FanHouse Jim Zorn

I guess it was only a matter of time. You can now place wagers on who the next Redskins' head coach will be. Though there is nothing official from the Redskins that they'll definitely terminate Jim Zorn at or before the conclusion of the season, online betting place Play Blackjack Online has compiled a list with odds of possible coaching candidates.

Compared to their losses to Detroit, Carolina and Kansas City, the Redskins' 27-17 defeat at the hands of the Eagles doesn't look half bad. It might wind up being the fiasco against Philadelphia, though, that convinces Washington's higher-ups to make some changes.

Monday night, in front of a national-TV audience, Washington simply went through the motions. Physical mistakes, lack of talent, bad breaks -- those are all forgivable. Half-hearted efforts aren't, especially when a team is playing for an embattled head coach. And the Redskins, now 2-5 on the season, are fooling themselves if they think they gave all they could against the Eagles.

"You can say but so much," said Albert Haynesworth, the team's $100 million offseason addition. "You've got to actually want to. So once we get to that point -- where we want to do something -- then we'll do something. But if we just keep going our separate ways, then we'll just keep getting slaughtered like we have."

We can add Bill Cowher's name to the litany of folks who have weighed in on the Jim Zorn situation in Washington. After the 'Skins lost to the then-winless Chiefs last Sunday, Zorn's tenure in DC was pretty much done -- except that Assistant to the Traveling Secretary Vinny Cerrato went on the radio to proclaim that Zorn's job would be safe through the end of the season.

His job description would change, however. Sure, owner Dan Snyder brought in Zorn specifically because of his ability to develop quarterbacks and put together an offensive game plan, but now, 21 games into his first head-coaching gig, Zorn would have to give up play-calling duties to Bingo Grand Master Sherm Lewis.

During Sunday's CBS pregame show, former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher was not impressed. Via Newsday's Neil Best:

Good news, Jim Zorn supporters: the head coach isn't the problem in Washington. It's the shoddily assembled roster, most of which is littered with players who either a) don't understand their roles, or b) can't physically execute the offense.

That's the word according to ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski, who said as much during Friday's appearance on Tony Kornheiser's DC-area radio show.

Via the Sports Bog:

NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

As Round 1 of our single-elimination fight tournament involving NFL coaches nears its end, let us recap the action we've seen so far. To view the entire bracket or learn what we're talking about, kindly click on the links below.

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It looks like we can call off the Jim Zorn Deathwatch. For the next couple of days anyway.

Redskins executive vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato said on his ESPN980 radio show Friday morning that Zorn won't be fired before the 2009 season reaches its conclusion.

"Let me start by making a few things very perfectly clear: Jim Zorn is the head coach of the Washington Redskins, and will be for the rest of this season, and hopefully into the future."

Cerrato's hardly an impartial party to this decision. When and if Zorn gets fired and when and if Daniel Snyder brings in the big-name coach everyone expects he'll bring in as a replacement, Cerrato will be the next head on the chopping block.

I'm not sure how John Riggins would fill his days if not for the futility that Redskins football provided. He's carved out a nice little niche in a crowded DC-area media landscape.

Partly because he was an integral cog in those 'Skins teams that routinely made the playoffs in the early 1980s, but also because he's frank in his assessment of the current organization, not to mention his attention to details others might overlook. Like, say, production quality (and free-stylin').

There are no metaphorical wood piles this week, however. Nope, just Riggo on the radio diatribin' it up. Video after the jump:

"I don't know what to do" is a meme put forth by fans, coaches, critics ... anybody with a passing interest in the Washington Redskins.

In the wake of the most recent loss -- a hard-to-watch 14-6 showing against the previously winless Chiefs -- Jim Zorn has been stripped of his play-calling duties (his job title is sure to follow), Jason Campbell was benched (good news: he has his job back!), and the torch-and-pitchfork crowd is mobilizing.

And some of them are doing it while sporting a paper bag. Like this disgruntled fan, for example.

It's been 24 hours since the Redskins lost to the Chiefs. In that time, Jim Zorn has been stripped of play-calling duties, Bingo guru Sherm Lewis has been given the responsibility, and John Riggins is hastily producing another backwoods manifesto.

While we wait for the inevitable, Tony Kornheiser used his radio show to relay his encounter with 'Skins owner Dan Snyder during Sunday's fiasco. Mr. Tony had the pleasure of sitting in the owner's box (as much as 60 minutes of JV high school football can be deemed pleasurable).

Via the Sports Bog:

Sources have confirmed that the Washington Redskins recently tried to hire Mike Shanahan to replace Jim Zorn and Shanahan declined. The sources would not rule out the possibility that Shanahan would reconsider in the offseason.

"Shanahan told the franchise there was little he could do in the middle of the season for them and that changing coaches during the season in the NFL rarely works,'' a Redskins management source told FanHouse. "Several people that Dan Snyder trusts have suggested, if he makes a move, he should turn it over to secondary coach Jerry Gray. That could still happen.

"We are trying to give Jim every chance to turn it around. The move to [bring in offensive consultant Sherm] Lewis is to take more off Jim's plate, especially the play-calling, because it is not working, and that is where Jim is spending much of his time. Now he can coach the entire team. Let's see where that gets us.''

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