Smoke Signals:‘Time to earn that new contract, Jason edition

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With Clinton Portis almost certain to miss Sunday night’s game against Dallas, QB Jason Campbell is going to have to make some plays. He’s had a pretty good first 9 games of this season.

Campbell has completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 1,960 yards and ranks seventh in the league with a personal-best 92.4 passer rating. He has made significant strides in committing fewer turnovers than he did through Washington’s first nine games last season, throwing eight touchdown passes and only two interceptions.

However, my concern is that Jason and the offense are too conservative, as per the wishes of Head Coach Jim Zorn. The conservative play-calling made sense when Clinton Portis was rushing for 130 yards per game and Santana Moss was around to stretch the defense every now and then. However, with Moss hobbling against the Steelers, Pittsburgh stacked the line, stuffed the running game and dared Washington to throw deep. Washington refused to take that dare, demonstrating a serious weakness in the offense. If Santana Moss is reasonably healthy this week, the Redskins are going to have to get away from running 55% of the time and throwing short the other 45% of the time. They’re going to have to take some chances down the field. That means the pass-blocking has to hold up and Santana Moss has to be healthy and Jason Campbell has to make smart decisions.

Zorn laid it on the line to the Redskins about how the offense has been failing in two areas.

He delivered the cold, hard facts to his offensive players about where they stand in two key categories, which he believes have prevented the offense from becoming as productive and diverse as it could be. In meetings, the players heard frequently about third-down efficiency and red-zone proficiency.

…

The Redskins are 23rd in red-zone scoring, and only eight teams are worse than they are on third-down offense (36.4 percent).

By saying he’s happy with the red zone scheme and saying he needs more accuracy from Jason Campbell in those situations, it seems Zorn is laying these problems at the feet of his quarterback. We’ll see how Jason responds this weekend — assuming Washington makes several trips to the red zone. They could barely get a sniff of it against the Steelers.

Joe Gibbs has been watching the Redskins from afar and likes what he sees. He plans to keep watching from afar, too.

“I’d been around so long,” Gibbs said. “I just felt like it was important that a new coach not have me hanging around all the time. I think coach Zorn has been fantastic. He kept a lot of our guys together, and I think that’s been really important. But I didn’t want him asking, ‘Is Joe looking over my shoulder?’”

Malcolm Kelly — as I continue to remind you, isn’t a football player yet, he’s just a guy limping around Redskins Park — made it thru his second straight practice yesterday without one of his limbs dropping off. That’s the good news you never expected. Now, as usual, the bad news: The Redskins don’t expect Kelly to play against Dallas this weekend.

Not only do we, the fans, enjoy the witticisms of Greg Blache, but apparently the players do as well, in and out of the locker room. One of my favorites, and oh so telling …

When the defense applied for a job at a grocery store, it didn’t get it. Why?

“Because we couldn’t sack.”

Blache confirms that DeAngelo Hall may play nickel corner for the Redskins against Dallas and DE Jason Taylor is ready to play and, hopefully, produce an actual sack or some close approximation of one. Blache also has some praise for Hall, which, I believe, would be the first time in 3 years any coach has had something nice to say about the controversial cornerback.

Speaking of Hall, Zorn says Hall continues to practice with the special teams and will likely see some action there this Sunday night. It won’t be easy to replace CB Leigh Torrence, whom the Redskins cut [claimed by New Orleans] to make room for Hall. Torrence was the gunner [first guy down the field] on punt coverage and was regarded by his teammates as a special teams leader and one of the best coverage men on the squad. Replacing him with one guy won’t be possible, but the Redskins will ask WR Devin Thomas, who has made a few good plays on special teams, and fellow 2008 draft pick CB Justin Tryon to duplicate what Torrence did.

While we’re on the subject of special teams, ace return and coverage man Rock Cartwright says the loss of Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones to the justice system will hurt the Cowboys.

“Pac-Man is a very dangerous returner,” Cartwright said. “His change of direction is remarkable. I’ve never seen a guy who can change direction so fast. But they’ve got a guy there in Patrick Crayton who is dangerous as well and he’s very quick. You’ve got to be careful if you have a bad punt because he usually tries to pick it up and make a play on it. “

The Washington Times gives us a good peak into the evolution of the Jim Zorn coaching career in the NFL. Zorn has former Terps coach Bobby Ross to thank for his first NFL gig.

More than just an NFC East clash, more than just a Redskins/Cowboys rivalry, both coaches deem Sunday night to be a ‘must win’ game. Nothing like boosting the level of the rivalry.

One of the positives to the 6-3 start for the Redskins has been the health of the offensive line, particularly the inner three. Although the three interior lineman are getting up there in age, in football terms, these guys are also a major part of why the Zorn offense has seen some success. Interestingly enough, Casey Rabach has received recognition for his solid performance this season.

Unless Washington faces a defense that uses a nose tackle and a three-technique tackle - which requires frequent changes in the interior matchups - it’s not critical that Thomas and Kendall know what the other is doing. However, Rabach, Bugel’s lieutenant, has to know everyone’s assignments while dueling with massive defenders. Rabach’s performance this season earned him a spot on both the Sporting News and USA Today midseason All-Pro teams. Kendall made Sports Illustrated’s.

Enemy Wire:

If there is one thing the Dallas Cowboys and the Dallas media is clear on, it’s that WR Santana Moss is a consistent downer for them. One thing is also clear, Moss, unlike Terrell Owens, doesn’t make excuses.

Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens constantly points to double coverage to explain his decline in production. That’s a crutch Moss never intends to use.

“When you get double covered, you don’t count yourself out,” Moss says. “You’re going to have to find ways to get the ball.

“Offenses are not made for you to sit out there and let someone double you the whole time. You have other ways to handle the routes. You have other guys. There are still ways to beat it.”

Despite baiting by TO, DeAngelo Hall didn’t bite …

Washington’s reporters relayed T.O.’s comments about looking forward to a big day against DeAngelo Hall to the oft-torched cornerback who recently joined the Redskins.

Per the Washington Post, Hall replied that T.O. ought to worry about the Redskins’ entire defense before downplaying the comments.

“T.O. is T.O.,” Hall said. “He’s going to say what he wants to say and try to be controversial. I’m just here to have fun.”

And now, listen to Jason Reid of The Washington Post discuss the importance of the Cowboys game and the problem Washington will have with injuries.

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