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Commanders, Zorn ready for Dallas
By Anthony Brown
In a pregame write-up, I huffed that the Cardinals are still the Cardinals. Let me adapt that now to say the Commanders are still the Commanders. The Cardinals are not the Cowboys.
The Commanders were impressive, yes, impressive, in their 24-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
Jason Campbell and the offense showed comfort with Jim Zorn’s West Coast Offense. The defense mostly contained the Cardinals dangerous receiving duo of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Although both managed to score, the Skins defense held the Cards to under 20 points for the first time in 10 games dating back to last season.
I expected that performance level from the defense, which is shaping up as a top 10 unit. The offense shouldn’t be playing at this level for another five games by my reckoning. I was prepared for, and would still forgive, sloppy play and confusion by the offense for the first half of the season during this transition to the WCO.
You just don’t get this done in one training camp, folks.
The Commanders are well ahead of schedule. Maybe the fact that Jason Campbell has had to adapt to so much change by so many offensive coordinators is actually an advantage. Adapting to change is a skill. Campbell’s performance in his second and third game under Zorn is making this transition look like a snap.
Jim Zorn, too, is showing a nimbleness of thinking I didn’t know he had. That’s best shown by how he appears to have adapted his thinking about Campbell.
Zorn’s admonition to his quarterbacks to “play smaller” is probably good advice, honed from years playing as a small (6-3) quarterback by today’s standards. But, Campbell is a big man (6-5) with a big arm. Adapting his WCO concepts to Campbell’s gifts is one of the reasons the Commanders look so good since the Giants game.
I’m not so sure Coach Joe would be so flexible. Gibbs imposed himself on Al Saunders offense in the midst of the 2006 season, which made sense; and he maintained it into 2007, which made no sense.
The NFL offenses that do best are those where the coach and quarterback work in unison. Zorn and Campbell are building that unity of vision before our very eyes. It’s a beautiful thing to see.
Tana Man is The Man
As much as Campbell & Zorn Show is contributing to the Commanders good showing, the return of Santana Moss to his 2005 form is equally important. Moss is tied for fourth in receiving yards (276) after Sunday’s action. He is Jason Campbell’s favorite scoring target with three of Campbell’s four TD passes.
Moss this year is a big reason why Campbell has a 100.1 QB rating after three games.
Fitzgerald’s touchdown is on the coaches
Kurt Warner’s third quarter 62 yard touchdown strike to Larry Fitzgerald was the Cardinals only big play. From my end zone seat, it appeared Reed Doughty was providing one-on-one coverage of Fitzgerald. Bad idea.
I’m not calling Doughty the next Adam Archuleta, and Doughty says he jumped the pass to Fitzgerald. He was benched after that gaff that allowed the Cardinals to climb back into the game after being dominated to that point.
The safety is supposed to be the safety-net. Why would Doughty go for a pick instead of a stop as if he were LaRon Landry? Because he saw an opportunity. He just missed. Oops!
But, with Terrell Owens, Torry Holt, Braylon Edwards, and Calvin Johnson coming up on the schedule, any defensive scheme that has Doughty as the primary coverage for those guys has to be the wrong one.
Doughty takes the hit, but putting him in that position is on Greg Blache and the coaching staff.
Those clever defensive coaches
Bad coverage call on Fitzgerald aside, I am impressed with the way Blache found to use Chris Horton, LaRon Landry and Doughty in the defensive backfield at the same time.
The Cardinals are going to score on you somehow. The Commanders kept Boldin and Fitzgerald to one score each. That comes from an overall good scheme by Blache and his staff.
The Cardinals are not the Cowboys
This Cardinals team is the best I’ve seen of them in the last five years. They weren’t as sloppy as in the past and they play as though they know they’ve got something. Cardinals fans have a lot to look forward to with these guys.
But, the Cowboys are those guys. You don’t confuse the Cards for the Boys. We will be looking at Dallas a lot this week. What we learned looking at the Commanders over the last two weeks tells us that we will be competitive in Dallas.
We won’t beat those guys withover dependence on Santana Moss and blown coverages. It will take a perfect game.
You have to favor Dallas at home, but it’s not the certainty it appeared when Jim Zorn was named offensive coordinator head coach.
It’s Dallas Week. Get on your horses. We’re coming!
By Anthony Brown
In a pregame write-up, I huffed that the Cardinals are still the Cardinals. Let me adapt that now to say the Commanders are still the Commanders. The Cardinals are not the Cowboys.
The Commanders were impressive, yes, impressive, in their 24-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
Jason Campbell and the offense showed comfort with Jim Zorn’s West Coast Offense. The defense mostly contained the Cardinals dangerous receiving duo of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Although both managed to score, the Skins defense held the Cards to under 20 points for the first time in 10 games dating back to last season.
I expected that performance level from the defense, which is shaping up as a top 10 unit. The offense shouldn’t be playing at this level for another five games by my reckoning. I was prepared for, and would still forgive, sloppy play and confusion by the offense for the first half of the season during this transition to the WCO.
You just don’t get this done in one training camp, folks.
The Commanders are well ahead of schedule. Maybe the fact that Jason Campbell has had to adapt to so much change by so many offensive coordinators is actually an advantage. Adapting to change is a skill. Campbell’s performance in his second and third game under Zorn is making this transition look like a snap.
Jim Zorn, too, is showing a nimbleness of thinking I didn’t know he had. That’s best shown by how he appears to have adapted his thinking about Campbell.
Zorn’s admonition to his quarterbacks to “play smaller” is probably good advice, honed from years playing as a small (6-3) quarterback by today’s standards. But, Campbell is a big man (6-5) with a big arm. Adapting his WCO concepts to Campbell’s gifts is one of the reasons the Commanders look so good since the Giants game.
I’m not so sure Coach Joe would be so flexible. Gibbs imposed himself on Al Saunders offense in the midst of the 2006 season, which made sense; and he maintained it into 2007, which made no sense.
The NFL offenses that do best are those where the coach and quarterback work in unison. Zorn and Campbell are building that unity of vision before our very eyes. It’s a beautiful thing to see.
Tana Man is The Man
As much as Campbell & Zorn Show is contributing to the Commanders good showing, the return of Santana Moss to his 2005 form is equally important. Moss is tied for fourth in receiving yards (276) after Sunday’s action. He is Jason Campbell’s favorite scoring target with three of Campbell’s four TD passes.
Moss this year is a big reason why Campbell has a 100.1 QB rating after three games.
Fitzgerald’s touchdown is on the coaches
Kurt Warner’s third quarter 62 yard touchdown strike to Larry Fitzgerald was the Cardinals only big play. From my end zone seat, it appeared Reed Doughty was providing one-on-one coverage of Fitzgerald. Bad idea.
I’m not calling Doughty the next Adam Archuleta, and Doughty says he jumped the pass to Fitzgerald. He was benched after that gaff that allowed the Cardinals to climb back into the game after being dominated to that point.
The safety is supposed to be the safety-net. Why would Doughty go for a pick instead of a stop as if he were LaRon Landry? Because he saw an opportunity. He just missed. Oops!
But, with Terrell Owens, Torry Holt, Braylon Edwards, and Calvin Johnson coming up on the schedule, any defensive scheme that has Doughty as the primary coverage for those guys has to be the wrong one.
Doughty takes the hit, but putting him in that position is on Greg Blache and the coaching staff.
Those clever defensive coaches
Bad coverage call on Fitzgerald aside, I am impressed with the way Blache found to use Chris Horton, LaRon Landry and Doughty in the defensive backfield at the same time.
The Cardinals are going to score on you somehow. The Commanders kept Boldin and Fitzgerald to one score each. That comes from an overall good scheme by Blache and his staff.
The Cardinals are not the Cowboys
This Cardinals team is the best I’ve seen of them in the last five years. They weren’t as sloppy as in the past and they play as though they know they’ve got something. Cardinals fans have a lot to look forward to with these guys.
But, the Cowboys are those guys. You don’t confuse the Cards for the Boys. We will be looking at Dallas a lot this week. What we learned looking at the Commanders over the last two weeks tells us that we will be competitive in Dallas.
We won’t beat those guys withover dependence on Santana Moss and blown coverages. It will take a perfect game.
You have to favor Dallas at home, but it’s not the certainty it appeared when Jim Zorn was named offensive coordinator head coach.
It’s Dallas Week. Get on your horses. We’re coming!
