Maybe this will work after all.

Jason Campbell rebounded from an abysmal opening day start to pass for 321 yards, including a go-ahead 67 yard touchdown to Santana Moss, leading the Washington Redskins to a 29-24 over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.  With fans doubting him, it was a giant step for Campbell.  He’s been a guy who’s struggled to lead the team to late victories, but he was a perfect on his final eight attempts in this game.  The big touchdown to Moss came on an audible and was a very nice throw.

Clinton Portis had a controversial week but he had another solid game.  He rushed for 96 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Fellow Miami alum Moss was the receiving star with 164 yards on seven receptions.  Chris Cooley also responded after a slow game against the Giants with 5 catches and 72 yards.  Both Malcolm Kelly and Fred Davis had their first career receptions for the Redskins today.

The defense was fairly stout against a strong Saints offense.  The run defense was outstanding, holding the Saints to 55 yards and 2.9 yards per carry.  Chris Horton has a huge day in his first NFL start filling in for an ill Reed Doughty.  Horton had two interceptions and a fumble recovery.  Horton may be a raw rookie, but he seems to have a nose for the ball, Doughty will need to play well to keep his job.  Jason Taylor had his first sack in a Redskins uniform early in the game, but did aggravate his knee injury during the game.  Rookie punter Durant Brooks struggled mightily again both while punting and holding.  

Its much to early in the season to call that 4th quarter a season saver, but it helps the Redskins avoid an 0-2 hole and perhaps more importantly helps invigirate a fan base that was shaken after last week’s debacle.

Photo from ESPN.com

Oh, and Campbell (officially) was 24/36 for 321 yards… isn’t that a career best for him?  And did I mention that the Redskins won?

Of course, not everything is roses, and the skunk this week will end up being Durrant Brooks, who had a poor performance.  If the Redskins had lost, a large part of the blame would have been on Brooks; as it was this is one of the few games where the punter had such a huge impact, from the poor holding for FGs and the line drive punt to Bush that nearly broke the Redskins back (or maybe just got them fired up enough to win the game).

At any rate, we’ll discuss the game more later in the week… for now, bask in our first victory.  Hello, Arizona!

For all the off-season talk of a revitalized offense, the Redskins sputtered and produced almost nothing offensively in a 16-7 loss to the New York Giants on Thursday.  Jason Campbell never looked comfortable and in throwing for 98 yards.

Jim Zorn was ultra conservative with his play calling, almost force feeding the run and leaving extra blockers in on most plays.  The Redskins seemed fearful of the Giants pass rush and were never able to establish an offensive rhythm.

Defensively, the Redskins were awful in the 1st half.  They couldn’t get off the field and the Giants moved up and down the field at will.  They were able to tighten up in the red zone to hold the Giants to 16 points in the 1st half but their inabliity to get off the field added to the lack of success in the offense.  The Redskins were able to make adjustments at half time and were much better defensively in the 2nd half.

The only strong suit for the Redskins on this night were on special teams.  Rock Cartwright busted a long kick-off return which led to the Redskins only touchdown.  The coverage units were outstanding, limited the Giants to minimal returns.

It was an ugly opener for the Redskins.  Offensively there just isn’t much to build on.  Jim Zorn is going to have to loosen up his play calling and let the offensive line and Jason Campbell earn their pay cheques.  Its just one game, but until the offense can show even a smidge of potential, its hard to feel positive going forward.

It was a tight battle for the most part, but two big plays turned it in Seattle’s favor.  First, Suisham’s big miss after that wacky kickoff play and then the long interception return touchdown after Moss gave up on the play and it was over.  But full credit to Seattle, they were the better team.

I’ll have more after this loss settles.  It was a good run by the Redskins and despite the disappointment of the loss, football-wise at least, it was a successful season. 

Week One – Washington Redskins 16 Miami Dolphins 13 (ot)

Week Two – Washington Redskins 20 Philadelphia Eagles 12

Week Three – New York Giants 24 Washington Redskins 17

Week Four – Bye

Week Five – Washington Redskins 34 Detroit Lions 3

Week Six – Green Bay Packers 17 Washington Redskins 14

Week Seven – Washington Redskins 21 Arizona Cardinals 19

Week Eight - New England Patriots 52 Washington Redskins 7

Week Nine - Washington Redskins 23 New York Jets 20

Week Ten - Philadelphia Eagles 33 Washington Redskins 25

Week Eleven - Dallas Cowboys 28 Washington Redskins 23

Week Twelve - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19 Washington Redskins 13

Week Thirteen - Buffalo Bills 17 Washington Redskins 16

Week Fourteen - Washington Redskins 24 Chicago Bears 16

Week Fifteen - Washington Redskins 22 New York Giants 10

Week Sixteen – Washington Redskins 32 Minnesota Vikings 21

Week Seventeen - Washington Redskins 27 Dallas Cowboys 6 

(So nice, we recapped it twice)

I think my new year’s resolution should be to not take the losses so hard.  The winning games have nice recaps and most of the losing games are three sentences of me complaining. 

On the backs of a very impressive effort, the Washington Redskins are back in the playoffs. 

The Redskins defeated the Dallas Cowboys 27-6 to clinch the final playoff spot in the NFC.  It was a simple dominating effort against a Cowboy team that played most of their starters into the 3rd quarter.  The Cowboys were held to a franchise record low 1 rushing yard by the suffocating Redskin defence. 

It was a balanced attack offensively.  Todd Collins continued his fairy tale season, going 22 for 31 for 244 yards and a TD pass.  Clinton Portis rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns (the 1st 100 yard rushing game allowed by Dallas this season).  Santana Moss had a touchdown reception and 115 yards receiving.  Shaun Suisham added two field goals including a 46 yarder. 

The entire defence was great, particularly the lineman.  Chris Wilson had 2 sacks and Shawn Springs had an interception.  The Cowboys were aiming for 3 individual accomplishments, but could only reach one.  Tony Romo set the team reception record, but Jason Witten was held to 2 catches and Marion Barber rushed for -6 yards. 

The Redskins now begin preparations for the Seattle Seahawks.  The Redskins will travel to Seattle for the wild card playoff game.  Game time is 4:30pm on NBC.

• @Seattle next Saturday, January 5th
• @Dallas on (tentatively) Saturday, January 12th; this COULD be the Sunday Game, but is more likely to be the Saturday game.
• @(Green Bay/Tampa Bay/New York Giants) Sunday, January 20th

Dallas will definitely be rooting for Seattle hard this week, as they would have (from their perspective) back to back games against the Redskins if (when) we advance past Seattle.  Four more wins have Coach Gibbs hoisting a trophy, and evening his record for this second go around; I’m not sure which would be more satisfying (although payback to the Patriots would go a long way toward making it sweeter).  But there is a lot of (good) football between now and then, and we may not even advance past Seattle next week, though I believe that we’ll probably be favored by a few points.  As you can tell, I’m quite stoked about the playoffs.  During the 12 years of our beloved Redskins being “In the Wilderness”, we managed only a single playoff berth.  In the four years since, we’ve earned 2.  Who said Coach Gibbs doesn’t have game(plan)?

Just a few weeks ago, a coaching gaffe put the Washington Redskins playoff hopes on thin ice.  Yesterday, a coaching decision steered the team closer to the promise land of the NFL playoffs.  Redemption is sweet.

The Redskins stormed out to a 25-0 lead, and held on for a 32-21 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.  The victory moved the Redskins to 8-7 on the season and they can clinch a playoff berth with a victory over the Dallas Cowboys next week. 

The Redskins were led by Todd Collins, who looked much sharper in his 2nd start, going 22 for 29 for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns.  But the play of the game without a doubt was an astute challenge by the Redskins coaching staff, catching the Vikings with 12 men on the field and negated a fumble recovery by the Vikings.  The Vikings were lurking and had taken momentum but the challenge and ensuing Redskins score ended any Viking comeback hopes.

The Redskins had touchdowns by Clinton Portis, Chris Cooley, Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle-El (on a pass from Portis).  Shaun Suisham added a 26 yard field goal and Kedric Golston stuffed a Tony Richardson run for a safety to round out the scoring. 

Defensively, Fred Smoot and Shawn Springs had interceptions, while Golston recovered a fumble.  Randall Godfrey, starting in the place of the injured Rocky McIntosh, lead the team with nine tackles.

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to all visitors to The Redskin Report.  We will be back after the holiday to look forward at the next ‘must-win’ game.

Strong running game, great defense and a good special team performance. It was a throwback effort for the Washington Redskins, who stayed alive in the playoff race by defeating the New York Giants 22-10 last night. The win moves the Redskins back to .500 at 7-7 and they remain in 7th place in the NFC pending the result of the Monday night game.

Clinton Portis had 126 yards rushing and a touchdown, while Ladell Betts also rushed for a TD. Shaun Suisham had three field goals including an impressive 49 yarder in a very windy Giant stadium. Defensively, the Redskins were led by Andre Carter with 2 sacks and a forced fumble. The best defensive effort may have been by Fred Smoot though. He was assigned to cover Plexico Burress and held him to only 3 catches for 35 yards. It was his best effort since returning to Washington this off-season.

The Redskins now prepare for another huge game next Sunday night when the Minnesota Vikings host the Skins. The Vikings will be coming off a short week as they play tonight against the Chicago Bears. The playoff picture remains the same as last week, the Redskins still need either a Saints loss or the Giants to lose their remaining games along with the Redskins running the table to secure a playoff spot.

The Washington Redskins managed to stay alive with a 24-16 victory Thursday night over the Chicago Bears. Back-up quarterback Todd Collins relieved an injured Jason Campbell and was very good, going 15-20 for 224 yards and two touchdowns. The Redskins run game continued to struggle amassing only 31 yards in the victory.

Redskins touchdowns were scored by Todd Yoder, a returning Mike Sellers and Ladell Betts. Shaun Suisham added a field goal. Defensively Shawn Springs was a game time decision, but starred with two interceptions including a huge one late in the 2nd quarter which led to the Redskins 1st touchdown.

Campbell has been diagnosed with a dislocated patella tendon and one would expect he’s done for the year.

The Redskins now have 10 days off to rest and recover from a very emotional and physically draining couple of weeks.