Jim Zorn Dodges Bullet in Redskins Win

When the Washington Redskins got the ball back with 1:32 left in the game, they were just three kneel-downs away from their first win of 2009. They were playing at home, yet there was an audible smattering of boos. On a victory? What gives?

Allow me to take a wild guess -- the Redskins ended the game with 362 total yards, gained 21 first downs and failed to score a touchdown against a Rams team that lost 28-0 last week to the Seahawks. Of course, the booing wasn't overwhelming; probably because most fans realized how fortunate their favorite team was to escape with a victory.

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Not only did the Redskins' inability to get in the end-zone plague them, but a questionable coaching decision late put them in harm's way.

With 2:00 left to go, the Redskins faced a 4th-and-1 from the two. Considering a field goal would force the Rams to drive the distance of the field and score a touchdown -- the Redskins held a two-point lead -- the fact that the Rams had no timeouts and the fact that the Redskins hadn't been able to punch the ball in from short all day, it seemed a bit odd that Jim Zorn would elect to go for it. But he did, and Clinton Portis had absolutely no running room. Now, the Rams needed to only get into field goal range before sending Josh Brown out to attempt the game-winning field goal.

The Redskins defense, though -- as it had been doing pretty much all game -- picked up the slack and brought home a Redskin victory. Give some extra credit to the pressure provided on the last series by rookie Brian Orakpo. He looked every bit like the beast he's been advertised to be.

It's entirely possible Zorn was trying to get that elusive touchdown -- which, in fairness, would have clinched the game -- but it's an awfully risky move. It's one of those moves that has to work. He did show confidence in his rock-solid defense, in addition to knowing the Rams would have to begin their drive inside the five yard line, but the play failed. Ultimately, Zorn will face tons of scrutiny for the move. If the Redskins have lost, there would be people already writing his coaching eulogy.

Overall, the lack of touchdowns is the only major woe on display for the Redskins on the field. Jason Campbell completed 23 of 35 passes for 242 yards without turning the ball over. Spear-headed by Clinton Portis, the ground attack rolled up 125 yards. The yards per carry were a sub-par 3.8, but, again, that was due to not being able to punch the ball in from short. Chris Cooley was as solid as ever and the rest of the receiving corps was balanced. The defense is generally maligned for not pressuring the passer enough, but they were in Marc Bulger's grill all day. Sure, they only ended up netting one sack, but that doesn't tell the tale of how many hits the Rams' signal-caller took in the pocket.

The woes near the goal-line presented themselves in myriad forms. There was a dropped pass by Mike Sellers. There were some passes barely out of the reach of receivers. There was poor run-blocking. There were some suspect play-calls -- such as a halfback pass by Portis, in which he badly overthrew Antwaan Randle-El. It was a veritable cornucopia of futility.

When the head coach is an offensive mind, he'll have to take the blame for much of that, too.

The bottom line is that the Redskins got the win, but they still need to work on finding that end zone. It's going to be hard to win many games -- especially in the NFC East -- surviving on just field goals. Meanwhile, coach Zorn is going to have a long week, in terms of answering questions.