Jim Zorn's Sleepless Night
If he thought his seat was hot before...
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Maybe asking Manny Acta for career advice wasn't the smart move, Coach.
How many jars of Tums do you think Jim Zorn went through? He was probably wolfing them down the way 6-year-olds inhale Skittles on Halloween.
Did he sleep last night? Did he sit wide awake on the downstairs couch, watching old infomercials? Was he tempted to buy the ExtenZe? Or did he lay in bed, flipping and flopping aimlessly from side to side as if he were a member of the Skins' secondary?
Coming off an unconscionable loss in a game everyone knew the team had to win, Jim Zorn's gotta be wondering where there nearest unemployment office is.
The pressure was definitely on Zorn before this game. A mediocre season last year was followed up by a lackluster pre-season and an expected loss to the Giants. Even the team's win, 9-7 over the Rams, elicited boos and angst from the team's fans.
So to release the pressure, all Zorn had to do was win; to beat the team that hadn't won a game since 1984 -- or so it seemed. And instead, they laid an egg. Not just any egg, but one of those stinky, nasty 100-year-old rotten eggs they have at the Asian market down the street.
Offense stunk. Defense stunk. Coaching stunk. Results definitely stunk. It's the Grand Slam of craptacularness. And all on Jim Zorn.
Is he the coach for the team? Signs are definitely pointing to "no."
He's shown an affinity for making the wrong in-game decisions. Boswell makes the case:
"[H]is two dubious burn-the-book decisions in the first quarter had cost the Redskins at least seven points -- more than the ultimate margin of defeat.Zorn decided against a short field goal, then was stopped on fourth and one at the Lions goal line. Then, just minutes later, he accepted a penalty, allowing the Lions to replay third down -- a classic tempt-fate tactic. Detroit, instead of being forced to try a 50-yard field goal, converted the third and 13 and eventually completed a 99-yard touchdown drive.
Instead of a 3-3 score, at worst, the Lions led 7-0. A coach could hardly do a better job of handing away momentum. All else being equal -- a big supposition, but far from huge -- the Redskins would have led this game 17-16 in the closing minutes if Zorn had simply made the two conventional calls."
The Redskins are, of sorts, a national story today. News reports across the country -- whether in Maine or Iowa -- are mentioning the game and the end of the Lions streak. That's Jim Zorn's legacy.
Meanwhile, while Jim Zorn couldn't sleep because of nerves, somewhere, Terry Robiskie excitedly stayed up, just waiting for his phone to ring one more time.
Copyright NBC Owned Television Stations
Posted Monday, Sep 28, 2009 - 9:52 AM EST
