It was a very busy day at Redskins Park. When Joe Gibbs stepped down as the head coach of the Washington Redskins a couple weeks ago, I felt his replacement was quite possibly already in-house. Or at least a couple good candidates were already in-house — defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and offensive coordinator Al Saunders. Much to my surprise, both coaches were fired today. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, especially considering that Coach Williams had been interviewed for the head position four times recently. So much for keeping continuity on the coaching staff.

Of course, there was a promotion to keep things somewhat intact. As coaches Williams and Saunders depart, D-line coach Greg Blache was upgraded to defensive coordinator. But Jim Zorn, the Seattle Seahawks quarterback coach since 2001, was hired as the new OC. The head coaching vacancy remains open. The next interviews aren’t expected to take place until February 4, the day after the New York Giants and New England Patriots play in the Super Bowl, so team owner Dan Snyder can talk to assistants from the two teams involved. The front-runners? Giants D-coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Now matter how it plays out from here, the Redskins have already been through a lot of changes.

Paul Jasienski / Getty Images

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‘Skins Fire Assistants Williams and Saunders, Head Coaching Position Remains Open

Joe Gibbs retired (for the second time) as head coach of the Washington Redskins today. As he leaves the sidelines once again, I can’t think of a classier man who has served as head coach in the National Football League. He was everything that is good about the NFL.

I can’t say that I am surprised with this announcement, though, even with one year left on his five-year deal. Coach Gibbs is 67-years-old. He’s been through a very difficult season with the death of Sean Taylor. And his grandson is suffering from leukemia. He feels he needs to be “there” for his family now and that is an honorable and admirable decision from a man who has always had his priorities straight. Still I know Coach Gibbs wants to see the Redskins succeed. They are a part of him. And there is no doubt, he will always be a part of the Washington Redskins. In fact, Coach Gibbs will continue to serve as an adviser to team owner Dan Snyder but he was vague about his new role, other than to say he would no longer have an office at Redskins Park because it would place an unfair burden on the new coach. Again, a classy move.

Some felt that the game may have passed him by. That he was too old. That his game plan was somewhat antiquated. And I bought into that for a short time. I wondered myself. But when you get right down to it, he did a heck of a job to get this team through a lot of adversity and into the playoffs, winning four straight games to grab the final Wild Card spot. That was not an easy accomplishment for any coach at any age. It’s not easy to win football games in the NFL. And Coach Gibbs won a lot of them. For that, he’s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame where he belongs. I’m sure every Washington Redskins player that suited up for Coach Gibbs is better for having played for him and known him.

Coach Gibbs’ final career totals: 171-101, including 17-7 in the playoffs, a career .629 winning percentage that ranks third all-time behind George Halas and Don Shula among coaches with more than 125 wins. The Redskins have big shoes to fill.

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Joe Gibbs Retires as Redskins Head Coach

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The NFL playoffs begin today and tomorrow with Wild Card Weekend. This afternoon, the Washington Redskins play at the Seattle Seahawks (NBC, 4:30 PM ET) and this evening, the Jacksonville Jaguars visit the Pittsburgh Steelers (NBC, 8:00 PM ET). Wild Card Weekend continues tomorrow with the New York Giants at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (FOX, 1:00 PM ET) and the Tennessee Titans traveling to face the San Diego Chargers (CBS, 4:30 PM ET).

Today’s game between the Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks will feature two of the most successful coaches in NFL history in Joe Gibbs of Washington and Mike Holmgren of Seattle. They’ve appeared in a combined seven Super Bowls, winning four. Coach Gibbs ranks third all-time in playoff wins with 17, and by coaching the Redskins on Saturday, he will tie Chuck Noll (24) for the third-most playoff games coached in history. There was a time this season when many felt Coach Gibbs was too old to be coaching, that he couldn’t keep up the pace. But he’s proven them (and me) wrong as the ‘Skins won four straight to get into the postseason.

One of the main reasons that Jacksonville is in the playoffs is the rushing production of 10-year veteran Fred Taylor. Fred finished the year ranked ninth in the league in rushing with 1,202 yards, averaged 5.4 yards per carry, and closed the regular season with five consecutive 100-yard rushing performances. One of those games came against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15 at Heinz Field, where the Jags will play tonight. Fred ran for 147 yards in that game, the most that Pittsburgh’s top-ranked defense gave up on the ground all season. Amazingly, Fred was again snubbed for the Pro Bowl.

Playing away from home has not been a problem for the New York Giants this season. The G-men come into their game against the Bucs with a franchise-record seven-game road winning streak. Including this year’s 16-0 New England club, only nine teams in history have entered the playoffs with seven or more consecutive road wins.

The San Diego Chargers and Tennessee Titans finished the season with the most interceptions in 2007. The Chargers ranked first with 29 pickoffs and tied an NFL record set by Dallas in 1985 for the most interceptions at home with 22. The Titans tied Indianapolis for the second most in the league with 22. Chargers Pro Bowl cornerback Antonio Cromartie led the NFL with 10 interceptions, breaking a 46-year-old franchise record (Charlie McNeil had nine in 1961) in the process. LB Keith Bulluck led Tennessee with five INTs. When the teams meet tomorrow, it will mark only the fourth playoff game since 1970 between clubs with the top interception totals.

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NFL Playoffs Begin With Wild Card Weekend

I didn’t know what to expect from the Washington Redskins today. After a tumultuous week in which they lost one of their own (safety Sean Taylor was tragically killed earlier this week), it was anyone’s guess what the team’s performance would be like today against the Buffalo Bills.

The Redskins honored Sean before the game (as did every NFL stadium this weekend) and even left his starting safety spot vacant on the first defensive play. But at the end of a hard fought contest, the Skins would lose 17-16 after a double-time out by head coach Joe Gibbs allowed Buffalo kicker Rian Lindell to hit a 36-yard field goal with four seconds left on the clock for the win. I couldn’t believe Coach Gibbs was responsible. I knew he called the first time out, but I thought a player on the field accidentally called the second one. Coach Gibbs confirmed his mistake after the game, however:

“There’s nobody to blame but myself. I should have known the rule.”

It was really a game of two halves. The first half belonged to Washington as they controlled time of possession but managed only three field goals for a 9-2 lead at intermission. Their lack of production would come back to haunt them as they allowed Buffalo to hang around. Credit the Bills, though. This was not their first bend-but-don’t-break defensive effort.

Buffalo continues to have problems scoring, but they made plays when they needed them most and relied on Rian Lindell’s right leg to lead them to victory. Rian kicked five field goals. And he actually made the 51-yard kick that was negated by Coach Gibbs’ first timeout at the end of the game. (This is a new controversy in itself — calling time outs a split-second before the ball is snapped on game-deciding kicks.) But if you want to talk about big plays, it was rookie QB Trent Edwards’ precision 30-yard completion to Josh Reed that set up that game-winning kick. Trent finished 22 of 36 for 257 yards and probably most importantly, he didn’t commit any turnovers. He is now 4-1 as a starter for the Bills.

For the Redskins, their NFC playoff hopes are probably finished after this loss as they dropped to 5-7. But the Bills stay alive in the AFC race at 6-6 and continue to be a team that never gives up and never stops playing hard. It also seemed like justice was served to a team that had lost two games this season on the final play of the game. Washington will attend Sean’s funeral as a team tomorrow, but it’s doubtful they will be able to put this tragedy behind them and win their remaining games.

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Redskins Honor Sean Taylor but Lose to Buffalo Bills 17-16 on Last-Second Field Goal