When I asked ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Ron Jaworski about the Redskins-Steelers game he said, “This is a statement game for Washington. They need to win this game on national TV to prove to the nation what some of us already know and that is they are a good football team. If the Redskins win this game, they have to be spoken of as one of a handful of elite teams in the NFC … this game could be their coming out party.”
Jaws pours over hours of game tape every week at his NFL Films office and those hours every week is what makes him the best analyst on TV. It is also what has helped return ESPN Monday Night Football back to MNF’s entertaining and informative glory days in the 1970s and 80s.
However, when you ask Jaws about the Redskins success this season, the simple answer is head coach Jim Zorn.
“Players love him because, as a position coach, he is always honest with them,” said Jaworski, who’s known Zorn since 1975. “At the same time he is willing to listen to them and if they have a play or a plan, he is willing to entertain their ideas.”
But the Redskins’ success also centers around the maturation of quarterback Jason Campbell.
“There is no QB in professional football that has improved more than Jason has — and it is because Jim is his position coach. They are on the same page.”
We will see if Jaws is right and Monday night is indeed the statement game for Washington.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on dcexaminer.com.
Monday night extra
At halftime, Chris Berman will interview both major party presidential nominees, Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama. It will be their last major network interview before the polls open on Tuesday.
