Of Two Minds On Offense

Said a Redskins coach of Saunders: "In the end it really came down to control. He thought he was getting full control, but he doesn't have it."

Indeed, following exit interviews with players after the Redskins' 34-28 season-ending loss to the New York Giants on Saturday, Gibbs went a step further, assuring his offensive linemen that they would not stray from the power running game formula next season, perhaps further limiting Saunders's influence, according to Redskins players.

Part of the tension stemmed from a belief among some on the team that the Redskins didn't need Saunders. Gibbs brought Saunders to Washington to modernize his offense, but some members of the organization weren't convinced that the offense needed modernizing. In the 2005-06 regular season, the Redskins had 25 passing touchdowns, tied for fifth in the league; rushed for 2,183 yards, seventh in the league; and scored 359 points, 13th in the league.

"We won 11 games last year, and we had something. Was it the most innovative offense in history? No, but it worked and we liked it and we did it well. Then we went from playing to learning," said a Redskins player, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to be viewed as being publicly critical of the team. "We went back to the point where we had to think through everything and we're making the same mistakes now that we made in OTAs [organized team activities in the offseason] and preseason, and it's not because we're not trying. We're a hard-working group of guys and we have plenty of talent, but everything changed on us. That was the most frustrating thing of all. It's still really frustrating. We needed to add a receiver and tweak a few things, but instead it's like starting over. It really felt like we were starting all over."

The players also thought Gibbs placed far too much emphasis on the Tampa Bay playoff game. Brunell and wide receiver Santana Moss were injured. The Buccaneers boasted one of the league's top defenses, and besides, the Redskins won. But Gibbs had been considering a change for weeks, and following the Tampa Bay game, had made up his mind.

"Look at what we did" in late 2005, another Redskins starter said, citing the last three regular season games, when Washington scored 35, 35 and 31 points against its NFC East Division rivals. "We found ourselves. Then we get to the playoffs, Santana is really hurt and we lose our first option and Mark was hurting, and we looked pretty bad in the playoffs. But we had a good offense. Don't get me wrong -- it's a good offense and it's going to be a good offense -- but now you're starting over."

To some sources, Gibbs's November speech represented a tacit admission that the coach-as-CEO structure he adopted this season -- turning over the offense to Saunders, the defense to assistant head coach Gregg Williams -- had failed. He hadn't been as engaged. He was the head coach, certainly, but these Redskins were not playing in his image.

Early in the season, a group of players attended a Redskins community affairs function and, while in the limousine, marveled and joked at just how detached Gibbs appeared. Even on game day, the coach appeared to delegate more than he led.

"What," one player said, "does he actually do anymore?"

From the start, Gibbs missed his own formula, at times believing Saunders to be too pass-oriented. Of their 112 offensive plays the first two weeks of the season, the Redskins passed or attempted to pass 67 times -- and even some of the runs were gadget plays -- an imbalance that caught Gibbs's attention.

Saunders wanted to handle running back Clinton Portis differently, and although the reluctance by some Redskins players to trust in his system frustrated Saunders, it was not lost on some of the offensive players who backed Saunders that he would only have real autonomy when he had a larger hand in acquiring personnel. In 2006 only two players -- wide receiver Antwaan Randle El and backup quarterback Todd Collins -- were chosen by Saunders. The rest of the lineup was already established.

"You see, the groceries were already here," a Redskins coach said. "We were just using his cookbook."