Redskins 16, Bucs 13

It certainly wasn’t pretty.  In fact, the first half was some of the ugliest Redskins football I have witnessed in years.

However, the Redskins offense came alive in the second half on the shoulders of a overall pretty awesome defensive performance.  QB Jason Campbell, with just a passer rating a little over 16.0 in the first half, threw 2 TD strikes, one to Chris Cooley and a deep ball to Santana Moss to lead the Redskins to a 16-13 win.

Campbell looked pretty awful the first half.  He simply did not look right, rather health wise or just an off day.  He did not get much help either from an offensive line that has progressively looked worse since opening day against The Giants.  Campbell consistently had to step up in the pocket to avoid the Bucs pass rush.  Some of those steps ups led to some ground gains by Campbell himself.  Campbell was forced to run 7 times for 20 yards.

Clinton Portis returned to the work horse role, rushing 25 times for 98 yards, including some critical first downs.  Portis to me showed some signs of Portis of the past, grinding out some tough yards and making gains out of nothing.  An overall decent game for #26.

The bad news for the Redskins?  The offensive line took some significant steps backwards today, allowing Campbell to be pressured often.  I think this was one of their worst performances this season.  Stephon Heyer may have won the job by default, but he had a horrible game today, blowing several blocking assignments looking like he was playing ion slow motion.  The Redskins got problems on the right side of the Line.

The Redskins did finally get a long ball, a 59 yard wobbly pass from Campbell for a TD strike.  As a Redskins fan, it was finally sweet to see the long ball.

Again, more disappointment for the Redskins and their 2008 second round picks.  Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas were once again complete NON-FACTORS.  Combined, the two had o catches.  But, at least they got a catch from fellow second rounder Fred Davis.  Oh wait, that pass was for -1 yards.   Each game that goes by is showing me that the 2008 draft is looking pretty horrible for the Redskins.  Several times today, the tele-cast showed the down field coverage and Kelly and Thomas simply failed to get any kind of separation.  It is becoming so redundant.  I was actually a big stunned to look at the pre-game inactive and see Marko Mitchell.  At some point, the Redskins have to suck it up and realize that both Kelly and Thomas may very well be busts and get Marko Mitchell some playing time.  There is no possible way Mitchell can play worse than either of these two receivers.

One thing I was glad to see was Fred Smoot on the bench in favor of Justin Tryon.  What a game by Tryon.  What a statement by Tryon.  Tryon had a huge hit at the end of the game, a nice sack, and was showing some great speed on the field.   Tryon finished the game with 2 tackles, an assist, and a sack.

Reed Doughty put another stamp on the starting job opposite Laron Landry.  Doughty to me was the best player on the field today, recording 10 tackles, and an assist.  The thing I really like about Doughty is the sureness you get in his tackling, something the Redskins need.     Besides MLB London Fletcher, Doughty proved today he is one of the team’s top tacklers.  Another good thing for the Redskins is that Doughty’s performance also lifted Chris Horton’s play.  Horton had a few good pops out there, a nice pass break up, and a fumble recovery that ended the game. 

The Redskins came out of the game with a problem.  P Hunter Smith tweaked his hamstring causing K Sahun Suisham to handle punting duties.  Suisham averaged a little over 26 yards per punt.  Hopefully, Smith will be good to go for next week. 

It was nice to get a turnover today.  Good, solid pick by DeAngelo Hall.  Timely at that.  Redskins should have had two picks, but, we walk out with one because the other was thrown right to the hands of Carlos Rogers.  We know very well when the ball his Rogers in the hands, it will be a drop.  Today was no different.   For a guy in a contract year, he certainly is losing money. 

Overall, not a real impressive performance by the Redskins.  A win is a win and I will take it, but the problems this team has shown over the last three weeks are far from over. 

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