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.

Washington Redskins

Spurrier says that they're trying something different with pass protections. I wonder if that means rollouts? That would be great to see because rollouts usually buy time for quarterbacks.

I think it's a shame that the Skins stuck with McCullough over Kenny Watson because I think he would have made a huge difference picking up the various blitzes. Not to overpraise him but I've never seen a group of RBs miss blitz pick-ups as poorly as the Skins backs have done this year.

It's good to hear Spurrier say that he wants to get the ball in Coles' hands more. As to whether or not he'll actually be able to accomplish that, who knows...

At 3-5 and with a rough schedule ahead, it's hard to see much happening for the Skins this season. They just have to take one game at a time and see what happens.

Looking ahead to next year, it would be great if Russell panned out and re-signed to repay the chance the Skins took with him. Then in the draft or via free agency, the team would need to go hard after a young pass-rushing DE as good as Suggs or Freeney.

GOOD: Bailey shut down Galloway and has been consistently shutting down the opposition's top receiver. He's having a very good, although unspectacular, year.
BAD: He's in the final year of his contract and will be tough to re-sign.

GOOD: Smoot turned in a gutsy performance, playing injured when his team needed him. That deserves high praise. Terrell wasn't bad as the third corner. I always thought he played pretty well there.
BAD: Smoot still gets picked on and victimized. Terry Glenn had a very good day.

GOOD: Coles scored. He is the best playmaker the Skins have on the offensive side of the ball.
BAD: His stats after the first three games are horrible. The offense is stifled. If Ramsey doesn't have time to throw, Coles doesn't have a chance to make plays.

GOOD: Arrington is making big plays and is stepping up as a team leader this year. He gives 100%. He's calling out his teammates.
BAD: He gambles and makes mistakes. His 100% effort might as well be 0% when his mistake costs the Redskins because he abandons his coverage responsbility or gap and an uncovered receiver sneaks out for a TD score. He doesn't value the discipline in a scheme.

GOOD: The defense played well, forcing four turnovers and limiting Dallas' opportunities. Allowing 200 yards rushing wasn't a bright spot, though.
BAD: The offense and special teams played horribly (with the exception of Bryan Barker).

GOOD: Ramsey is a good young quarterback with more upside. He could be the franchise quarterback for the next decade.
BAD: In this offense, it doesn't look like Ramsey will last that long. Assuming protection doesn't change, he won't even make it through the season.

GOOD: The Skins have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball.
BAD: They look poorly coached, showing up in lack of discipline, penalties, and poor execution. The poor coaching and execution effectively neutralizes the top-shelf talent.

BAD: Spurrier can't handle the blitz. His MAX PROTECTION looks like NO PROTECTION. Either His RBs and TEs have no clue and are not executing correctly or his coaching staff doesn't know how to coach them to do so.
WORSE: Every team is going to blitz fast and furious until the Skins prove they can burn their opponents. Spurrier shuns rollouts and I don't know why. Sitting in the pocket obviously isn't working.

BAD: Snyder confuses his fan knowledge for actual football knowledge.
WORSE: It hurts and haunts the team. By going against Spurrier at the beginning of the season on personnel, the Skins now have two strikes against them that could have benefited the team -- 1) Kenny Watson was cut, who was supposed to be a better blocker; If he had picked up even half the blitzes in the early games, then it may never have snowballed as much as it has, and 2) Wuerffel was cut, who provided intimate knowledge of Spurrier's offense and was the most effective backup for this offense. He could also have tutored Ramsey more.