Are defenses catching up to Redskins coach Jim Zorn?
After scratching out 31 points in the past two games against losing teams, the Redskins were suddenly stagnant after averaging 25 during their four-game winning streak. They even went scoreless in the first half versus Cleveland.
Zorn said before the season that defensive coordinators were playing catch up given there was no game film to decipher the first-year coach’s playcalling. Now they have seven.
Joking he has become “Ground Z-Man” after running back Clinton Portis rushed for 175 yards against Cleveland on Sunday, Zorn is constantly shuffling his offense. That quarterback Jason Campbell strained his groin early versus the Browns narrowed the Redskins options, but Zorn is still fooling opponents even if turnovers proved costly against St. Louis and third down conversions proved precious versus Cleveland.
Zorn typically watches the opponent’s last four games plus select plays in others when gameplanning. Most defensive coordinators do the same. Both sides love deception. The Redskins will include motion plays to merely confuse coming opponents, maybe move Campbell certain places after handing off to prevent coordinators from tracking him.
Detroit coach Rod Marinelli, who faces Zorn’s offense on Sunday, said the Redskins aren’t so much fooling people as they are simply besting them.
“They’re not running a million plays,” Marinelli said. “They’re running a few and executing them. If you can’t match bone on bone it causes problems. That whole team is built on running game. It all starts there.”
Zorn admits he’s not a visionary as much as a realist. More importantly, he’ll wait for the right moment when a defense is vulnerable for a certain play.
“We haven’t re-invented the wheel in seven games,” Zorn said, “but we’ve been trying to take advantage of the things we can do. The mix has been good in keeping the team off balanced in what’s coming next.”
At midseason, there’s not much surprise left in gameplans anyway.
“You get to a certain point of a season and you’re not hiding anything,” offensive tackle Jon Jansen said. “Everything you’ve done is on the film. Teams can figure it out and it’s on the players to execute.”
Well, it is surprising the “Smashmouth West Coast Offense” is averaging six more runs per game, mostly because the Redskins are grinding clock in the fourth quarter. But with the NFL’s leading rusher in Clinton Portis (818 yards), Zorn has meshed predecessor Joe Gibbs’ running scheme with the new passing system.
“Each week, things get a little tougher,” Campbell said. “Last week in a third-and-five situation, we were throwing the ball earlier in the season and we came out with a rushing play. No one was looking for it.”
Detroit has the NFL’s worst overall defense. Yet, the Redskins lost to a winless team two games ago. Zorn speaks of the Lions defense as if Alex Karras still plays for them. Once more, another defense trying to figure Zorn out.
“They just try to hammer us, dominate us,” he said. “Pretty fun, huh?”
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
