Carolina 20, Washington 17

Christmas came early for Washington up until halfway through the 3rd quarter. A forced fumble and INT - both returned inside the 5 yard line - were converted into 14 points. Add a Suisham field goal and the Skins put up the easiest 17 points of Zorn's short coaching career.

But... Carolina then scored 20, 18 of which came unanswered in the second half.

Campbell completed all but 6 passes for a 104.4 rating. The defense caused 2 turnovers and held the vaunted Carolina run game to 2.7 yards per carry. All-pro WR Steve Smith was more or less held in check for 65 yards and no scores. But once again, the Skins couldn't put together an entire game.

Seemingly, in every game, excluding week one at NY, the Skins have proved it possible to play without any consistency consistently. But how? On the face of it, JC is putting up win-worthy numbers. The defense generally carries its weight. The Ravens have been using this formula for the last decade. What gives?

It didn't help that Washington's most dependable player (Samuels) went down on the 2nd play of the game. The patchwork that followed sabotaged any attempt to run the football for the rest of the day. It also nullified Cooley's role in the passing game. DC gave up 5 sacks and 4 tackles for loss - that's most given up by Washington and most recorded by Carolina on the season.

Pathetic.

Did anyone step up in their absence? Nope. Portis? 57 yards, 3 yards per. Santana? 4 catches, 44 yards, no scores. The rookies, Kelly and/or Thomas? 4 catches, 27 yards combined.

And people are calling for Campbell to be replaced? Jump off a bridge. Todd Collins has a better chance of hosting Price is Right than leading that unit to victory.

Hard to give out props after this game. 2 for 9 on 3rd downs. 15 total 1st downs. 198 total yards and, once again, topped in T.O.P. 28:43 to 31:17.

Zorn's fault? Who knows. I'm jumping on the bandwagon to replace Cerrato. But that's only because Snyder isn't going anywhere for a long time. Gulp.