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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Skins hire Sherman Lewis

The Skins bring in former long time O Coordinator of the Packers and expert on the West Coast offense as a consultant to help with the Redskin sputtering offense. I have mixed emotions about this.

First, there is no question that our offense is sputtering and as I have mentioned on numerous occasions, I believe it is play calling/schemes/game planning that is the biggest issue. If Lewis can be another set of eyes and help make a difference with the offense, than I am all for it. Zorny wears a lot of hats (head coach, QB coach, playcaller, partial O coordinator) so if he is on board with this and it provides him some relief and again, if it makes a difference, I am for it.

However, bringing Lewis in seems to undermine Zorny. Zorny may have wanted to opportunity to fix the offense himself. It also seems to send a message to the team that Zorny can't fix it by himself. Charlie Casserly called this move the "kiss of death." He may very well be right. This may be the beginning of the end for Zorny.

Again, from my limited perspective, I have been disappointed with the coaching and if this move sharpens the offense and makes us better, great. However, if it causes more issues, it is the end for Zorny. We'll see what happens.

11 comments:

Rob said...

This is the kind of bullsh*t that comes from Danny Boy that ruins the team.

Jason Reid's post on Insider today gets to many of the problems with the move.

Again, Danny Boy is undercutting his coach. What the Hell is Lewis going to do at this point? Lewis is going to come in and say, you need a better offensive line and the three 2nd round draft picks from last year are busts if he is going to be honest.

But I don't believe he will be honest because that is not what Danny Boy wants to hear. He wants cover for when he fires Zorn in a couple of weeks. This move is an effort to get Lewis to write a report saying Zorn stinks. Then, Danny Boy can fire him and say the organization needs a new direction. It is utter B.S.

Danny Boy probably wants Zorn to be so offended that he resigns in protest. That way Danny Boy won't have to pay the rest of his contract. Again, this is the same old Danny Boy BULLSH*T.

Rob said...

Zorn wasn't available for comment (the Redskins did release a written statement by Zorn that was probably written by the team).

But you know how stupid this whole thing is, the Post story today says, "Cerrato wasn't certain whether Lewis would actively coach on the field, spend game days in the press box or tinker with the team's offensive playbook."

So the GM (probably Danny Boy on his own in reality) hired a consultant and the coach isn't available for comment and the GM doesn't actually know what the consultant will do.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I GIVE YOU YOUR 2009 OAKLAND RAIDERS . . . I MEAN WASHINGTON REDSKINS!

deepie said...

Wow Robs...Lot's of bold statements based on nothing more than your pure hatred of the Redskins. I believe you are assuming WAY too much given that there are no facts to support your arguments. I guess we can wait and see if there is any truth to what you say, but for now, all we should be doing is discussing whether or not this move will help.

I believe this move will result in very little, if any, improvement in the offense. I don't think the plays are the problem. It has more to do with execution and play calling. I believe the only place where Lewis may help is if he sees that Zorn is clearly calling the wrong plays at the wrong time. Zorn may learn a thing or two, but he can't help with the execution of the plays.

As a sidenote, there was an interesting discussion between Steve Czaben and Chick Hernandez yesterday on ESPN980. Despite what you want to believe, there is regular and open criticism of the team and the organization on Danny Boy's own station. Chick described an off-air discussion he had with Zorn. The coach made it very clear that he may need to improve his play calling, but more often than not, players simply are not doing their part to get plays to work. Receivers don't get off the line. Veteran linemen miss blocking assignments. The QB is missing open receivers.

We can't see everything on TV. There's much more that goes on than what we see on the screen. If what Zorn said off-camera is the case, then I feel sorry for him. He inherited a team of incompetent players and his talent evaluators and scouts are not bringing in players that know how to play football. These guys are going to cost him his job.

Rob said...

Did you read Jason Reid's post or the Post story?

There is plenty of B.S. in this move - don't take my word for it, read the stories.

Danny Boy was going to fire Zorn last year but didn't because the Deadskins beat the Eagles on the second to the last game.

Also, coaching candidates were told they could not hire all of the assistants they wanted because Danny Boy still had to pay so many of Gibbs' assistants. You are not likely to get many top candidates to agree to coach your team if you don't allow them to hire their own staffs.

Zorn will get fired before the end of the year. This move is just an effort to build cover for Danny Boy.

deepie said...

The line is not good. I've said that. I've said I would have drafted Michael Oher, who is now starting for the Ravens. That doesn't mean the line "sucks." Aside from a few plays here and there, the pass protection has been good. It is not a particularly overpowering line. The running game is suffering due to that fact. But the line has not "sucked." Your biases against the team prevent you from objectively assessing the quality of the O-line play.

I read the Jason Reid post. Like I said earlier, we just have to wait and see if the Danny-boy conspiracy stuff holds any water. Zorn was on a short leash at the beginning of the season. If you think there's any reason why Danny Boy shouldn't have shortened that leash even further given the team's performance over the past four games, then, yet again, I question your ability to rationally assess this team.

deepie said...

Sorry. The first paragraph in my last update was intended for the other discussion regarding the ugly win on Sunday.

Rob said...

Zorn is being blamed when the problem is the O-line and the general talent level (the wide receivers they drafted are unproductive and apparently clueless).

That is not just coaching. Fred Davis oversleeps and is still lost 2 years in. He may not be smart enough to play in the NFL. He also had a problem with giggling through meetings last year.

Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly are not performing. I don't know if Zorn wanted these guys, or if he is being asked to play these guys, but they are not good.

Hiring a consultant to tell them what I just wrote won't change anything.

j, k, and s's d said...

Once again, I have to agree more with Deepie. Robs went Hog Wild on this one. Just relax, Robs. It's amusing to see how much Robs hates the Redskins. I really believe that he enjoys hating the Redskins more than enjoys loving his Bears. I truly believe that.

I don't care for the move. Like I said, it could make a difference but probably not. The offense is sputtering so should it help, great. However, if it continues to sputter, the whole crew will be gone. Frankly, this would be the case whether Lewis was there or not.

Rob said...

This move is indefensible B.S. in my opinion, but the thing I am amazed about is that you think I am just hating.

I guess hiring a consultant but not knowing what that consultant will do makes sense. Zorn knows what's going on which is why he was unavailable for comment - I guess you two will actually be surprised when Zorn gets fired in the next few weeks.

This is exactly how they got rid of Double G. They first got Blache to agree to be the defensive coordinator and then they whacked Double G.

Now, they hire a play caller and get him on staff so that when they fire Zorn they have someone to call plays. This slow motion firing and melodrama is just another example of what is wrong with Danny Boy's Redskins.

Rob said...

Adam Schefter at ESPN has been reporting that it is just a matter of when (not if) Zorn gets fired.

Charley Casserley called this hiring a bad sign for Zorn.

It is becoming more and more obvious that Zorn is going to get Sherminated.

You have to believe that there are guys in the locker room who think the way I do. Danny Boy has set up the perfect self-fulfilling prophecy. With all the media asking the guys about Zorn's job security they aren't concentrating on the Panthers.

My guess is that the Deadskins will lose to Carolina this week and then lose to the Chiefs at home. That will end it for Zorn. He doesn't have a chance to just coach because of all of the hoopla and speculation that has been caused by hiring Sherminator.

Rob said...

Question: What has the Sherminator beem doing with himself since he retired from the NFL five years ago -

He "has remained active in his retirement calling bingo games at a senior center and doing charity work."

This is a quote from Jason Reid's Insider post.

Holy crap. It just gets better and better. The only thing that would make this any more ridiculous is if they hire Pepper Rogers.

Desperation is truly setting in.