Redskins' Jackson Interviews at Duke (washingtonpost.com)


That is some very promising news down in the article about hiring an experienced defensive coordinator like Gregg Williams, Dick Jauron, or Dave McGinnis.

George Edwards had seemed like a very logical choice to step up but his guys have been caught out of position too many times. He has not shown that he's ready for the job. The big difference between him and Lewis was that Marvin Lewis required discipline in the system. No doubt that Edwards has talented players but if they're freelancing and abandoning responsibilities, a few key plays hurts them big time.

The first few times you can chalk it up to the players and their own mental mistakes. When it happens repeatedly, that's bad coaching. Before the season started, I was very excited to see how Arrington was going to be used to maximize his talent. Well, the bottom line is that the Skins had a better defense with Lewis, more disciplined, and less likely to be caught out of position. Marvin Lewis also had the advantage of the man-child Daryl Gardener wreaking havoc and this year he's a gaping hole. He obviously is having problems in Denver. I don't know if he's worth bringing back because of the "detrimental conduct" issues. But if the Skins can hire Gregg Williams, Jauron, or McGinnis AND get a big-time defensive tackle, the Skins will go a long way toward addressing their problems on the defensive side of the ball.

Of course this isn't to say there aren't issues on the offensive side either. The games that I didn't see, against the Seahawks and Panthers, supposedly involved designed rollout plays. I didn't see of those in the Miami game. I hope Spurrier brings them back. Obviously protecting the quarterback is still a big issue and it's gotten bigger with Chris Samuels out of action.

Tim Hasselbeck looked pretty darn good, moving around and connecting on some passes. However, Wannstedt made great halftime adjustments. I don't know what he did but Hasselbeck was something like 7 of 10 on his first half throws and then finish 15 of 30. So it was a great first half and a not-so-good second half. I don't have access to the coaching tape so I don't know what they did differently but whatever they did, it worked.

Maybe Betts coming back will add needed toughness to the running game. I think Betts can be a good power and between-the-tackles runner. Canidate is much better suited to traps, draws, and pitch plays! That pitch for the TD run looked like the perfect running play for Canidate. When he's in there, that's what they should run. Morton and Canidate are major burners. Morton's 27 yard run up the middle was a thing of beauty. He had a wonderful ankle breaker move on Brock Marion. They need to implement more power running, which doesn't have to be between the tackles. I think pitches like the Broncos used to do with Terrell Davis would work great also. When you can string out the defense a bit, a burst from Canidate, Morton, or Betts through the hole would allow them to grind out good gains.