“I hope you don’t think I abused your son today,” Zorn said to Portis’ mother. Some of you might recall that Portis was critical of Zorn’s play-calling after the loss to the New York Giants, but that game’s now a distant memory.
On Sunday, the Redskins couldn’t have asked for a worse start. The Eagles scored on their first possession, and following a Redskins three-and-out, rookie DeSean Jackson returned a punt 68 yards to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead.
That’s when Zorn made an important decision. He stuck with a game plan that included a steady dose of running plays to the left side and passes to Chris Cooley. With the Eagles taking Santana Moss out of the game, quarterback Jason Campbell stayed calm and relied on other players.
“It would’ve been easy to get away from the game plan and get pass happy,” Campbell told me after the game. “But it was too early for that. We had a good game plan, so we just decided to stick with it.”
Campbell didn’t put up great numbers (16-of-29 for 176 yards), but he made two clutch plays on the Redskins’ final drive. As the official driver of the Campbell bandwagon (seats no longer available), I thought his pass to Antwaan Randle El with 5:50 left was one of the best of his career. Campbell stepped away from pressure while still looking downfield and then calmly delivered the ball to Randle El for a key third-down conversion. Three plays later, he raced for 15 yards on third-and-9 to extend the drive.
In the countless hours they’ve spent together, Zorn has tried to impress upon Campbell how important it is to concentrate when the game’s on the line. And during this four-game winning streak, Campbell has been at his best when the stakes are high. You can see it with his body language. On that final drive, he never appeared rushed at all. About five minutes before kickoff Sunday, Campbell looked over at Zorn and he was doing “knee touches.”
“Coach, you about to go play?” Campbell asked. “Just let me know if you want to swap shoulder pads or thigh pads.”
Last week, Zorn took a page out of George Allen’s postgame playbook and led the team in a rousing “Hip hip hooray!” On Sunday, it was Randle El who led the chant.
Wearing a flannel jacket that pointed to his Pacific Northwest roots, Zorn seemed amused by all the commotion outside the locker room. A month ago, he appeared to be in over his head. Now, he’s trying to land a coach of the year nomination.
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