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Two steps back

Despite annual spending spree, Redskins look worse off

Posted: Sunday August 17, 2003 1:11 AM
Updated: Sunday August 17, 2003 2:20 AM

LANDOVER, Md. -- Last year, as an NFL rookie head coach, Steve Spurrier came into the league with gums ablazing, saying in his typically down-home, plain-spoken style that he expected his Washington Redskins to win the NFC East.

This time around, Spurrier scaled back the rhetoric considerably, admitting his revamped Redskins -- the NFL's biggest wheelers and dealers this offseason -- should play first and talk second. When pressed, the Ol' Ball Coach would only acknowledge being "cautiously optimistic" about his team's chances in 2003.

Talk, don't talk. Whatever. It really doesn't matter, does it?

If talking got it done -- or even big splashy offseason shopping sprees for that matter -- the Redskins would be a playoff perennial. But that, dear D.C. football fans, is not a phrase anyone has used to describe your guys since Joe Gibbs headed for Tobacco Road and a career in NASCAR team ownership.

It's still early, but halfway through Washington's preseason, I don't think the Redskins are the same inconsistent 7-9 team we saw last season. Nope. I think they're worse. Maybe by a healthy margin.

Proving that last week's 20-0 egg-laying at Carolina was no fluke, Washington went out Saturday night and underwhelmed the hometown fans as well, losing 20-13 to New England. Trust us, it wasn't that close, especially in the first half when it was primarily the Patriots' first team against the Redskins' No. 1's.

"We're not a well-oiled running machine by any means right now," said Spurrier, who's getting a bit too used to these shell-shocked postgame sessions. "It wasn't very pretty for our offense. Hopefully we'll learn from it and go on. We did practice well this week. But right now we practice better than we play the game."

Shoddy 'Skins

Most Turnovers in 2002:

Team Int. Fum. Total

St. Louis 27 18 45

Minnesota 23 18 41

Washington 20 20 40

Carolina 22 18 40

Pittsburgh 22 14 36

Then again, in practice it's the Redskins' offense versus the Redskins' defense.

Two things stood out Saturday in the opening 30 minutes before the roster wannabees took over: 1) Washington can't protect second-year quarterback Patrick Ramsey if the opponent has much of a pass rush at all, and; 2) Washington's problems in the middle of its defensive line, where all good run defense starts, isn't going to magically go away. It took less than two games but the Redskins' most glaring weaknesses have surfaced and given the league a handy blueprint for how to defeat them.

"We were 2-0 last year at this point in the preseason and had all the answers," Spurrier said. "But this preseason we've got a lot of coaching to do."

Here's all you really need to know about how things went for the Redskins, who did put in a particularly tough practice week after being physically manhandled and outclassed by Carolina:

On its first drive, Washington lost 16 yards, all of which came courtesy of a shotgun formation snap that sailed over Ramsey's head and kept rolling until he fell on it at the 4. Ramsey, upon whom Washington's season depends, went 0-for-2 on the "drive," nearly being picked off by Patriots rookie cornerback Asante Samuel on second down.

New England took over at the Redskins' 40 on its first possession and needed just six plays to rip through the defense for a touchdown. Pats running back Antowain Smith rumbled 13 yards on first down and capped the drive with a 5-yard scoring run on which he went untouched. Smith finished the half with 33 yards on seven carries, a hefty 4.7 average.

With its second possession, Washington's offense showed some life, stringing together three first downs to reach New England's 14. But it was from there that Ramsey, who was hit, harried and hurried repeatedly, threw an awful interception to the Patriots' other rookie cornerback, Eugene Wilson. Under intense heat after audibling into a pass play, Ramsey tried to throw the ball out of bounds and didn't get enough on it to keep it out of Wilson's hands near the left sideline.

"Patrick did some good and bad things," Spurrier said. "That's why he needs to play. He got to throw 24 balls [in playing the entire first half]. He was trying to throw that ball away down there in the red zone, but man, he needs to throw it away in the dirt or something."

The Patriots needed just three plays to capitalize on Ramsey's gaffe, going 90 yards in three plays to grab a 13-0 lead. The score came when New England quarterback Tom Brady hit receiver David Patten in stride for an 85-yard thing of beauty. The Redskins sent Champ Bailey on a cornerback blitz on the play, and Brady burned them. So instead of being up 7-6, as it looked it might be a moment earlier, Washington trailed 13-0 with 6:43 left in the quarter and was knocked back on its heels.

Adding injury to insult, on the play before Brady-to-Patten, Redskins defensive tackle Brandon Noble -- one of their many free-agent signees this offseason -- was carted off the field with a left knee/patella injury. Spurrier said it appeared that Noble would miss "half the year, maybe more."

With Washington already unable to stop anybody from running up the gut (see: Stephen Davis and Skip Hicks last week at Carolina), the injury to Noble leaves the Redskins wide open to criticism that they should never have cut veteran defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson in a salary cap move three weeks ago.

What do you bet Redskins personnel man Vinny Cerato was speed dialing Wilkinson's agent at halftime, begging him to keep his client from signing with either Detroit or Green Bay until Washington gets a chance to up its one-year offer? Or at the very least trying to seal that trade for Denver reserve tackle Lional Dalton?

"Certainly we need to see who we can play there," Spurrier said. "We're certainly looking for help inside."

Though the Redskins made a game of it in the second half, their dropped passes (at least three), key penalties (13 for 89 yards), and poor execution will stand out to Washington's coaching staff when it reviews the game films on Sunday. For whatever reason, Spurrier's second-year coaching results look a lot like his first-year efforts. More than anything else, his team beats itself, and the varied and talented players Washington has accumulated don't seem to quite fit together.

"It's a work in progress," Redskins offensive tackle Jon Jansen said, somewhat generously. "There are still a lot of things we need to keep working on."

It's remarkable given Spurrier's offensive pedigree, but the FedEx Field fans Saturday night were in essence treated to a punt-off between Bryan Barker and Brent Bartholomew -- the two Redskins punters who were pitted against one another in a one-game, loser-goes-home format. I'm giving Barker the nod, but that's not exactly the kind of drama that brings the season-ticket holders back wanting more.

About 10 days ago, before the Redskins had played a preseason game and started showing their hand, I sat with Ramsey as he ticked off all the ways Washington could score this year. You wanted to believe him, especially since on paper it was clear that the Redskins had upgraded their offensive talent and especially their speed.

"We have some weapons," said Ramsey, who finished 13-of-24 against the Patriots, with 149 yards passing, two sacks, a ton of pressures, one interception and a 55.7 QB rating. "Whereas last year I think coach had to call plays that if we needed 13 yards to get a first down, I'm not sure we had those guys to pick it up. But this year we got guys who can catch the ball and go create something. They can catch a 5-yard pass and get 13 out of it.

"I don't think we have to be as perfect as far as our passes and as perfect as far as our play-calling because we have so many athletes who can do something with the ball after the catch."

After two weeks of the preseason, I'll concede this much: Ramsey was right about one thing. The Redskins' offense is far from perfect so far. And that's even with everyone playing first and talking second.

Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.

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