You thought it was going to be easy.
The new offense was clicking. The defense was making plays. Coach Jim Zorn looked like a sleeper.
Whammo — back to reality.
The Redskins are probably a 9-7, 8-8 team. They proved it when they were manhandled by fellow playoff contender Carolina, 47-3, on Saturday. The starters departed down 34-0 at halftime. Turnovers, awful run defense, no passing game, no pass blocking, terrible kickoff returns, Jason Taylor hurt — and that’s the short version of misdeeds.
Who knew WUSA blowing the start of the game would do Redskins fans a favor? They should have just kept playing Jason Campbell’s insurance commercial non-stop. Oh wait, they almost did. It was enough to make one miss Jake’s big-screen TV commercials from the 1980s.
It was that kind of night. And there’s nothing good to come of it. The offensive line has looked bad in two straight games. Campbell has been sketchy. Ladell Betts fumbled again.
The defense was torched more than Salem witch trial defendants. Three long touchdown runs. We’re talking repeated shots up the gut that made fans feel like retching.
The honeymoon has ended. Two bad efforts by starters is enough to start second guessing. Tackle Jon Jansen has played poorly over the preseason while linemates Chris Samuels and Pete Kendall have been mediocre. The defensive tackles can’t make plays. Safety Reed Doughty must improve. Kick returners kept running out of the back of the end zone for poor field position.
Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.
Don’t say it’s just the preseason after cheering a 3-0 start. It’s the same calendar month so bad games mean something too, especially when starters stink in their longest stint. Only a throwaway preseason finale on Thursday when soon-to-be-cut reserves play extensively remains before the Redskins open the regular season at the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
The Redskins should take a cue from punter Derrick Frost and play like their jobs depend on it. Zorn needs to increase the intensity. No more learning curve. Things are about to go straight to black if the Redskins don’t turnaround some basic problems immediately.
It all starts along the lines. Campbell is holding the ball too long, which was a basic fear when changing to the quicker West Coast offense. But, he’s also getting no help from the line. Three players permitted sacks. Samuels was embarrassed by Carolina’s Julius Peppers on one of them. Pro Bowl players are not supposed to be embarrassed.
The Redskins knew their defensive tackles were only ordinary. They were hoping the ends and linebackers could help. It’s not happening. The linebackers will play better, but the ends probably won’t. It’s a vulnerability.
It’s only one game. Still, the Redskins should worry whether it’s the start of real problems.
