Offensive coordinators always have been the default scapegoat for every failing of a football team’s attack. At all levels, they are punching bags by rote, the easy source of blame when the passing game is erratic and the running game is stalled.
Jonathan Smith is not looking for vindication, though he surely has earned it. As Jake Browning, Washington’s brilliant quarterback, soaks up the accolades, and deservedly so, let’s toss a few to Smith as well. He deserves it, too, after the beating he took the past two years.
Smith entered his season, his third as Washington’s offensive coordinator under Chris Petersen, with a thinly veiled ultimatum: Rack up more points, or face the consequences.