It has become a tense postgame ritual. Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and head coach Norv Turner repair to a private room off the team's locker room and discuss the outcome. Their most recent discussion, after Washington's uninspired 27-21 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football, went on well into Tuesday morning.
It couldn't have been pleasant. For in the nation's capital, where the Redskins had pushed the upcoming presidential election into the back of the collective consciousness, the stench of panic permeates the air.
|  | | Brad Johnson, left, is hit hard by Dallas' Leon Lett during Washington's Monday night loss. |
The 'Skins, whose $100 million payroll is the highest in the NFL and might be the highest ever for a professional team, are 1-2. After squeezing past Carolina 20-17 in the opener, the Washington All-Stars have lost two consecutive games. This one, against an 0-2 team that was playing 37-year-old Randall Cunningham for injured quarterback Troy Aikman, was gruesome.
"That was just ridiculous," said defensive end Bruce Smith, one of a number of high-priced free agents the Redskins signed in the offseason. "I'm very disappointed in the whole turnout. Offense, defense and special teams, we all have to take blame for this loss. We didn't realize we were in a dogfight until the fourth quarter, and for the second week in a row. We can't do that."
Turner was somber when he addressed the assembled media before he met with Snyder. "We're not in sync as an entire group," he said. "I thought we'd play a lot better. We certainly had a chance to win at the end, but we didn't handle the last two minutes well. That was my fault. It's my job to get these guys prepared. There's no question it rests on my shoulders."
Perhaps, but Turner can't be faulted for these pratfalls that would have been funny if they weren't so sad:
Quarterback Brad Johnson floated a ball over the head of tight end Stephen Alexander into the midsection of Dallas safety Izell Reese, who returned it 46 yards with a little more than two minutes left in the game to set up a Cowboys field goal.
It was Johnson's second turnover of the game and his fifth interception in two games and fueled the quarterback debate that has simmered since the Redskins signed free agent Jeff George.
Andy Heck, the backup left tackle, wasn't even in the game when he was called for a personal foul. He shoved a Dallas player on the sideline, killing a second-half drive.
"It was a good call," Heck admitted later. "That's what will kill a team when you do dumb stuff like that. I'm embarrassed and I regret it."
After dancing and swaying to tease the Cowboys and rev up the crowd, Deion Sanders fielded a punt -- with his facemask. He hastily recovered the fumble, but he didn't exactly dance off the field.
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It's early in the season, it's going to take time. Everyone wants to see if there's going to be unity on this team, or if we're going to start pointing fingers.' ” |
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— Redskins receiver Irving Fryar |
Now take a breath, football fans. It's early. There are still 13 games to play and a victory next week on the road against the Giants would thrust the Redskins right back into the playoff scramble. That said, Washington has won only one game of three against three mediocre teams, at best. Here is the nasty schedule for the next six weeks: at the Giants (3-0), Tampa Bay (3-0), at Philadelphia (1-2), Baltimore (2-1), at Jacksonville (2-1) and Tennessee (1-1).
Given the talent this team has, the Redskins could conceivably win all those games. They could also, conceivably, lose them all. More likely, they will split the middle. Clearly, it is a stretch that will define this team one way or another.
If the 'Skins plan on hanging around in the playoff race, there are a number of areas that require immediate attention.
The first is quarterback. Johnson has not looked like the passer who completed his first full season last year and played in his first Pro Bowl. He has thrown only two touchdown passes, balanced by those five picks. His passer rating of 69.4 finds him well below such veteran talents as Jeff Garcia, Cade McNown, Daunte Culpepper and Jay Fiedler.
George, who looked sharper than Johnson in many training camp practices, has been quiet, and Turner has downplayed the situation. It will be harder to do that as the week goes on. More than likely, Johnson will get one more week to prove himself before the trigger is pulled.
"When you're struggling," Turner said, "it's easy to point to the quarterback. It's easy to say the quarterback is not getting the job done. But there are 11 guys out there on offense."
One of those guys is not named Michael Westbrook, who was lost for the season in the Week 2 loss at Detroit. Last season, the big wideout caught 65 balls for 1,191 yards and nine touchdowns, but when he shredded his anterior cruciate ligament, the burden fell on Albert Connell. With Connell as the only deep threat, the Cowboys used single coverage almost exclusively on him and pulled their safeties toward the line of scrimmage to control running back Stephen Davis. Irving Fryar, who will turn 38 later this month, and Andre Reed, 36, had terrific careers, but what the Redskins need is a burner who will provide a vertical component and stretch defenses.
How ugly is the passing game? Larry Centers, Davis and Adrian Murrell -- running backs all -- are the team's three leading receivers. It looks like the razzle-dazzle team that excited people during the offseason will be a plodding ball-control club the rest of the way. To play that way, you have to have a consistent defensive effort. So far, that has been lacking. The Redskins have lost their two games by less than a touchdown, which means a single play, here or there, could have achieved a different result.
Last year's Achilles' heel was the run defense, which finished ranked No. 30 among 31 teams. Despite all the dazzling free-agent and draft additions, there was no significant upgrade for the run defense. Perhaps first-round pick LaVar Arrington will contribute more as the season goes on, but he isn't even starting yet. On Monday night, Cunningham wasn't the only player who didn't play his age; Emmitt Smith held his own with Davis because the Washington defense was soft around the middle.
"It's early in the season, it's going to take time," said Fryar, a veteran of 17 seasons. "Everyone wants to see if there's going to be unity on this team, or if we're going to start pointing fingers."
Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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