If you think you've had a bad day, try losing to the Cincinnati Bengals.

It happened to Redskins coach Jim Zorn on Sunday. By Monday afternoon, he was telling reporters: "It hurts. I feel like the worst coach in America."

Oh, Jimmy. Cheer up. There's always Romeo Crennel. At least for two more weeks.

Zorn is particularly upset with the way the Redskins have started the past three weeks. They have tumbled out of the playoff picture while being outscored 38-0 in the first quarter in losses at home to the Giants and on the road at Baltimore and Cincinnati.

"That's a coaching decision to (script the first) 15 plays on the field," Zorn said. "And we've had to punt."

Jimmy's bummed and probably still feeling bad about last week when he caused a big stink for calling out his best player, Clinton Portis.

"(The players) risk a lot," Zorn said. "They put out tremendous effort, tremendous emotion to go out and play. We can win some of these games. I have a hard time looking at the talent and just saying that's (the problem)."

That's pretty candid stuff from an NFL coach. It could be viewed as a sign of weakness. Or maybe a sign that says, "Hey, maybe this rookie head coach/former career-long position coach doesn't know what he's doing."

The Associated Press ballots arrived Monday. It's safe to say Zorn, unlike his fellow rookie coaches in Miami, Baltimore and Atlanta, isn't under consideration for NFL Coach of the Year. But he shouldn't fear for his job, even if quick draw Daniel Snyder is his boss.

Other coaches have done far less with as much or more than Zorn has in Washington. Norv Turner in San Diego and Crennel in Cleveland come to mind. And then there's Detroit's Rod Marinelli in the even-a-blind-squirrel-should-find-at-least-one-acorn division.

For the most part, judging coaches can't be done week to week. Well, it can, but it's usually embarrassing for those who do the judging.

Speaking of which, does anyone know Brad Childress' ESPN approval rating this morning? Will there be any "Fire Childress!" chanting when Brad's 9-5 Vikings face Mike Smith's 9-5 Falcons at the Metrodome on Sunday?

I'm waiting until the end of the season to fill out my awards ballot. Obviously, there are frontrunners for NFL Coach of the Year, but I believe there are as many as 12 candidates still out there.

Here they are in reverse order:

12. Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals: He went with Kurt Warner and won his team's first division title in 33 years. Yeah, it's a terrible division.

11. Eric Mangini, Jets: He meshed a lot of new players together, including Brett Favre, and went from 4-12 to 9-5.

10. John Fox, Panthers: With stability at quarterback, he's gone from 7-9 to 11-3 and might have the best team in the league.

9. Brad Childress, Vikings: He was able to turn to Gus Frerotte early on and obviously not lose Tarvaris Jackson's attention all these weeks.

8. Tom Coughlin, Giants: They won the NFC East without Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora.

7. Mike Tomlin, Steelers: Pittsburgh is the only division champion from 2007 to come back better in 2008.

6. Jeff Fisher, Titans: He's 12-2 with Kerry Collins at QB.

5. Tony Dungy, Colts: Steered his team to 10-4 from a 3-4 start that almost was 1-6 due to injuries and a rusty Peyton Manning.

4. John Harbaugh, Ravens: The rookie coach has teamed with a rookie quarterback (Joe Flacco) to go from 5-11 to 9-5.

3. Bill Belichick, Patriots: We all said he couldn't win without Tom Brady. Well, he's 9-5 and tied for first in the AFC East without him.

2. Mike Smith, Falcons: The rookie head coach and the rookie QB (Matt Ryan) are 9-5 after resurrecting a 4-12 laughingstock.

1. Tony Sparano, Dolphins: If Miami wins out and goes 11-5, this rookie head coach will complete a 10-game improvement and tie the 1999 Colts for the greatest single-season turnaround in NFL history.