The Washington Redskins are in big trouble.
There’s no pretending a late run will save them again. Or that coach Joe Gibbs will pull his usual heroics. Or we’ve seen this before, no big deal.
The Redskins stink.
You can ignore this ugly foreboding; pull a FEMA for football gameplan. But look at Gibbs — he seems exhausted and the season is just starting. I’d tell Gibbs things will seem better in the morning, but the man doesn’t sleep, so it’s one eternal day of the dead.
Another losing season could send Gibbs into retirement and the franchise back to the chaos he saved it from under owner Dan Snyder. However, no one is championing assistants Al Saunders or Gregg Williams for the head job now. They’re both on short leashes.
Saunders swears his offense works, but one touchdown drive by the starting offense since training camp carries as much weight as baseball players swearing they don’t use steroids. The 700-page playbook needs to be recycled. The Redskins have two plays — the dump-off pass and a straight-ahead run. Pee-wee football coaches have more plays.
Williams may have to take a big bite of humble pie after swearing his defensive system can overcome anything. Wait … this just in … it’s the players’ fault. Oh, sorry Gregg.
But it’s not just the dream team of coaches that have caused this debacle. The players stink, too.
Quarterback Mark Brunell can’t find anyone beyond the big orange marker on the sideline. Maybe he needs contacts. Maybe Brunell needs to stop being knocked dizzy by opposing linemen and throwing to the wrong receiver of the two he sees.
The secondary is naked without injured cornerback Shawn Springs. Ken Wright and Mike Rumph are just awful against top receivers. Rumph hits hard, but that only means they’ve caught a long gain.
The offensive line acts like this is their first time together. Right tackle Jon Jansen has been worse than last season when playing with two broken thumbs. I’m not saying a visit from a local loanshark is needed, but …
Defensive end Andre Carter was sprawled out trying to reach an outside run. Kinda says it all.
Basically, you know it’s a bad day when punter Derrick Frost was the best player against Dallas.
The preseason wasn’t a mirage. The defense is very ordinary. Allowing a 99-yard drive that sealed Dallas’ 27-10 victory on Sunday was brutal. If Dallas didn’t drop two touchdown passes, this would have been a king-sized rout.
At 0-2, the Redskins must win at Houston on Sunday, or you can start raking leaves on Sunday afternoons.
This team does play on Sunday afternoons, right?
Fortunately, the Texans stink even more than the Redskins. A terrible Tennessee team is also coming soon, but Washington is looking at a 2-4 start after hosting Jacksonville and traveling to play the Giants.
Thoughts of the Redskins being a Super Bowl contender now seem stupid. Really, the Gibbs II era has come down to a 17-19 mark with one great month to close last season.
This season smells like 2000 all over again when preseason hype was never met. You can’t blame Gibbs for that. He warned everyone last year meant nothing. But he always says that stuff.
Who knew this time Gibbs wasn’t kidding?
About the only race locals now have to watch are the November elections. Maybe Heath Shuler can come back as a congressman and try quarterbacking again, too.
Rick Snider has covered local sports for 28 years. Contact him at [email protected].
