Washington Redskins: An Organizational Failure

When first you don’t succeed – you get back up and try again, right? Well, the Washington Redskins’ head coach Mike Shanahan did a boatload of backtracking in his Monday press conference after apparently being ‘misinterpreted’ in his post game presser: “When you lose a game like that, now you’re playing to see who obviously is going to be on your football team for years to come.”

At the conclusion of Washington’s 21-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers – Shanahan’s quote had some people assuming he had given up on the team’s season. So on Monday, Shanahan came back swinging –  “To think that we would play young players or suggest that we play young players and the season was over with is completely ludicrous.” Shanahan continued, “Obviously we’re not out of it statistically,” he said. “But now we find out what type of character we’ve got and how guys keep on fighting through the rest of the season.”

There are plenty of observations that can be pulled from what Shanahan said during his post game presser. But one thing is for sure, Shanahan meant what he said. This is a football team that went out in front of 150 Redskins’ alumni, playing against a one win team, and at the end of the day they walked off the field without putting up a fight. Where is the motivation? Where is the fire? Anytime your quarterback has to fly over defenders late in the fourth quarter of a game to make his teammates “put it on the line,”  as Robert Griffin III said after the game – that’s completely asinine.

The Washington Redskins have a problem, and it’s an organizational failure. This is an organization  that doesn’t develop talent well, they’re not putting their players in the best position to win, and they self inflict themselves too often with mental mistakes.

There shouldn’t be a question as to the type of character or talent that’s on this football team – majority of this roster was hand picked by Mike Shanahan, general manager Bruce Allen, and staff. It’s the organization’s job to bring in talent and help coach up a player’s weakness – whether that’s ability or mindset. When you have a player like Leonard Hankerson, that’s extremely talented but lacks aggression on the football field, and always has – you have to figure out how to help that player. Jarvis Jenkins is another guy that they know can beat offensive linemen off the line of scrimmage but struggles with finishing a play – there has to be a tactic to coach-up that part of his game. Rookie CB Richard Crawford has been inactive the past few games, and defensive coordinator Jim Haslett’s excuse was “he’s young.” Really? Even if  Crawford isn’t ready for a big role on the defense, this is a guy that can also help spark something on special teams in the return game. Brandon Banks has done absolutely nothing on special teams this season, yet the team hasn’t attempted to mix players in the return game to provide the team with a spark.

Washington’s defense has been horrible this season – we’re witnessing one of the worst passing defenses in the history of football. Not to mention, this defense can’t even penetrate an offensive line sending at least 5 men blitzes. Two former Redskins’ greats, Darrell Green and Charles Mann told the Washington Post  that poor technique is one of the main reasons Washington’s defense is struggling. Who’s responsibility is it to teach proper technique? The coaches are. It’s an epic organizational fail.

Opposing offenses are consistently two steps ahead of Washington’s defensive thought process. Not to mention, Washington’s defensive preparation is clearly inadequate. On several occasions early in Sunday’s game against the Panthers, Washington’s defense acted as if they didn’t know Cam Newton is a huge threat on short yardage – third/fourth down situations. They acted as if they’ve never faced a read option offense before when they practice against it daily. Another example that sticks out is Washington’s week 3 match-up against the Cincinnati Bengals when they allowed Bengals’ rookie receiver Mohamed Sanu throw a dart down the field to A.J Green for a touchdown. The Redskins never prepared for Sanu to throw out of wildcat – granted, that was the Bengals first time putting it on film. However, Sanu had 18 career passing attempts at Rutgers University. NFL preparation is supposed to be thorough – it’s inexcusable that Redskins’ players weren’t made aware of Sanu’s  ability to throw.

Another issue this team has is game management. Whether that’s play-calling or in game decisions, the team struggles in that arena. The Redskins had a long second quarter drive against the Panthers on Sunday that equated to zero points. They successfully converted two fourth downs and attempted another on the goal line. Some may call that greedy, but I had no problem with the decision. The play-call, however, was ridiculous. Washington called a designed run to the right end with Robert Griffin III without an option to throw. The team continuously tries to fix things that are not broken. Washington has had major success in the red zone this season by spreading the field and giving Griffin an option to throw or run it in the end zone. The Redskins also have a bulldozer in the backfield in Alfred Morris that they could have used in that situation.

The offensive line gets exposed when the Redskins switch to traditional offense. This is a unit that is best when moving laterally. There hasn’t been an opposing defense that’s stopped the Redskins’ “east coast offense,” yet there are times Washington completely strays away from calling those plays. You can say it’s gimmicky, but it’s football and it works.

Speaking of game management, the Redskins also struggle to display urgency late in football games. The players walk around as if they have all day – wasting time, and it’s a travesty. The Redskins will always have a shot at winning football games with Robert Griffin III at helm. The only thing stopping Washington’s offense is self inflicted mental mistakes.

They are an undisciplined football team. They lead the league with 8.3 penalties a game – and that’s an issue in all 3 areas of the football team: offense, defense, and special teams.

It’s an organizational failure. Mike Shanahan is not going anywhere – anytime soon. But if he’s going to hold anyone accountable it needs to be himself and his coaching staff. Something needs to change, and although Shanahan said there won’t be any coaching changes during the team’s bye week – he clearly needs to add his staff to the  evaluation list.

This season’s dysfunction is different than past years. The Washington Redskins have a franchise quarterback which means there’s hope for the future. But the organization as a whole needs to clean up their mishaps and build a winning football team and attitude around Robert Griffin III.