Quote:
Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat
Kevin actually asked Zorn about this on the Jim Zorn show today. Zorn said he called all the plays in the final drives of both halves.
From NFL.com - First Half
Washington Redskins at 00:49
1-10-WAS 35 (:42) (Shotgun) PENALTY on WAS-76-L.Jones, False Start, 5 yards, enforced at WAS 35 - No Play. FAIL
1-15-WAS 30 (:41) (Shotgun) 17-J.Campbell pass short left to 31-R.Cartwright pushed ob at WAS 40 for 10 yards (52-T.White). PARTIAL SUCCESS
2-5-WAS 40 (:35) (Shotgun) 17-J.Campbell pass short left to 11-D.Thomas to WAS 37 for -3 yards (24-S.Brown). FAIL
Timeout #2 by WAS at 00:28.
3-8-WAS 37 (:28) (Shotgun) 17-J.Campbell pass short right intended for 11-D.Thomas INTERCEPTED by 22-A.Samuel [58-T.Cole] at WAS 45. 22-A.Samuel to WAS 28 for 17 yards (11-D.Thomas). FAIL
From NFL.com - Second Half
1-10-WAS 16 (1:44) (Shotgun) 17-J.Campbell pass incomplete short left to 11-D.Thomas [58-T.Cole]. FAIL
2-10-WAS 16 (1:39) (Shotgun) 17-J.Campbell pass incomplete deep middle to 86-F.Davis. FAIL
3-10-WAS 16 (1:33) (Shotgun) 17-J.Campbell pass short middle to 82-A.Randle El to WAS 25 for 9 yards (35-V.Harris). FAIL
4-1-WAS 25 (1:09) (No Huddle, Shotgun) 17-J.Campbell pass incomplete short right to 89-S.Moss [75-J.Parker]. WAS-17-J.Campbell was injured during the play. His return is Doubtful. FAIL
So of the 8 plays that Zorn admitted to calling, 7 of them were complete failures. When you consider the goal of both drives was to score before the half expired, all 8 plays can be considered failures as they did not result in the redskins putting points on the board. Granted, Zorn only calls the plays - he doesn't execute them, but the fact remains that, for whatever reason, the team executed better when Zorn wasn't calling plays.
I would be interested in knowing how many of the plays/drives that have succeeded since Sherm took over the majority of the playcalling duties (and our offense started gelling) can be attributed to Zorn. I certainly doubt very many.
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But this doesn't explain why those plays failed. My recollection is that most of them failed because there was little protection from the O-line. At some point, a coach has to rely on the line to provide adequate protection -- especially when it is a final drive with little time remaining and you're behind. I am not sure I would blame these failures on playcalling.