unfolded. I have an idea: If you don't want people to overreact at things you say/write on a social networking site, then don't write anything at all. [ESPN]


• Apparently JaVale McGee isn't a big fan of the nickname "Epic Vale." [Bullets Forever]


• And finally, apparently Camden Yards doesn't suck. Well, of course it doesn't. [Deadspin]

PFT's Florio gets bitter in defending Portis 'reporting'

I mentioned this post in Sunday's Weekly Rundown, but last Friday, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote that Clinton Portis and Jim Zorn weren't getting along in the team's recent OTA sessions. Florio included this quote from one unnamed source: "Portis totally has no regard for [Zorn] and thinks he’s above everyone." Florio then went on to include some comments made by John Riggins, who has obviously disliked Portis for a while now, in a rant he made on Portis in January.

Well, a couple of D.C. blogs weren't too happy with the post. On Friday afternoon, Hogs Haven posted a mocking write-up titled, "Multiple Source Confirm Mike Florio Is Clueless." Here's a sample:

I have had the opportunity to contact multiple sources, and they all advise me that Mike Florio has no idea what he is talking about. Does he ever come outside? Where does he get his sources? First he drops a completely unfounded rumor that LaRon Landry is asking to be traded. When we asked the Redskins Public Relations about the rumor, they responded that they had not heard of anything even remotely like that. Then LaRon himself denied that anything like that was going on.

Today he "reports" that Clinton Portis is creating a huge problem in Redskins camp. Again, we asked the Redskins, "What's going on?" We were told that this couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, it is a classic case of Florio manufacturing the news. He trotted a quote from Riggins that is about 6 months old, and the quote about Clinton thinking he is above everyone else smacks of a quote from last year as well. This is what NBC is paying for?

Over at Mr. Irrelevant, the Mottram brothers, already on tilt after Florio's Favre-to-the-Redskins speculation on Thursday, had a little barb aimed towards Florio in a links post this morning: "Florio does what Florio does, says Zorn has a problem with Portis."

Interestingly enough, the war of words didn't stop there; instead, Florio fired back earlier today at Portis and "some bloggers":

Redskins running back Clinton Portis has denied our recent report that he has demonstrated disrespect to coach Jim Zorn during offseason workouts.

"How this story came about, I have no idea," Portis told David Elfin of the Washington Times. "There's nothing going on. There's no beef between me and Coach Zorn. We're on good terms at this present moment. There's no problem."

Portis admitted that there was a past "flareup" with Zorn, but that it happened "a long time ago."

Portis also told Elfin that we (as in PFT) are trying to make trouble where none exists.

Clinton, we honestly don't give a [expletive]. We use the stuff we get that we think our readers will find interesting. And when a credible source tells us that you mouthed off to your head coach during offseason workouts and another credible source corroborates the notion that you have no regard for Zorn, then it's something we're going to share with our audience.

And we assume that Redskins fans (including some bloggers who lack the ability to be objective because they're more concerned about seeing their favorite team be successful than they are about getting to the truth) will blindly accept the version of the events being told by Portis and quarterback Jason Campbell and anyone else with a vested interest in keeping the team's dirty laundry in the locker room.

Ah yes, the blogger who couldn't get any respect from the mainstream media is now beginning to take shots at bloggers himself.

Here is Mr. Irrelevant's response:

Here’s the thing: We aren’t “blindly accepting” anything. We are accepting, for now, CP and Campbell’s version of the story because it is the more believable side. Florio’s Redskins speculation is inaccurate more often than not (he’s 0-3 this month), and there has not been one report — not even a whisper — from anywhere else that Portis has treated his head coach this offseason in the manner in which Florio’s source suggest. In fact, believing Florio’s report would be the very definition of blind acceptance — simply trusting that Florio’s unnamed informant knows something that has not been mentioned anywhere else.

Florio's speculation isn't anything new; it's something that his site came to be known for, and it's the reason why a lot of people read and will continue to read his NFL coverage. What's interesting to me is that he responded to criticism at all, dropping a rare S-bomb in the process. "Why so serious?"

In most cases, Florio would be right about blogs defending their team, but many Redskins fans already take shots at their team and how it's run -- I know I do. But in this case, if Florio can't provide definitive proof or list his sources, he looks like someone who's just trying to start some trouble. And if that was his goal, he succeeded.

Shanahan to Washington in 2010?

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk thinks the Redskins may be positioning for a possible run at coach Mike Shanahan in the 2010 offseason:

In the end, Shanahan’s final destination might come down to money. Specifically, the question will be the extent to which any team is willing to exceed the $7 million that Shanahan is due to receive from the Broncos regardless of whether he works next season.

So maybe, just maybe, the team’s flirtation with USC quarterback Mark Sanchez has less to do with making an impact in 2009, and more to do with helping set the table for Shanahan in 2010.

I have absolutely no doubt that Dan Snyder wants to make this move, but it's going to come down to how the team performs this year. If the Redskins finish 8-8 again and miss the playoffs, then Zorn will surely get fired, meaning Snyder can throw a ton of cash Shanahan's way to try to bring him to Washington. But if the Redskins make the playoffs and perform well, Snyder can't get rid of Zorn and Jason Campbell, which would ruin Snyder's strategy of trying to make a big offseason splash every year. And I honestly don't know if Snyder would rather win football games or be offseason champions.

If Snyder is really looking ahead to 2010, it makes more sense (not that anything Snyder does makes sense) to have Sanchez since he would be a young quarterback for Shanahan to build his offense around; Campbell probably wouldn't be a good fit.

Finding out that Snyder wants to hire Shanahan wouldn't shock many Redskins fans if it eventually turns out to be true, but I'd still be surprised if the Redskins draft Sanchez because he makes no sense for the 2009 team. The Redskins have plenty of holes at offensive line, defensive line, and linebacker, and wasting a pick on a quarterback would be ridiculous.

So, with that in mind, expect the Redskins to go after Sanchez.

Portis is not pleased

Remember when the Redskins were 6-2 halfway through the season? Remember when Clinton Portis was one of the frontrunners for league MVP?

Those days sure seem like a long time ago.

Following a Week 8 win at Detroit, the Redskins have dropped four of five games to fall to 7-6. Washington will need to win its last three games over the Bengals, Eagles, and 49ers to have a chance to make the playoffs, and even then a wild card spot may not be guaranteed.

To make matters worse, head coach Jim Zorn apparently has issues with Portis's lack of practice time during the last few weeks, which allegedly resulted in Portis's benching in the second half of the Redskins' loss against the Ravens on Sunday.

Portis, who was interviewed today on the John Thompson show, obviously wasn't happy with the situation. He also had no problem voicing his frustration.

"If they need to cut ties with me, cut ties with me," he said. "It is what it is, bro."

Later in the interview, Portis added, "Maybe I'm the problem. Maybe I should go on IR."

He even managed to drop an S-bomb during the live show, which caught Thompson off guard.

I don't understand what Zorn is trying to do with Portis. Is he trying to send some kind of message or something? The problem can't really be the lack of practice time because then other players like London Fletcher and Chris Samuels would also have been benched against the Ravens. And if missing practice last week was such a big deal, why did Portis even play in the first half?

It's bad enough that the Redskins have looked so terrible (mainly on offense) these last several weeks; now the team's best player is under attack even though he's one of the hardest working guys on the team.

I've never heard of a situation off the field where Portis is missing meetings, showing up late, or not being prepared for game day. Whatever is going on, it doesn't sound like it's going to end well.

(For more, check out the D.C. Sports Bog.)

Redskins links

Jason La Confora of the Washington Post thinks that Jason Campbell is the team's first-half offensive MVP. He's not; it's Clinton Portis. Mr. Irrelevant has it right. So does Seth Wickersham of ESPN.

Adam Schein of Fox Sports doesn't think that Portis is "having a classic MVP year," whatever that means. It would be nice to know, but he doesn't explain himself.

Dan Steinberg explains the Zorn vs. Portis incident in the first half of the Lions game.

Zorn didn't appreciate it when a Washington Times reporter rolled his eyes at the coach.

Yahoo! Sports' Charles Robinson is impressed by the Redskins offense so far this season: "Santana Moss (658 receiving yards, five touchdowns) is probably one of the most underrated wide receivers of this season. Clinton Portis (126 rushing yards in the win over the Detroit Lions) is opening up his lead for the rushing crown. And quarterback Jason Campbell still hasn’t thrown an interception in 230 attempts this season. What’s not to like?" Probably the fact that the Redskins are just 23rd in scoring (20.6) despite ranking 7th in the NFL in total yards per game (364.3). There is some room for improvement, but at 6-2, it's hard to complain.

Peter King of Sports Illustrated ranks the Redskins seventh in his latest article. King believes the Redskins don't deserve any "style points (SP) for a close-call win in Detroit. Luckily, in the NFL, there's a column for W's, a column for L's and no SP column." Thanks for pointing that out. It's worth noting that King picked the Lions to upset the Redskins last week.

The Washington Post's Mike Wise thinks the Redskins are "Passing the Chemistry Test."

Friday links

-- This news is about a month old, but do you know who the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) voted for as the MVP of the Tampa Bay Rays this season? Nope, not Evan Longoria (.272/.343/.531, 27 HR), B.J. Upton (.273/.383/.401, 9 HR), or Carlos Pena (.247/.377/.494, 31 HR), or anyone on the pitching staff. Instead, they gave the MVP to shortstop Jason Bartlett. Fire Joe Morgan already covered this topic, but I just wanted to make sure I had this right: Bartlett (.286/.329/.361, 1 HR) apparently deserves the award more than the three Rays listed above because he's a great defensive shortstop? Longoria and Upton are both outstanding defensive players at third base and center field, respectively, and Pena is solid at first base as well. Bartlett has certainly made the Rays better this season, but he's not the most valuable player on the team by any stretch of the imagination. Anyway, it probably won't matter if the Rays end up winning the World Series.

-- This story is also a few weeks old, but it's worth mentioning as well. Here's a video of a hit by Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson on Buffalo Bills quarterback Trent Edwards in Week 5. Sure, it's a hard hit, but it looks pretty clean, right? This is the NFL after all. Apparently not, since Wilson was fined $25,000 for "unnecessarily [driving] Edwards to the ground." This article on Pro Football Talk states that Wilson "violat[ed] Rule 12, Section 2, Article 12 (2) of the NFL Official Playing Rules. That rule states: 'a defensive player must not unnecessarily or violently throw [the quarterback] down and land on top of him with all or most of the defender's weight. Instead, the defensive player must strive to wrap up or cradle the passer with the defensive player's arms.'" I didn't know that "cradle the passer" and "football" were ever supposed to be seen in the same sentence. Look, it's unfortunate that Edwards suffered a concussion because of the hit, but football is a violent sport played by very strong and very fast individuals. Players are going to get hurt, even on rather ordinary plays. How exactly is Wilson, running at full speed, supposed to be worried about making the play while also remembering he must cradle the quarterback on the way down so he doesn't get fined? The league can keep handing out unnecessary fines all it wants, but plays like this happen every week and the commissioner can't stop them.

Some quick hitters:

-- An interesting read on the "Curse of 370" carries by running backs.

-- There are passionate Redskins fans, and then there are insane ones.

-- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is "tired of talking" about Pacman.

-- Nick Young understands that he'll need to step up this year.

-- Gilbert Arenas doesn't mind answering some questions for Young.

-- This NFL season makes no sense to Jason Whitlock.

-- Roch Kubatko is willing to "quit [his] job at MASN and work as Pacman Jones' publicist" if Adam Loewen leaves the Orioles.

-- Antawn Jamison is skeptical of whether or not Andray Blatche will step up this season.

-- Jim Zorn filled in as play-caller for one game with the Lions in 1999.