I was around to watch boxing legend Muhammad Ali’s rise and
fall. I remember how great this man was to the sport, he talked the talk and
walked the walk and people came to see this great fighter whether it was to
root for him or against him. I remember his last few fights and it was obvious
that this once great fighter wasn’t up to par anymore. It was tough to watch
because you knew his skills had deteriorated and that he was fighting on heart
alone and the sport had sadly passed him by.
Sunday afternoon after watching the Redskins blow an 11-point lead and lose to
the winless Titans, at home, at the FedEx, I started feeling same for coach Joe
Gibbs.
It’s not an easy feeling and a lot of folks have high and even blind faith in
the once great coach, after all he extended upon what George Allen did for the
Redskins faithful, he brought us championships.
But the Joe Gibbs phase two isn’t the same. The game has changed and the way to
win isn’t quite what it used to be. Gibbs has assembled a decent staff as he
has done all though his past with coast offs.
But the disappointing reality is that he has let players go that are performing
well, and brought in players that have done quite well in the NFL and not
gotten much out of them, exception being Santana Moss.
I know some folks don’t like to credit the quarterback with too much credit,
but in reality, the quarterback gets the ball to those around him, being via
handoff or a pass or perhaps a pitch, he also calls the play or modifies the
one called down from the box to fit the given defense. The quarterback is key
to a lot of success or lack of it.
Joe Gibbs has stubbornly placed all his marbles in Mark Brunell’s pocket and
Brunell is the type of quarterback after 14 years, which can only perform when
certain conditions are met. It’s like owning a car that you can only drive when
it is eighty degrees and sunny, sometimes it’s ninety and sometimes it rains
and sometimes it snows. It’s a bad decision no matter how you slice it and one
only has to change channels and watch some highlight film on any newscast to
see quarterbacks getting the ball to key players to see how bad this decision
really is.
There is one number that Mark Brunell looks at when it come to the pass, that
being the 89 of Santana Moss despite all the key players brought in to
supposedly make a threat every receiver position. Mark Brunell has managed to
single handily limit the passing game to a single threat, Santana Moss.
But even if the troubles start at quarterback they don’t end there. The
Redskins defense just hasn’t been able to stop anyone and the secondary in
particular just seems give up pass after pass. Signing 15 year veteran Troy Vincent looks like a pathetic move at best in an attempt to shore up that
porous pass defense, at best Vincent might be able to dispense some of his
tales of Super Bowl glory among the younger Redskins pass defenders.
The frustrating part is that the players added to this squad made plenty of
plays for their former teams, that is how they became sought after, aren’t
making plays and the only evaluation has to be coaching.
One can call upon one’s ghosts of the glory days and try to relive them and cry
the battle cry of ‘loyalty’ and that all true fans should ‘never question the
leadership,’ and perhaps that works for that type of fan. For me, it’s time to
evaluate what we have in place because what’s in place isn’t working and it’s
only getting the Redskins deeper into the hole.
At some point I have to wonder what it would be like to be the proverbial fly
on the wall in the Redskins film room after the game. Joe: “that was a good
pass Mark” Staff: “sure was Joe, if the ground had been just a little lower
Lloyd might have caught it”
You see, I’m the type that couldn’t do that. Me: “that idiot you are trying to
sell me as a QB just missed a wide open Lloyd and threw a one hopper in triple
coverage to Moss!” Joe: “Well it was a smart throw cause he threw in so low”
Me: “Good Lord, Joe, Lloyd was wide open, we pay him a lot of money to make
catches” You see, I just couldn’t sit there.
And that’s only the offense; the defense has a lot of problems too.
I don’t know if Joe can turn the magic on again as he did last year but the
current trend as I see it, well, I don’t see it as a ringing endorsement and in
fact, it’s something I make some red letter notes about for my year end
evaluation and what to improve upon if I am Dan Snyder. You have to have people
in place that utilize the talents I provide as the check writer, I want to see
Randle El throw a touchdown, I want to see Brandon Lloyd make one of those
pretty catches down the sidelines, I want to see Chris Cooley running the
medium routes and I want to see Santana Moss making huge plays…
Joe, if these coaches aren’t doing it, maybe you need to take more charge. The
formula is simple if you ask me, dump the QB and put either of the two options
in there because they will put the ball in the open receiver’s hands, as long
as someone is not saying something like “only throw it to Santana” do you think
you can do that?
It’s not time to fire the coach yet but there are some harsh realities that
need to be realized and they need to be adjusted so that they are not negatives
while there is time to get back in this thing. Mark Brunell is not the person
this team fires well with on offense. On defense, Williams needs to find that
spark, that thing that works… but here’s a basic formula for winning when your
defense isn’t firing quite right, outscore your opponent.
So… I’m all about making some adjustments. The status quo is not working and
it’s time to quite trying to make what isn’t working work. Washington is still
in this division race and they can still win it.
Karl Engelhardt covered the Redskins from 1997-2000 and has been following them for decades.