John Clayton on the Redskins' Playoff Chances

my concern in getting to 21 points isn't based on our annual average last year as much as it is the final 8 games when we went 2-6....what did we generate...like 12 pts a game? I think some here are forgetting the collapse of the team in the 2nd half of the season...talking about playoffs is crazy at this point..this team needs to win home games and games against lesser opponents under Zorn.

Zorn needs to learn how to coach by adjustment.
As you recall, we heard all about 2 TE sets all year, but it was rarely done because Zorn just stuck with the basics...it was all he could handle....and at the midpoint of the year, when defenses figured out how to play the skins, he could not adjust because he was a rookie overwhelmed with everything a HC has to do...he had zero hours to develop new plays/schemes...etc...so he focussed on execution alone...which certainly was not good enough.

I surely hope Zorn can develop a playbook double the size of last years.
I frankly dont know why he didn't run more shotgun, double te sets, 4 wr sets, sweeps, screens, trick plays late in the season....his playcalling was nowhere near where it needed to be to be successful.

I do agree that execution alone in yr 2 should improve 2 pts a game. But the reality is additional points per game is generated by scheming and playcalling against your opponents....if we score more points this year, it will be because Zorn has gotten more creative and aggressive in his playcalling based off of scouting weaknesses in our opponents defenses.

I hold out hope...we shall know in the first 4 games if Zorn can offensively adjust or if he will stick with the same formula no matter what like last year.

2. The addition of Hunter Smith. His value in the field position game will have a positive impact on the defense which should again, improve the offense by proxy. His biggest impact however may be in the holding position. While I am not a big Suisham fan, he was undone a little last year with Brooks and Plackemier, who were both largely clueless as holders. I've never liked a punter as a holder but at least he's done it and done it with some accomplished kickers (Vanderjagt, Vinatieri) so hopefully Suisham's percentage will improve.


Agreed, I think "Hunter the Punter" will greatly improve our field position, which should lead to more opportunites for points.

my concern in getting to 21 points isn't based on our annual average last year as much as it is the final 8 games when we went 2-6....what did we generate...like 12 pts a game? I think some here are forgetting the collapse of the team in the 2nd half of the season...talking about playoffs is crazy at this point..this team needs to win home games and games against lesser opponents under Zorn.

Zorn needs to learn how to coach by adjustment.
As you recall, we heard all about 2 TE sets all year, but it was rarely done because Zorn just stuck with the basics...it was all he could handle....and at the midpoint of the year, when defenses figured out how to play the skins, he could not adjust because he was a rookie overwhelmed with everything a HC has to do...he had zero hours to develop new plays/schemes...etc...so he focussed on execution alone...which certainly was not good enough.

I surely hope Zorn can develop a playbook double the size of last years.
I frankly dont know why he didn't run more shotgun, double te sets, 4 wr sets, sweeps, screens, trick plays late in the season....his playcalling was nowhere near where it needed to be to be successful.

I do agree that execution alone in yr 2 should improve 2 pts a game. But the reality is additional points per game is generated by scheming and playcalling against your opponents....if we score more points this year, it will be because Zorn has gotten more creative and aggressive in his playcalling based off of scouting weaknesses in our opponents defenses.

I hold out hope...we shall know in the first 4 games if Zorn can offensively adjust or if he will stick with the same formula no matter what like last year.

Four of the teams we played in the second half were top defenses. People don't seem to ever take that into account.

my concern in getting to 21 points isn't based on our annual average last year as much as it is the final 8 games when we went 2-6....what did we generate...like 12 pts a game? I think some here are forgetting the collapse of the team in the 2nd half of the season...talking about playoffs is crazy at this point..this team needs to win home games and games against lesser opponents under Zorn.

Zorn needs to learn how to coach by adjustment.
As you recall, we heard all about 2 TE sets all year, but it was rarely done because Zorn just stuck with the basics...it was all he could handle....and at the midpoint of the year, when defenses figured out how to play the skins, he could not adjust because he was a rookie overwhelmed with everything a HC has to do...he had zero hours to develop new plays/schemes...etc...so he focussed on execution alone...which certainly was not good enough.

I surely hope Zorn can develop a playbook double the size of last years.
I frankly dont know why he didn't run more shotgun, double te sets, 4 wr sets, sweeps, screens, trick plays late in the season....his playcalling was nowhere near where it needed to be to be successful.

I do agree that execution alone in yr 2 should improve 2 pts a game. But the reality is additional points per game is generated by scheming and playcalling against your opponents....if we score more points this year, it will be because Zorn has gotten more creative and aggressive in his playcalling based off of scouting weaknesses in our opponents defenses.

I hold out hope...we shall know in the first 4 games if Zorn can offensively adjust or if he will stick with the same formula no matter what like last year.

A bigger playbook, probably not, scheming for that week's opponnent, more probable. Football is a game of exploiting your opponent's weakness; and playing to your own strengths. If you can pound it, keep pounding it. If you can air it out, keep airing it. If you win in the Offensive trenches, you will cause your opponent to give in.

To Mike, above, yes we remember the four teams.

Dockery's addition is getting overlooked a bit, I think with him we got significantly better in drive blocking in short-yardage situations. I like our chances of converting TDs in the red zone by pounding a few more of 'em in there.

But 21 points per game? Probably not. I can't see any of our young WRs stepping up just yet. Maybe in their 3rd year.

Remember, Kelly is essentially a rookie this year due to inexperience thanks to injuries.

I remember short yardage being a problem during Dockery's first tenure. I think it is more important to be able to run consistently to the right so I am hoping that Bridges or Heyer step up. I also heard Doc Walker bring up a good point. Bugel has to find a way to use M. Williams in short yardage. Think Lorenzo Alexander + 75 ilbs. Put him on the wing next to Samuels!

I don't think that 5 points is that far away. The offense should be able to improve by 2 or 3 points just with the additional familiarity. If Thomas, Kelly and Campbell take a couple fo steps forward, 21 points a game should be within reach.

I also think the defense will be better than last year because of additional sacks. If Phat Albert stays healthy and is motivated, they should be a nightmare for offenses.

i have to agree with most of you in that the defensive upgrades this offseason will lead to better pressure on the QB which weve needed since dexter manley and charles mann it seems... therefore leading to more picks and mistakes in our favor. All at the same time helping the offense...

i dont know how much control over this problem people like jim zorn has in playcalling... coordinators with schemes and all... or the players in terms of experience.. skill.. and trust in each other.. but we just play way to conservatively. there has to be a healthy balance.. and even in my own personal life i play it safe and im also by no means a fan of going "fun and gun" again... but it kinda relates to chicken monkey.. big plays.. we can do the normal chip away and sometimes brilliantly pull off the dink and dunk and make other teams look silly.. but we just cannot consistantly hit that 15+ yard connection. (when we need it) and it drives me nuts on sundays. so with devin thomas playing more (hopefully).. kelly back from injury and jason campbell having his first 2 year in a row program.... i hope our offense takes a step forward even though our o-line, and ports have all aged another year.

we have to take that downfield shot and test those corners. if it doesnt work at least you kept em honest and it might open the run game? sometimes we just gotta take a chance... other than when its the 4th quarter with under 2 mins to go.. its 4th and 16 and were down by 5.

(expletive)

21 points a game would put us at 23rd in the NFL for last year, not outrageous. I don't think 5 points is as big a number as people think. If you analyze where the points will come from that's way too complicated and tough to make a logical case. I don't expect this year to along with Detroit and Cincy to be the only teams to not score more than 30 points in any game this season. There's a lot of random stuff like that which will be different, also stuff like schedule. I also don't expect our o'line to be so injured that Justin Geisenger plays left tackle or for Suisham to be as bad when he has a better holder. I expect our punting and defense to be better, I expect a lot of guys to improve and for people to grow more accustomed to Zorn's stuff. Pretty much every player should get better, not just the rookies, because everybody was learning Zorn's stuff last year and most guys are still pretty young and getting better.

i have to agree with most of you in that the defensive upgrades this offseason will lead to better pressure on the QB which weve needed since dexter manley and charles mann it seems... therefore leading to more picks and mistakes in our favor. All at the same time helping the offense...

i dont know how much control over this problem people like jim zorn has in playcalling... coordinators with schemes and all... or the players in terms of experience.. skill.. and trust in each other.. but we just play way to conservatively. there has to be a healthy balance.. and even in my own personal life i play it safe and im also by no means a fan of going "fun and gun" again... but it kinda relates to chicken monkey.. big plays.. we can do the normal chip away and sometimes brilliantly pull off the dink and dunk and make other teams look silly.. but we just cannot consistantly hit that 15+ yard connection. (when we need it) and it drives me nuts on sundays. so with devin thomas playing more (hopefully).. kelly back from injury and jason campbell having his first 2 year in a row program.... i hope our offense takes a step forward even though our o-line, and ports have all aged another year.

we have to take that downfield shot and test those corners. if it doesnt work at least you kept em honest and it might open the run game? sometimes we just gotta take a chance... other than when its the 4th quarter with under 2 mins to go.. its 4th and 16 and were down by 5.

(expletive)

I think we will this year. That drove me absolutely crazy last year but with the receivers running their routes better and JC hopefully having more time and knowing the receivers routes himself, I expect the passing game to be much improved.

It's hard for me to envision our offense not being pretty improved outside of debilitating health issues.

I know it is easy to say that everyone shares blame, but I think they do. What is JC suppose to do if receivers can't catch and they run bad routes? How about CP struggling after the line got hurt. Also, Zorn blamed execution, but we all know he got kinda predictable towards the end of the season.

But I really think the important change comes with D. Hall, Big Al and Orakpo should add to turnovers. This directly leads to more possessions further down the field. Our D last year kept points low but our offense didn't get shorter fields and momentum changers. Not saying it is all on the D, but with a less than average offense more is.