Failure filters down from the top.

I wonder what Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato were thinking as they watched D'Anthony Batiste struggle mightily in place of perennial pro-bowler Chris Samuels yesterday.

I wonder what they were thinking as their all-pro tight end had to stay in and chip Panthers pass rushers instead of splitting out wide, creating mismatches and making plays in the passing game. For the first time in over 70 games, Chris Cooley was held without a catch.

I wonder what they were thinking as their first-round draft pick at quarterback was repeatedly shoved into the turf behind a makeshift offensive line. Campbell was sacked four times and hurried and hit over a dozen times.

Redskins nation needs to realize that the performance of the 2009 can no longer be put on the players or the coaching staff. As two great Washington Post articles by Thomas Boswell and Sally Jenkins summed up, the problems at the top of the Redskins organization prevent anything resembling a championship contender from taking the field. At this point, they can hardly even put out a competitive team from week to week.

As I stewed over the Redskins ineptitude, which has spanned nearly my entire lifetime as a fan, and more specifically in the Dan Snyder era, I came up with a similie that suits the way this franchise is run.

Essentially, the Redskins Organization is like a failing car manufacturer.

The Redskins team itself, the final product that hits the field on Sundays, is like the car that this manufacturer produces. And the bottom line is the Redskins organization is putting out a product that has not been built on a solid foundation.

Every year they come out with a few attractive new features that attract buyers. A new receiver is like a shiny new paint job, a new playmaker at cornerback is like an attractive new interior, a top-tier quarterback is like a high-powered engine, etc.

However, the guts of this product, the frame, is poorly constructed. The guts of a football team are the offensive and defensive line and overall team depth. While the Redskins improved on the defensive line this offseason, for the most part they are sorely lacking in these areas. Without a strong frame to hold all the other parts in place, it should be no surprise that this car is destined to fall apart on the tough road that is the NFL.

Likewise, the ones who drive this car, the coaching staff, can't be fully blamed for the poor performance of the vehicle. Especially in the case of Zorn, who had little to do with the product we see on the field today, he is merely steering a broken product. We can question the decisions he makes while driving, sure. And a good coach is capable of steering a product to its highest potential. But ultimately there is a ceiling created by an inferior product that prevents success at the highest level.

Does it make any sense to blame a poorly constructed car for breaking down? Or to blame the person driving it when it doesn't perform at a high level? I don't think so. The blame has to go to the top. The ones who put it together.

When we get to the top, the assembly line and the plant that constructs the Redskins vehicle, the real problems shine through. The people in charge of putting the correct parts in place for this car to perform at a high level are failing tremendously. Rather than spending their efforts researching new technology and putting new parts in place, which in the NFL happens through the draft, the Redskins try and plug holes with older parts and and add new asthetic elements to make their product look better than it is.

The duo of Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato have continually ignored the deep-seeded issues with the Redskins by refusing to draft young talent, especially on the lines, and build depth throughout the roster.

Until the problems at the top are fixed, there is no hope for the Redskins. Even if they bring in one of the top coaches on the market next year, no significant improvement can happen until Cerrato is gone and Snyder gets his hands out of the football operations.

Like most of Redskins nation, I will be back next year for the lastest Redskins model. I'm addicted, and hope that one day my Redskins will be the meanest machine on the road. But unless changes are made at the top, I won't expect anything more than a casual Sunday drive in my Redskins clunker.