Clearly, something is wrong with the Washington Redskins. They just lost to the Chiefs to give Kansas City only its third win in 31 games. In six straight games against winless teams to start the season, they've struggled to a 2-4 record. The only two wins were by two points and three points against St. Louis and Tampa Bay, respectively. Nowhere near awe-inspiring numbers.

So what is ailing the 'Skins? Unsurprisingly, a lot of things. From the top down and the bottom up, it seems almost everything that could've gone wrong has.

You can call me Dr. Football; I have my stethoscope out. After a thorough check-up, here are the ten biggest problems, in order of importance, and my prescription to solve them.

1. Terrible team management and vision

Symptoms: Silly personnel decisions, poor analysis of talent and player value, no discernable plan or internal development.

Cure: Fire Vinny Cerrato, hire a thick-skinned general manager who won't listen to Daniel Snyder.

Second opinion: Fire Vinny Cerrato, hire a seasoned coach-GM like Bill Cowher.

Prognosis: The root of all of the Redskin's problems is poor decision-making by owner Daniel Snyder. To Snyder's merit, he'll spend top dollar for who he believes is the best man for a job. To Snyder's malignment, he rarely chooses the right guy.

The Redskins need a man with a plan. Snyder's solution seems usually to go for the biggest name. For coaching and administration, he'll sometimes go after whoever will let him make all the big personnel decisions.

Vinny Cerrato is a partner-in-crime with Snyder. He needs to go. Snyder will be around for awhile, but he needs to realize, after a decade of aimless ownership on the football field, that there are others better-suited to make football decisions.

It's time for Snyder to completely, 100% relinquish general management duties. Get someone known for building franchises, like one of the Polians , as Michael Wilbon suggests. Get the best, wisest, bravest man—definitely not the one who will bow to Snyder. Snyder should offer whoever is the right man for the job as big a paycheck as that person needs to become fully committed to Washington, even if it's $30+ million. Then, give him a blank check to run the team from a personnel perspective, no questions asked.

Allow him to develop his own plan, hire whatever scouts and talent evaluators he wants, and let him go to work. Snyder can focus his energies on promoting the team—as he's done a stellar job with thus far—and keeping coaches and players happy.

Once that happens—and not before—the Redskins will begin to expunge the toxins ruining their team. The stupid contracts, from the Jason Taylor tragedy to the grossly excessive pay hike DeAngelo Hall received just this summer, will expire and the high value talent will start building up. The rest of the teams' symptoms will gradually disappear.

2. Little chemistry

Symptoms: Lethargic play, sloppy mistakes, inability to achieve momentum, little team improvement.

Cure: Bring in a more experienced, motivating coach.

Supplement: Clear out the excess of nebulous assistant coaches.

Prognosis: I really, really like Jim Zorn. He's low key in all the right ways, which serves as a nice antidote to Snyder as the identity of the franchise. He's humble but has a quiet streak of confidence. He's smart and open-minded and has faith in his players.

He's not what the Redskins need right now, though. The Redskins are not established and talented enough to have a green, Zorn-type coach right now. They need a coach with an already determined identity in the NFL. Someone who knows exactly what his way to run the system is; Zorn is not that. Zorn is a trial-by-fire, living-on-a-prayer coach.

Some day, Zorn could be a good or even great NFL coach.  Right now, he's not the right person for the Redskins. The ownership probably decided this a couple weeks into the season, and have already taken playcalling duties from Zorn .

I think Zorn's humility and player-driven attitude works great when the team is clicking, but fails to hold up in tough times. Once the players start getting down on themselves, it becomes hard for Zorn or anyone to pick them back up. A hardened coach like a Gruden is the better option when rebuilding is on the line.

Even better would be someone who is more like Joe Gibbs—a coach whose specialty is unity and motivation. Look at the two most recent playoff runs: 2005 and 2007. Both saw the Redskins storming back, arm in arm, when odds seemed against them.

I hope (but doubt) that Zorn will stick with the team. I think he's a great personality and face for the team, that he could be a first-rate offensive coordinator, that Campbell or whatever quarterback ends up leading the offense would benefit from having a really good quarterbacks specialist like Zorn.

Another problem for the Redskins is that they have so many assistant head coaches, coordinators, and consultants that I imagine it's difficult for any coordination or cooperation to occur. The idiotic recent hiring of Sherm Lewis as "another set of eyes" is exactly what I'm talking about. How can players and coaches know who to report to? How can coaches be expected to know what decisions to make and what their roles are with so many people trying to run the show?

Some of the coaches need to go, and I say start with the Sherms (Lewis and current OC Smith) and make Zorn the coordinator and the QB's coach.

3. Flimsy offensive line

Symtpoms: Old, injury-prone offensive line with little depth

Cure: The 2010 NFL Draft

Prognosis: Chris Samuels and a few of the older, better linemen are down for the count. The floodgates—rickety at best, pre-injury—have completely busted open as the Redskins have failed to do much of anything on offense against anyone.

The problem is, all of the NFL-level starters are old and falling apart. Samuels, arguably the best player on the Redskins' roster, might be finished for his career. The outlook is really ugly.

There's little left to do except start getting young, good prospects. I don't care if the team uses all five of its picks in the draft on offensive linemen—in fact, I encourage it —I just want to see big action to get talented players as soon as possible.

Offensive linemen are notoriously difficult to nab during the season or during free agency as most level-headed management will pay top dollar to keep promising offensive linemen on its team. (As we've established, the Redskins do not have level-headed management.) The best players available would be over-the-hill types with big names who wanted bigger contracts than they're worth. These are exactly the types of players the Redskins need to avoid, and the kind that Snyder gravitates towards.

Should a few of the best young free agent linemen fall through the re-signing process, it'd be an incredible stroke of luck for the Redskins. They'd be tempted to go for some of the older players, but if someone under 29 with good starting experience becomes available, the Skins should absolutely make a move.

Coaching shouldn't be a problem, at least at first. I'm not sure how much longer Joe Bugel will put up with Snyder's antics, or how much juice he has left in him, but he's among the best and most respected offensive line coaches in the league.

4. Very little quarterback development

Symptoms: Young quarterback playing worse each game, little confidence in QB from coaching staff, fan intolerance of sloppy mistakes.

If you trust the immune system: Patience in Jason Campbell

Transplant option: Trade for Brady Quinn

Second opinion: Free agency

Outside chance for miracule cure: The draft

Prognosis: Jason Campbell is blowing his last chance to settle in. He was just benched against KC in the second half in favor of the ancient Todd Collins, giving his job security after this season a pretty bleak outlook. If he doesn't return, he could either land with a struggling team as a starter with one last chance to become a major presence in the NFL, or he could go to a more prominent team as a backup. I think the latter is more likely.

Personally, I like the idea of trading him and a bit more bait for Brady Quinn who is being exiled from Cleveland. I'd go short of offering up a first rounder, but I think Quinn could really fit Washington well. He'd be an immediate threat with an enormous ceiling and plenty of time to prove it. The tools are there, too: He's got an accurate, short-to-medium range arm. Campbell is the inverse of that, a relatively inaccurate cannon.

Quinn would fit in well with the west coast-style offense the Redskins have in place right now and likely the rest of the season. Assuming Zorn doesn't survive to next season (pretty safe assumption, knowing ol' Danny), Quinn might have an entirely new offense next season, but he's versatile enough that he'd likely fit.

This trade is an outside chance, especially if the Redskins decline to part with a first-rounder, which is the right move. Inside sources have also hinted the Redskins aren't particularly interested (though the Chiefs disaster may change that outlook). If it could happen otherwise, I think it'd be a brilliant curveball that's one of few things that could spark the team for the rest of the season.

But assuming a trade of that nature doesn't go down, the next best bet is picking up a free agent of some sort. You could snag Orton, Pennington, Culpepper, or T. Jackson. Each of these four have shown some promise, and it'd be nice to have a veteran like Culpepper.

I'd like to avoid heading to the draft, but most recent results have been that the best college QB's, like Jimmy Clausen, are ready to take on the NFL. Look at Ryan, Flacco, and newcomers like Sanchez, who seem to be on their way to 'marquee' or at least 'reliable.' Of course, the Redskins could always lay an egg with a bad pick, and dig the franchise deeper into a hole.

The absolute best scenario is for Campbell to show big improvement in the second half, to develop a better internal clock and accuracy, and to sign a long-term contract. Given the team's turmoil, especially the past few weeks, and the perceived lack of confidence in Campbell from ownership and fans, it seems like that window of opportunity is dwindling.

5. Underperforming WR's

Symptoms: Poor performance from quarterback, dropped passes, young receivers lacking confidence.

Cure: Keep throwing it to the young guys.

Prognosis: It's very easy to declare the crop of receiver-types from the 2008 draft as complete busts. Look at the three second-round picks: Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly, Fred Davis. This supposed receiver corps of the future had combined for a whopping 17 catches total going into the Kansas City game (and probably about 17 drops, too).

This was supposed to be their breakout year, especially Thomas and Kelly. So far, it hasn't amounted to much. From what I've seen of the games, I believe that it's a combination of silly mistakes and low confidence on the receivers' part, compounded by Jason Campbell giving up on them early in favor of the usual Moss-Randle El-Cooley set of targets.

Kelly and Thomas have all the physical gifts needed to be good starting receivers. They just haven't transitioned well to the pro game yet. I believe they're growing into their roles, but far too slowly. The quarterback needs keep throwing to them. Let them develop a rhythm.

Though this might seem counterproductive at first to go to the worse receivers more, it will have a variety of positive effects. It lets the receivers develop confidence and get over their mistakes and drops. It will also loosen the coverage on the old reliables as defenses learn that the team hasn't given up on their receiving prospects. Finally, it'll send a signal to young players in general that the team values their development.

6. Dropped interceptions

Symptoms: Failure to turn good coverage and broken-up passes into turnovers

Cure: Bring in a veteran leader as an assistant coach or a backup player

Prognosis: If you want to see the effect a good leader can have on his unit, take a gander at London Fletcher-Baker. Not only will he be in contention to get his long overdue Pro Bowl selection, he's made the players around him better with good work ethic, good attitude, good leadership, and being a role model.

The Redskins lack a player like that. Sean Taylor would probably be evolving into that at this point in his career if he were still around, but fans are all too aware of his tragic absence.

Right now, you see players like Carlos Rogers generally playing very good coverage and making the occasional highly athletic play, but he can never quite seal the deal. Fred Smoot and DeAngelo Hall are too excitable, naive, and prone to blown plays to be that stable leader. Reed Doughty fits the bill a little bit, but has a ways to go before he becomes the 'wise old man' like Fletcher.

What the Redskins need is someone like Darrell Green as an assistant coach or, less likely, some veteran free agent—former 'Skin Walt Harris from San Francisco?—to be that hard-working role model. Bring a bit of calmness and confidence to a unit that seems so close to turning the corner and being one of the best, deepest secondaries in the league.

7. Pathetic punt returning

Symptoms: One-to-four yard returns, every time.

Cure: Let Santana return.

Prognosis: Antwaan Randle-El has run out of chances to be the return man he was in Pittsburgh. Every punt, one of two things happens. A fair catch, or Randle-El catching the ball, attempting a juke or two, and gaining maybe a couple of yards after lots of movement and indecision.

Washington actually has a great alternate option in Santana Moss who almost always makes something out of his punt returns. And, strangely, he became a good punt returner after becoming a lead receiver, basically the opposite of the Devin Hester effect. Moss says he wants to return, too.

The coaches don't like letting Santana take the punts, presumably because they don't want their deep threat taking hits. I understand this, but with the emergence of the new set of receiving threats (see #4), the likely reward outweighs the possible risk. As a coach, I'd much rather have the chance of breaking a big punt return every time than always play it safe with the receiver.

8. Average or worse specialists

Symptoms: Limited flexibility and reliability on special teams.

Cure: Stick with the patchwork guys until long term solutions become available, then snag them.

Prognosis: Before the season, I would have put this issue much higher. Honestly, how much fear do Hunter Smith and Shaun Suisham inspire in opponents?

The crazy thing is, special teams coach Danny Smith has done a very good job with these two so far this season. Hunter the Punter, as fans call him, will likely be best remembered for the fake punt he converted into a touchdown earlier this year.

But his punting has been remarkably efficient. He lacks the raw booting power of most NFL punters, with a gross average punt of 43.5 yards. However, his placement has been very good. The 4.0 return yards/punt number he has put up is tops in the NFC, which boosts his net punting average to well above average in the NFC. In thirteen punts, he's pinned teams inside the 20 five times. Smith is out on injury right now, but will be back soon.

Suisham hasn't been tested very much—only six kicks, none longer than 42 yards—but has been perfect on field goals and extra points so far. He's one of only a few remaining in the NFL to not miss a kick yet. There's nothing more that you can ask for.

As reliable as these players have been in 2009, they're still only temporary solutions. Suisham in seasons past has had poor accuracy and range, to the point where he's been called one of the worst players in the NFL . Smith lacks the raw skills to play in the NFL as well. Neither are long term solutions. The Redskins can play the patchwork game but only until an established kicker and and punter, neither older than 36, hit the market. Then, pay top dollar for them.

9. Angry fans

Symptoms: Further diminished team confidence and chemistry, empty seats, lots of booing.

Cure: A couple of big wins.

Prognosis: Fans have booed the Redskins, and it has hurt the Redskins' confidence. Those are the facts, and from that fans logically should make the decision that they shouldn't boo.

The truth of the matter is something different, though. Can you blame any Redskins fan for being frustrated, furious, indignant? For ten years, they've put up with being the offseason champions but barely mediocre on the football field. They put their hard-earned money into the team. They bleed burgundy and bold. Usually, they're among the best, most loving, most enthusiastic fans in the nation.

Enough struggle is enough, though. The team that never goes through a rebuilding process longer than it takes some Pro Bowler to sign a bloated contract. The Redskins try to be competitive every year, and most years they aren't. It can wear down a fan.

A few wins later, it's an entirely different story. Once it appears the team is on the track to being successful and being a playoff contender, the fans will bounce back quicker than super ball. At heart, Redskins fans are loyal and vocal; but even the strongest loyalty bond can be broken.

Unlike Eagles fans most years, the Redskins really have had patience. They've tried everything: support, anger, patience, apathy, bewilderment . They deserve better.

10. Aging D-line

Symtpoms: Injuries, diminishing returns on sacks and overall defense.

Cure: Keep planting good seeds.

Prognosis: One year ago, this would be near the top of the list, but just look at all of the progress that has been made: Chris Wilson, Lorenzo Alexander, Kedric Golston, and Anthony Montgomery have all started to emerge as potentially starter-quality players. Just as fans could have hoped for, the development process has been pretty natural and productive under aging veterans Phillip Daniels, Cornelius Griffin, and Andre Carter—all of whom are 30 or older and are either leveling out or decreasing in performance.

The signing of Albert Haynesworth to the biggest defensive player contract ever was probably an overpayment, but Haynesworth is absolutely a huge benefit to the line. He's young enough to have plenty of good years in him and comes in already one of the best linemen in the league. He's made sacks, but even moreso allowed others to cause pressure because he absorbs offensive linemen.

Picks like Jeremy Jarmon and Brian Orakpo who are already good and could become great are great steps in the right direction, too. Orakpo especially could become a pro-bowler.

It really seems like the Redskins have made big steps in the right direction on this side of the trenches. Now, they just need to keep it up, keep adding depth, and re-sign the young players as the old players begin to fade away.