Is Jim Haslett on the clock? Will the Washington Redskins defensive coordinator be the fall guy come January if the Redskins continue surrendering points like stimulus money. The 3-4 has become the most disliked number around Washington since “44” came to town.
The Redskins’ 25.4 points allowed would finish the second most in team history behind only 1998 when permitting 26.3. After surrendering 59 points to Philadelphia’s second-ranked offense on Nov. 15, Washington now faces Tennessee’s third-ranked scoring unit on Sunday.
This isn’t tolerable and owner Dan Snyder usually makes somebody pay. Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan was nearly fired five games into Snyder’s 1999 tenure after allowing more than 30 points three times in a 3-2 start. Haslett’s defense did it four times in a 4-5 start. Coach Norv Turner refused to fire Nolan, which rankled Snyder enough to dismiss Turner eight games later despite a 7-6 record. Nolan’s contract expired and wasn’t renewed.
Snyder is a kinder, gentler owner nowadays after a wasted decade despite spending more than a billion bucks on failed players. The owner can’t suddenly usurp coach Mike Shanahan’s power one year after the Burgundy Revolution forced Snyder into exile.
But Shanahan employed a few defensive coordinators during his Denver tenure. He’s not afraid to make the move. If someone gets blamed for a season that threatens to worsen with injured players and a pair of meetings against the New York Giants’ sixth-ranked offense, it’s not likely to be offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan despite equally dismal stats. After all, when’s the last time an NFL coach fired his son?
Already whispers of fired Dallas coach Wade Phillips becoming Washington’s defensive coordinator next season have started. Shanahan and Phillips were coordinators in Denver during 1991. Phillips knows the NFC East after 3? years in Dallas.
“My prediction is [my dad] gets a defensive coordinator job with a team that has a bad defense, and a poor team and they go win a bunch of games,” Dallas offensive assistant Wes Phillips said.
Haslett certainly has mitigating factors. Defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth has been a bust in the new system. Linebacker Andre Carter was out of place for a half season. The team is short on quality linemen needed for the 3-4.
Indeed, the roster was a 4-3, but Shanahan wanted a 3-4 so Haslett forced a square peg fit into a round hole for weeks until finally realizing it wasn’t going to work well. Now they’re in survival mode.
Eagles quarterback Michael Vick made Washington’s defense look stupid, but there’s not another NFL passer with Vick’s scrambling ability. Yet, coming off a bye week, it was stunning to see the Redskins beaten so often last Sunday.
Haslett’s dismissal might be a long shot. Still, his fate might play out over the coming weeks.
