When the Washington Redskins became the first team to lose to the Detroit Lions in 21 months last weekend, both local and national media reacted venomously, calling for the team to be blown up and for head coach Jim Zorn to be fired. One Redskins fan even posted his “loyalty to the team” for sale on eBay (though with a starting price of $10,100, I doubt there will be many takers). As Washington Post columnist Mike Wise put it, if you lose to the worst team in football, doesn’t that make you the worst team in football?
After barely eking out a victory against the lowly Rams at home a week before the Detroit debacle this past Sunday, the Redskins have certainly been far from the best team in football. Their once vaunted rushing attack, hampered by the ailing ankle of Clinton Portis, was held without a yard in the first half against Detroit and stopped twice on key fourth down plays before Portis left the game in the fourth quarter. Even the Redskins’ famously stingy defense allowed rookie quarterback Matt Stafford to drive 99 yards for a key touchdown.
Despite their undeniably poor performance, a few Redskins expressed optimism about their chances for the rest of the season. “It’s not the end of the world,” safety Fred Smoot reminded everyone. “We can right the ship. The Lions did it.” While the fact that he takes the Lions as a source of inspiration may show just how bad things are for the Redskins, Smoot is right—the Redskins’ season is far from over.
Forget the fact that the Redskins lost to the cellar-dwelling Lions. After almost two full years of losing, they had to beat someone eventually. And plenty of good teams and coaches have started seasons poorly—the great Joe Gibbs started his tenure with the Redskins by losing five straight, and the 2007 Super Bowl champion New York Giants began their season 1-2. In fact, this year’s Redskins are quite similar to that New York team—both feature a talented but unproven quarterback, a hard-nosed but aging running back, a strong defense, and coaches under heavy fire from fans and the media.
This is not to suggest that Jim Zorn is even close to Joe Gibbs as a head coach, or that the Redskins will go on to win the Super Bowl, but there are reasons to believe that things will get better. Although the offense has had difficulty scoring from inside the red zone, averaging just 13.3 points per game (28th in the NFL), it has moved the ball well down the field, averaging 341.3 yards per game (13th in the league), with quarterback Jason Campbell completing 67.6 percent of his passes, better than all but four of the league’s quarterbacks.
Sure, the offense has issues. But the team’s sturdy defense is good enough to keep them in games when the offense isn’t putting many points on the board—their point differential for the season is just negative nine, while the truly awful Browns have already sunk to negative 66. And as the ‘Skins demonstrated last season—starting out 6-2 before imploding, finishing 8-8, and missing the playoffs—17 weeks is enough time for a team to change radically. Zorn may not have it all worked out yet, but, with a strong defense and a talented stable of offensive skill players, there’s no reason to place him on eBay just yet.
Sell your loyalty to Sean at squigley@georgetownvoice.com.
