The Z Swagger - Playing to win vs Playing not to lose.

Yesterday afternoon the Washington Redskins put us through some ups and downs, refusing to finish off the game until finally they woke up and put away an inferior team. The offense looked as if it could move the ball at will against the Cardinals but the defense tightened up and stopped the run almost entirely. They were able to regroup and put together a few good drives to win the game. Campbell showed more of what he did last week and the receivers were all over the field catching balls left and right, mesmerizing the defensive secondary and becoming almost unstoppable. The defense showed up again (minus the big play vs. Doughty) and Carlos Rogers caught the ball! After years of having the worst hands in the entire league, Rogers actually looked the ball into his hands and when he finally had it, got up and raced down the field for 40-plus yards. That play summed up the difference that a year makes (so far) between Gibbs II and the Zorn era.

After just 3 games, minus the Giants game that was one of the worst games that the Redskins have played in their history, Zorn has brought with him a cockiness and fire that hasn't been seen around here for many, many years. The way the this new coach takes chances, some good, some bad, and the way that he is making adjustments during the game makes me feel as if they have a chance no matter what is happening on the field at the time. A perfect example of this was that every time the Cardinals tied the game, the Redskins turned around and scored on them again to regain the lead. They took every punch by their opponents and simply went back to basics and got the job done.

There were many interesting plays called by Zorn especially in the second half; the reverse to Thomas, the reverse wide receiver option pass by Randle-El, and my favorite, the bootleg play-action pass to Cooley to once again ice the game. When was the last time we had a coach that had the guts to pull a play like that out to put away a game? Last year's team would have run the ball on every possession in the 4th quarter and punted the ball repeatedly and probably would have lost. It seems that Zorn has realized that you have to be aggressive in order to win in the NFL, timid calls result in losses (see the last 4 years of losing close games). The players, particularly Campbell, seem to be aggressive and not so preoccupied with making a mistake that could cost them the game. This attitude can result in losses but so far the Zorn way seems to be paying off for them.

The team still has many hurdles to face this season but at least I feel a bit of relief knowing that the coach is capable of seeing that what he is doing is not working and adjusting to the game as Gibbs used to do so wonderfully in his first go around. When the Cardinals stacked the box with 8 men, Zorn simply went to an almost exclusive passing attack until the end of the game where the defense had backed off some and he ran. He spread them out in 4-wide and ran up the gut, packed it in and ran play-action, whatever he felt would keep the defense off balance which is the way that successful offensive teams tend to get points on the board.

At this point in his career, no one can anoint Zorn as a great coach yet but he is showing the signs of someone who is at least competent and who with time could be a great one. He has a killer instinct that he displays time and time again by calling for field goals to win the game or going play-action in an obvious run situation, no matter what the situation he seems to always want to go for the jugular. This approach is extremely refreshing to see because it lets the fan base know that they are out there to win games, not simply to play mistake-free and hope they don't lose them.

Next week could bring with it the same empty feeling that the Giants game did but for now, we will praise the coach and his players with this new-found bravado that allows them to step on the field and know that their coach will give them the plays that they want to run and put the game in their hands, let's hope this feeling lasts a long time.