Redskins in the Redzone vs. the Rams

Jim Zorn's play calling appears questionable

after the Redskins fail to get a touchdown

in Week 2 against the St. Louis Rams

Here was the Redskins play calling in the redzone in a 9-7 victory against the Rams. Obviously, the Redskins failed to get a TD in the redzone; many have questioned the play call down the stretch.

1.

1-10-STL19	(7:10) C.Portis left tackle to SL 8 for 11 yards (J.Laurinaitis).
1-8-STL8	(6:25) C.Portis up the middle to SL 7 for 1 yard (O.Atogwe, D.Vobora).
2-7-STL7	(5:50) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass short middle to C.Portis to SL 3 for 4 yards (C.Ryan). Shovel pass
3-3-STL3	(5:10) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass incomplete short middle to D.Thomas.

Zorn called 2 run plays on 1st down. The shovel pass to Portis might as well have been looked as a delayed handoff. Campbell threw a pass on the money to Devin Thomas; however, the pass had a lot of heat on which made it difficult to catch and ultimately Thomas dropped the pass.

2.

1-8-STL8	(8:55) C.Portis up the middle to SL 10 for -2 yards (L.Little).
2-10-STL10	(8:15) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass incomplete short middle to M.Sellers (D.Vobora).
3-10-STL10	(8:10) (Shotgun) J.Campbell pass incomplete short right to A.Randle El (R.Bartell).

Campbell was hurt by a dropped pass by Mike Sellers. On 3rd down, there was pass interference on the play but because Jason Campbell threw it way over Randle El, the pass was deemed uncatchable and therefore no penalty was assessed.

3.

1-7-STL7	(8:00) C.Portis left end to SL 7 for no gain (G.Gibson).
2-7-STL7	(7:25) C.Portis right guard to SL 5 for 2 yards (W.Witherspoon, C.Long).
3-5-STL5	(6:40) Lateral from 17-Cambell C.Portis pass incomplete short right to C.Cooley. Penalty on WAS-W.Montgomery, Offensive Holding, declined.

The Redskins ran the ball two times and even when they looked to pass, Portis made the throw, not Campbell. Even worse was the fact that since it was 3rd down, the Rams had to expect some sort of passing play from the Portis toss outside.

4.

4-1-STL20	(3:47) C.Portis left tackle to SL 11 for 9 yards (J.Wade, O.Atogwe).
1-10-STL11	(3:00) L.Betts left end to SL 7 for 4 yards (J.Laurinaitis, J.Wade).
2-6-STL7	(2:20) L.Betts left end pushed ob at SL 4 for 3 yards (O.Atogwe).
3-3-STL4	(2:13) C.Portis left guard to SL 2 for 2 yards (L.Little, O.Atogwe).
4-1-STL2	(2:00) C.Portis left end to SL 4 for -2 yards (D.Vobora).

On the Redskins final drive, the Redskins chose to run it all 5 times in the red zone in an effort to kill the clock. Eventually the Rams caught on and stopped the Redskins on 4th and short.

Analysis

- Jason Campbell had 1 completions from 4 passes in the redzone. His only completion was a shovel pass to Clinton Portis which may has well been classified as a running play.

- 2 of Campbell's incompletions were the result of dropped passes. One of Campbell's throws was a throw away because of too much pressure

- The Redskins ran it 5 out of 5 times on 1st down inside the redzone.

- The Redskins averaged only 2.8 yards per carry inside the redzone.

- Redskins averaged only .57 yards per carry inside the 10 yard line on.

- The Redskins averaged .8 yards per passing play inside the redzone including Portis's pass to Cooley.

Overall, the Redskins were ineffectively a combination of the play on the field but also the play calling by head coach Jim Zorn.