Maybe Vinny Cerrato isn't the Anti-Christ

[Beemnseven]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

Which is precisely why I do not understand why Vinny is our whipping boy. I'm sure he deserves some credit for some decisions and some blame for others, but until we know concretely how things operate, we can't say he is to blame or deserves credit for our team's current state.

I think it's fair to say that Cerrato was the whipping boy because before Gibbs got here, Cerrato was the only "football man" in the front office who had any clout. It was he and Dan Snyder. Snyder didn't know football, so to an extent he gets a pass because he shouldn't be expected to understand the nuances of the NFL. That's why he hired Cerrato.

Now that Gibbs is calling the shots, (we assume anyway) the field gets muddier and the beauracracy is as wide as it is thick -- Gregg Williams gets a say, Saunders might have a say, then there's Cerrato's input, and Snyder gets squeezed in there too.

Minus the Schottenheimer year, Cerrato took the blame because he was the most visible, "football knowledgeable" guy in the front office. If he doesn't deserve the heat he has taken, it's only because the heat is more evenly distributed now than it ever was before.