Redskins: Change Needed in Washington

The Washington Redskins (6-4) are pondering many questions as they prepare to face the Seattle Seahawks (2-8) this Sunday at Quest Field.

How could such a promising start to the season turn south? Where did it all go wrong? Who’s to blame? How do we get back on track?

After a bad start to the season against the Giants, the Skins were able to reel off four wins in a row, including impressive victories over the Cowboys and Eagles.

Then things took a turn for the worst. What happened? Week six happened.

The Rams entered FedexField at the time searching for their first victory of the season.  The Skins believed they could just show up on the field and would get the victory. Safe to say that didn’t happen.

Facing a 1st-and-10 at the Rams’ 16-yard line, Campbell's pass was batted in the air, and Pete Kendall grabbed it. Instead of going down, Kendall proceeded to do his Clinton Portis imitation and tried to run with the ball only to cough it up. The Rams recovered and returned the fumble 75 yards for a touchdown.

Big momentum change; instead of the Redskins going into halftime with a 14-3 or 10-3 lead they trailed, 10-7. A team they no doubt should have dominated the entire game was now in a fight and eventually lost the game 19-17 on a 49-yard field goal as time expired.

Next up was Cleveland and Detroit. Both games were winnable and they managed to win each,  but for whatever reason these were games where Zorn decided to be extra conservative with the offense. Not allowing Campbell to throw downfield, Zorn relied on big games from Portis to pull them through. And that he did; Portis was named NFC Offensive Player of the Month for October.

All was well in D.C. with the Skins sitting at 6-2, a game behind the Giants for the NFC East lead. At the time you may have thought so, but the Skins went into their next game in primetime on Monday night against the top-ranked defensive team in the league, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Just what the doctor ordered for a reeling offense.

The Redskin attack totaled just 221 yards and was only 3-of-15 on third down conversions. Campbell was intercepted twice. Portis was held in check all game, rushing for only 51 yards on the night. The Washington defense played their hearts out, sacking Steelers quarterbacks five times, only to have D.C’s own Byron Leftwich lead the Black and Gold to a 23-6 victory.

Coming off a much needed bye week, you would have hoped the Redskins battered and bruised forms had healed up a bit and were now ready to take on the much hated Cowboys in their second meeting of the season.

A beat-up Dallas team entered FedExField needing a win desperately, and they showed they wanted it more, beating the Redskins 14-10.

Once again, Zorn being Zorn showed no imagination on offense. Washington didn't stretch the Dallas defense all night, content to just dink and dunk their way down the field, allowing the Dallas defense to stack the box all night.

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