Redskins 20, Eagles 12 – The Good, The Bad, Yo’ Fat Ugly Mama

Even when things didn’t work right, they worked for the Washington Redskins. Consider this series at the end of the second quarter of the Monday Night Football game against the Philadelphia Eagles: 1st & Goal, PHI 1 (:14) – QB Jason Campbell spikes the ball to stop the clock. 2nd & Goal, PHI 1 (:14) – PENALTY, delay of game, -5 yards 2nd & 6, PHI 4 (:14) – PENALTY, false start on Jason Fabini (WAS), -5 yards 2nd & 11, PHI 11, (:14) – Redskins set up for field goal, Philadelphia calls time out. The Skins then set up for an offensive play. 2nd & 11, PHI 11 (:14) – PENALTY, false start on Jason Fabini (WAS), -5 yards 2nd & 16, PHI 16 (:14) – Jason Campbell pass to Chris Cooley, TOUCHDOWN!

Resilience and grace under pressure! With that improbable series of plays, the Redskins retook the lead at the half and never relinquished it. With most pundits expecting the Redskins to pound the ball, it was quarterback Jason Campbell who turned up the heat, completing 16 of 29 for 207 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Campbell showed a nice touch with the deep ball, completing a 48 yarder to Santana Moss in the first quarter, that the Skins converted to a field goal four plays later.  And how about Joe Gibbs, who is so conservative that he makes George Allen [the coach, not the senator] look like a Kennedy liberal? The guy calls for a field goal on first down to win in overtime against Miami, then goes for a kill shot after his team was backed up from the one to the 16 yard line after three penalty calls and only 14 ticks left in the half. In your face, Andy Reid. You wanna freeze my kicker; then I won’t use him. There was plenty to like in the game, if you are a Redskins fan.

The Good

• Redskins 20, Eagles 12
• Len Pasquarelli discovers Jason Campbell; missed the fact that Redskins players believed in this guy since game 10 last year.
• Clinton Portis, two games, two touchdowns. Too soon to call this a trent, but . . . .
• Clinton Portis, 4.9 yards-per-carry average
• Chris Cooley only caught two passes; oh, but that TD catch in the endzone was a thing of beauty!
• Three of four scoring drives when for more than 50 yards. The last scoring drive (8 plays, 63 yards) consumed 4:13 of game clock.
• Redskins 8 of 15 third down conversions.
• Slight advantage in time of possession, 30:04
• Redskins offense ranks 10th in total yards; fourth in rushing yards
• Rock Cartwright 26 yard kick return average. Four of five kick returns carry to the 30 yard line or beyond.
• Defense did not allow an offensive touchdown
• Youth movement on defense – LB Rocky McIntosh nine tackles, one sack; DB LaRon Landry seven tackles, .5 sack; DL Anthony Montgomery and LB Khary Campbell two solo tackles each
• LaRon Landry separating Kevin Curtis from the ball the Eagles’ fourth-and-six with 1:05 to go in the game 
• Man coverage by the cornerbacks caused McNabb to hold the ball longer; defense gets three sacks. Gregg Williams, I was wrong about that!  I’m so sorry. I’ve forgotten about Amobe Okoye already.
• Redskins defense ranks 16th on yards allowed per game; 9th in rushing yards allowed per game.

The Bad

• Philadelphia fourth down conversions – 2/3
• Jason Campbell has a ways to grow. He is now 28 of 50 passes, 56% completion, TD/INT ratio 1:3, 66.3 QB ratio. He is ranked 28th among QBs, bunched with Josh McCown, David huard, Matt Leinart, Steve McNair and Rex Grossman. On the other hand, pass-per-attempt average is 8.62 yards, sixth best in the NFL.
• Brian Westbrook, 162 yards total offense allowed, fortunately no scores
• Who was that Avant guy?
• Nagging preseason injuries kept Campbell from working out timing with his receivers. It showed in the first two games. This issue is very fixable.

Yo Fat Ugly Mama

• Right guard Randy Thomas injured his triceps in the first quarter and did not return to the game. He will undergo a MRI to see the extent of the damage. The Redskins opened the season with concerns about the left side of the offensive line. Injuries to Thomas and Jon Jansen last week open a bigger concern about the right side.
• Jason Fabini stepped in for Thomas. He has to get used to the starters. His two penalties in the red zone at the end of the half could have been very costly. This problem is also fixable, although Fabini is no Thomas.

In other news, Hell freezes over.