It was the hottest game in FedEx Field history and the Redskins offense finally ignited midway through the 4th quarter of their home opener against the New Orleans Saints yesterday. Trailing 24-15 after an afternoon of crisp offense followed by missed opportunities in the red zone, Washington engineered a long drive that culminated in a tough touchdown run up the middle by TB Clinton Portis, his second score of the day. Following a stand by the Redskins defense, Washington got the ball back and QB Jason Campbell, who was virtually flawless in the 4th quarter, made the biggest play of his young NFL career.
Campbell faded back to throw with the Saints pass rush headed right for him. FB Mike Sellars picked up one defensive lineman, but another pass rusher got through. Campbell used a shoulder roll to evade the defender and then did what Head Coach Jim Zorn has taught him to do: Avoid, reset and throw. As the Saints defender whiffed and went past him, Campbell stepped up into the pocket, his eyes firmly fixed on WR Santana Moss outrunning a New Orleans defensive back to the middle of the field on a deep post pattern. Campbell stepped up into the pocket and threw a perfect strike 50 yards in the air to Moss, who caught the ball in stride and raced unimpeded into the end zone for the game’s final points and the score that would even Washington’s 2008 record at 1-1.
For Post columnist Dan Steinberg, this was the play and the game that could turn Jason Campbell’s career around in D.C.
“I think back to that Dallas game last year, where I had Santana and missed him by one inch,” he said, of the Redskins’ last-minute loss at Texas Stadium. “Next play, Terence Newman intercepts it. Same thing happened in Tampa. Driving at the end. Interception, Ronde Barber. To get it this time feels real good. It’s the kind of ending that’s going to help me grow.”
If this does not go down as the defining moment of Campbell’s career in Washington, as the game-winning deep ball that gave him the confidence needed to make a team contend, it at least validates Zorn’s trust in him and shows for now that he gets it.
The Redskins dominated the Saints, out-gaining New Orleans 455 yards to 250 and causing three turnovers. It was a win made possible because Washington’s stars — and the guys they hope will become stars — stepped up and got it done.
Campbell had 321 yards passing, the touchdown to Moss and a sparkling 104.1 passer rating. Moss had seven receptions for 164 yards. Top running back Clinton Portis had 96 yards on 21 rushes and scored two second-half touchdowns, leading a running game that produced 149 yards and a 4.8 yard average per carry.
Washington’s defense, which was ineffective against the run in the first half in Week 1, rebounded nicely, limiting the Saints to 55 yards on 19 rushes. Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Taylor recorded his first sack as a Redskin, and Saints quarterback Drew Brees faced pressure throughout the game. Rookie safety Chris Horton, in the starting lineup with strong safety Reed Doughty sidelined because of flu-like symptoms, had quite a debut, intercepting two passes and recovering a fumble.
It wasn’t just Washington’s first win of the season, it was also Jim Zorn’s first win as an NFL head coach, and he seemed slightly befuddled by it all. There is no handbook on how NFL head coaches are supposed to behave after earning their first win — and Zorn definitely earned his.
There is something boyish about the Redskins’ 55-year-old coach that is vastly different from his predecessor — the more stately Joe Gibbs — who seemed to know exactly what do to after every one of his victories and would never fill his news conferences with words such as “cool” and “tremendous” and “unbelievable.”
Post columnist Tom Boswell thinks this win is doubly important for Zorn and the Redskins because it will quiet doubters.
New Redskins coaches can get buried in a hurry. Once they do, their task of digging out, regaining credibility and getting everybody off their back can be doubly difficult. In fact, for the last 15 seasons, it has proved to be impossible.
Since Joe Gibbs’s first departure after the 1992 season, the repeating story has been one new coach after another arriving in a tough town, then finding his abilities doubted instantly. Richie Petitbon, Norv Turner, Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier and Gibbs himself, in his second tour of duty, all got off to abysmal beginnings — 1-6, 1-6, 0-5, 2-4 and 1-4.
All except Gibbs took multiple early-season drubbings by huge, unnerving margins. With confidence cracked early, not one of these coaches (including Gibbs II) ever had a single day when his career Redskins record was over .500.
That’s why Zorn’s first win was so important. In one Sunday at FedEx Field, he answered numerous questions that bedevil every rookie coach, but which might have haunted him even more since he was an unexpected choice.
Jason LaCanfora thinks he knows why the Redskins won yesterday:
They were out-gained 1.1 yards-per-carry in the opener. Sunday, the Skins had 2 more yards per carry then the Saints. Yes, you read that correctly: 2.9/4.8. It’s awfully hard to overcome that. Even with all the special teams problems the Skins had in this one, minimizing turnovers and controlling the line of scrimmage won out.
And he sticks up for QB Jason Campbell:
Let’s take out all of the great stuff JC did, and just look at what he didn’t do. Dude has made, what, 20 starts? That’s it. And so far this year he has curbed the biggest problem that plagued him in his 10 starts last year: Turnovers.
Two games. No picks. No fumbles. That’s over a span of 63 attempts, peeps. Let’s not forget that. Remember a year ago when it took like 10 weeks for a WR to catch a TD pass? Well, Moss has two of them already this year, and none was bigger than the 67-yarder Sunday. Ten different Skins have already caught passes from JC this season.
So is that enough to stop the relentless scrutiny of the kid? At least for a week?
Jim Zorn called an interesting game yesterday. He called pass plays on 63% of first downs, but he still managed to give the running game plenty of chances to shine and it did, to the tune of 149 yards and almost 5 yards per carry. It also produced two of the team’s 3 touchdowns. The key, as it has been so often in the last 5 years, was Pro Bowl LT Chris Samuels.
Of 28 running plays called, excluding Campbell’s scrambles, 16 went to the left side for 109 yards (a gaudy 6.8 per carry); the 12 runs to right or up the middle produced just 39 total yards.
“Chris has been to the Pro Bowl every year since I’ve been here,” said Portis, now in his fifth season in Washington. “We know what our bread and butter is.”
My favorite running play of the game was Portis’ first touchdown. It was a run to the left, of course, and Samuels and LG Pete Kendall manhandled their defensive assignments. Then FB Mike Sellars rumbed around the left side and destroyed a Saints defender. Portis just ran in Sellars’ back pocket all the way to the end zone. It was smash mouth football in the style of Joseph Jackson Gibbs.
And now, enjoy…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQB--iodmDE&hl=en&fs=1]
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