Rams' Jason Brown Reveals Game Plan to Stopping 'Skins Albert Haynesworth

Scott Linehan arrived in St. Louis in 2006 billed as one of the next up-and-coming young coordinators to make the jump to the head-coaching ranks. He won eight times his first season, but managed just three more wins over the next 20 games before the Rams mercifully sent him on his way.

Steve Spagnuolo, previously a young coordinator with the Giants, got the gig this offseason, and he went about rebuilding a team that regularly made playoff appearances earlier this decade.

And after a two-win effort in 2008, things can only get better. For Spagnuolo that starts with overhauling the offensive line. The club signed free agent center Jason Brown away from the Ravens, and selected tackle Jason Smith second overall in the April draft.

Brown, a four-year veteran, is already spilling the beans on the gameplan to stop new Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth when the two teams face off in Week 2. Via the Washington Post's Jason Reid:

"I'm so glad we're playing Washington early in the year because it's going to be hot out there, we're going to be running hurry-up offense and he's going to get fatigued," Brown said. "And I'm not sure if you have watched film before, but when he gets fatigued, he taps out. He just falls down to the ground, and you're like, 'Oh my gosh, is he hurt? Is something wrong with him?' No, he's just giving the guy on the sidelines enough time to mosey on out there so he can get up, go to the sidelines, catch a breather, get something to drink and then he comes right back out.

"And then people are like, 'I thought he was hurt.' No, he got tired. But you know what, that's exactly what we're going to have to do when we play Washington. We're going to have to play hurry-up offense and make them tired."

So there you go. No need for fancy blocking schemes, just run the hurry-up offense and Haynesworth magically disappears. When Brown was with the Ravens he faced Haynesworth (then with the Titans) on four occasions so he has some insight into the matter. And I don't doubt that guys well north of three bills get winded, especially when it's hot and humid as hell.

The problem, of course, is that the Rams aren't likely to run the hurry-up all game. There are ways to defend it, and if the 'Skins can do that successfully, it won't matter than Haynesworth is occasionally on the sideline outfitted in an oxygen mask.

For the time being, Washington head coach Jim Zorn seems unconcerned. "That's awesome," Zorn said with a chuckle. "What a great strategy."

And Haynesworth offered just five words. "Good. Let him think that." Translation: "Don't let your helmet come off."*

* Pure speculation