As the Washington Redskins ran off the field into the tunnel leading to their locker room at FedEx Field on Sunday, some of the fans shouted obscenities and threw crumpled dollar bills down at the players, a few of whom had tears in their eyes.
Invective and anger filled the air. A security guard had to go into the stands to quiet a fan he described as “out of control.” Rookie linebacker Brian Orakpo, who never had to deal with this sort of thing as a member of the Texas Longhorns, muttered, “Man, the fans are tough here,” to no one in particular. Cornerback DeAngelo Hall threw his helmet, and from inside the locker room shouting and what sounded like more helmets clattering could be heard.
This is what one of the lowest moments of a once-proud NFL franchise looks and sounds like.
For the third time this season, the Redskins lost to a team that had not won a game. Twice it happened on the road - but not this time. After a pair of narrow victories over two more winless teams, what seemed unthinkable to many took place on a chilly, gray afternoon that matched the disposition of most of the 79,572 in attendance - more than 12,000 below the stadium’s capacity.
The Kansas City Chiefs came into FedEx Field with an 0-5 record in 2009 and nine straight losses going back to last season. They left with a 14-6 victory that put the Redskins at 2-4 during what supposedly was the easy part of their schedule. More significantly, the loss placed the future of second-year coach Jim Zorn in serious doubt. The Redskins announced Sunday night that Zorn agreed to give up his play-calling duties after meeting with executive vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato.
The loss also put the Redskins in the unenviable role of league patsies, where the NFL downtrodden can find, if not salvation, then at least their first win.
“When you lose to teams we know we should beat, teams that hadn’t won, it’s tough,” said veteran defensive end Phillip Daniels, who played with a torn biceps in his right arm. “Everyone looks at us as a win, and until things change, they’re gonna continue to look at us that way.”
Another veteran, defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin, said: “We can’t drop our heads. Too much of the season is left. This was maybe, I hate to say, a wake-up call. But it should have happened a long time ago, when we lost games we should have won. But we’ve got to make more plays.”
Zorn, who never has publicly addressed his shaky future but must be aware of it, took extreme measures Sunday. For him, that meant benching his pet quarterback project, Jason Campbell. All year, Zorn has said it was never an option, but when the team failed to score in the first half, he was convinced otherwise. It was Zorn’s only remaining option to try to squeeze some points from a dormant offense.
Veteran backup Todd Collins came in and almost immediately hooked up with Santana Moss on a 42-yard pass play. But it led to only a field goal, one of two by Shaun Suisham that represented the Redskins’ total scoring output.
Against a defense that came in yielding nearly 27 points a game and ranked a dead-last 32nd in the league in yards allowed, the Redskins could not manage a single touchdown.
“This offense is better than six points by 100 percent, and that is on me,” said Zorn, scoring points for taking responsibility but not necessarily enhancing his job status.
“I don’t want to say it’s lack of effort, but you have to perform,” said Matt Downey, 23, a season-ticket holder from Alexandria. “And it just seems like a lack of effort from the players. No matter who you bring in, no matter what the owners do, what the coaches do, it seems like a lack of effort.”
Howard Seaton, 65, traveled from Gold Beach, Ore., with his wife, Cheryl, to see the game. The couple also will stay for next Monday’s game against Philadelphia. Mr. Seaton, who formerly lived in the area, said he spent about $1,500 for the trip, which covers 3,000 miles each way, and was asked why anyone would do that.
“I’ve been a Redskins fan for a long time,” he said. “But that’s a good question. I could find plenty of other things to do with my money.”
One reason they decided to attend this game, Mr. Seaton said, was, “We figured this would be the winning game.”
Oops.
Mr. Seaton said several fans in his section and nearby were complaining loudly about Zorn, but he added, “I think [the problem] is a combination of the general manager and some of the players. It’s just not the right fit.”
What about the owner?
“Well, that’s a given,” said Mr. Seaton, who has season tickets and attends two games a year, donating the other tickets to charity. “But you can’t change that unless somebody’s got a lot of money and he’s willing to sell.”
A coaching change at some point will likely happen first.
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