So how big of a mess are the Redskins under coach Mike Shanahan? Let’s consider the latest example of D.C. dysfunction.
As Rosenthal pointed out on Tuesday, Shanahan and company cut punter Hunter Smith after Smith failed to catch a high snap that prevented the team from converting an extra point that would have tied the game at 17, and most likely would have forced overtime.
Let’s think about this one for a second. Your punter is your holder, and your punter makes a mistake while serving as your holder, so you fire your punter?
Why not do something radical like, say, having someone else serve as holder?
This move seems like another case of Shanahan thinking that whatever makes him feel better coincides with the best interests of the team. And after a frustrating loss, Shanahan probably felt a little bit better after getting rid of the guy who failed to catch in the rain a snap that was high from a long snapper who wasn’t fired for making a high snap. (Yet.)
We suppose there’s a chance that Smith was fired because of his punting, but that would be about as coincidental as defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth being the only guy asked to take a conditioning test on the first day of training camp.
Then again, maybe it was also Smith’s fault that kicker Graham Gano missed those two short field goals.