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Redskins: It’s time to consider parting ways with Jay Gruden

By Jacob Camenker

ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 30: Head coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins stands on the sidelines during the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on November 30, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 30: Head coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins stands on the sidelines during the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on November 30, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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NEW ORLEANS, LA – NOVEMBER 19: Head Coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins on the sidelines during a game against the New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 19, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Saints defeated the Redskins 34-31. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA – NOVEMBER 19: Head Coach Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins on the sidelines during a game against the New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 19, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Saints defeated the Redskins 34-31. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

Play calling issues

Too often this year, it has seemed that Gruden hasn’t been able to call the right plays or make adjustments to help the team emerge victorious. This was on display Thursday against the Cowboys.

Gruden continuously allowed Kirk Cousins to be sacked as he refused to help the patchwork offensive line deal with the Cowboys edge rushers. Gruden should have either exposed the over-aggressive edge rush by opening running lanes where the pass rushers were coming from or he should have provided extra blocking help with a tight end. Neither occurred, and Cousins was crushed repeatedly as a result.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time in recent weeks that the play calling and decision making has left a lot to be desired. Against the Saints, the Redskins had a third-and-1 and a chance to virtually ice a victory if they could gain the single yard. On the play, Gruden called an outside run to Samaje Perine. In Gruden’s defense, Perine has proven to be a strong runner on outsize zone plays. However, this was not the time to make that call.

On the run, Perine was stuffed by an unblocked Saints and the Skins punted it away. From there, the Saints would go on to tie and then win the game. Retrospectively, it’s clear that Gruden should have called a run up the middle or a quarterback sneak. Yes, he did try to follow Perine’s strengths, but in this scenario, Perine would have had a good chance to muscle forward for the one yard had the team just run him straight forward. That play was a microcosm of some of the play calling failures the team has had all year.

Other times this year, the play calling was uninspired or over-simplified, and that hurt the team. What all this boils down to is the fact that Gruden isn’t succeeding as both an offensive play caller and a head coach. He’s not the same as Sean McVay, whose play calling was very strong for the team last season.

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