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The Washington Redskins’ head coach Mike Shanahan will lose his job come the end of the season, if not sooner, but he’s not the only one responsible for the team’s nightmare 2013.
After falling to the Kansas City Chiefs 45-10 at home this week in embarrassing fashion the Redskins find themselves drop to 3-10 on the season.
Just a year after winning their last seven games to finish 10-6 and win the NFC East.
It’s clear that Shanahan has to go, his 24-37 record with the team speaks to that, and however great the division-winning 2012 season was, it’s not enough to keep him in DC.
The final nail in the coffin came before the game even kicked off after ESPN’s report that he wanted out at the end of last season.
Not to mention the news that he is now benching quarterback Robert Griffin III to ensure he’s “healthy for the offseason.”
I can’t recall the last time a QB, who assures us he is healthy and has been declared fit to play by his doctor, was benched three weeks before the end of the season.
Shanahan will be gone by January.
However, an even bigger question needs to be asked: Who else should join him?
The list is numerous.
His son, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, will probably be next to go.
His offence this year has been unable to cope with defensive adjustments and a quarterback who clearly needs to develop his pocket passing.
They’re still technically a top-10 offence, thanks in no small part to the number two ranked rushing unit, but the passing attack has been woeful, and the team’s average points per game has dropped from 27.2 in 2012 to 21.5 in 2013.
The defensive coordinator, Jim Haslett, should probably go as well. Haslett has turned the Redskins into a historically bad defensive team.
Since taking over and moving to a 3-4 defence in 2010, the Redskins D has been ranked 31st, 20th, 28th and 22nd in yards allowed.
More importantly, the Redskins have given up more points per game than any other team in the league this year, with 31.3 in 2013.
His tenure has included the shifting of Brian Orakpo from DE to OLB, potentially turning an elite player into simply a good one (he did it to OLB Ryan Kerrigan as well), and the utter lack of an answer for what has been an awful secondary.
The coaches aren’t the only ones to blame, of course.
How about the owner, Daniel Snyder, who, as it has been reported, has an inappropriately close relationship with his most valuable employee?
His chumminess with his starting quarterback was cited as one of the reasons Shanahan had become disillusioned with the team.
He already had a history of meddling, of hiring and firing head coaches at whim, and of making bad decisions for the franchise.
It seemed as if he had turned over a new leaf when he gave the reins to Shanahan in 2010, but the decision to hire the veteran coach as both the head coach and, lets face it, the de facto general manager will go down as just another Snyder miss.
How about the players?
Quarterback Robert Griffin III was clearly not himself coming into the season.
So worried about backup Kirk Cousins he rushed his recovery and as a result was woefully under-prepared for the start of the season, let alone the new offence the Shanahans had dreamed up in his absence.
Now, for “safety” reasons he won’t start again for the remainder of 2013. Cousins has the job.
The offensive line has allowed their quarterback – one of the most elusive quarterbacks in the league – to be sacked 25 times in their last five games. The most in any five-gave stretch in history.
The defence keeps missing tackles, especially the secondary, and coverage assignments are routinely missed.
How about the special teams? If Aussie Sav Rocca (yes, he’s not without blame) hasn’t given up a short punt, the coverage team has completely whiffed on the return man, or the snap was botched, or somebody missed an assignment and got the kick blocked.
As you can see, there’s plenty of blame to go around.
It seems nothing less than a complete reboot is needed in the coaching staff, and yes, some players (and their bloated contracts) need to go too.
Not just the head coach.
Shanahan will go, and he won’t be alone, but after four years on the job we shouldn’t feel sorry for him.
We should feel sorry for whoever has to inherit the mess that is the Washington Redskins.
What do you think Roarers, what would you do if you were the Redskins’ owner?
Dominic is a US sports editor and writer based in Maryland, USA. You can follow him on Twitter @AussieAudible.
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