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No relief in sight Dumping George was fine, but it won't solve everything
Two games into an already disastrous season, the Washington Redskins released quarterback Jeff George on Wednesday. SI's Peter King talked to CNNSI.com about the decision and the team's immediate future. CNNSI.com: Were the Redskins quick to pull the trigger on Jeff George ? Peter King: No, they weren't quick because this obviously this was a match made far away from heaven. I think what has happened in the NFL right now is that, particularly when a new coach comes in and cannot develop any sort of chemistry with his starting quarterback, he figures that, "Well, if I'm not going to be murdered on the salary cap by releasing him I'd rather just make a clean break of it and then let's stumble along the best we can." Jeff George's deep passing style did not fit with Marty Schottenheimer's short-passing-precision, follow-the-game-plan-to-a-T-scheme. CNNSI.com: Is there anything salvageable from this season for the Redskins? King: I don't believe that the Redskins can salvage anything other than the ability to turn around the running game a little bit. Stephen Davis is obviously an above-average NFL running back. They've got two excellent tackles in Chris Samuels and Jon Jansen. I think this team right now needs to rely on what Schottenheimer's been famous for -- even when he hasn't had a famous back in Kansas City, he's always been able to run the ball in a creditable fashion. I think that they have to just simply be concerned with playing low-scoring, boring football games and trying to make the best of what is going to be a very, very bad season. CNNSI.com: The Redskins got rid of a lot of talent in the offseason and still many believe there's a lot of talent on this team. But just like last year, they don't seem to be able to make it jell. King: Part of the myth of the Washington Redskins last year is that they were some incredible collection of players who were going to establish an early century's dynasty in the nation's capital. Very little could be farther from the truth. What they did last year was sign the 1996 Pro Bowl team. In the NFL a bunch of old guys in one spot have never succeeded to any degree. Short-term they might be able to put a Band-Aid on some problems but long-term it's not the answer. The Redskins didn't have the answer last year, and now with the immense cap problems they're having because they're still paying off Dana Stubblefield and Deion Sanders and other players on the salary cap, this is a team that will take several years to get back to respectability. This is not a one- or two-year fix.
Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and appears each Sunday on CNN's NFL Preview.
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