By the Red Skin of their teeth

The Washington Redskins have an aversion to winning easy. The Redskins had the Arizona Cardinals put away early in the third quarter when they went up 21-6, but in the theater that is FedEx, the Redskin players deliver a tragi-comedy that morphed into drama in Act II. We’ve taken the measure of the Redskins and they are a first-half team that builds a big lead, then hopes that it’s big enough for the second-half blow. We are 4-2 on the season and that’s good. Sunday against the Cardinals, we were lucky. That’s better.  Sometimes, it’s just better to be lucky than good.

The Good

• Redskins 21, Cardinals 19. The score is the only stat that counts. 
• London Fletcher-Baker, 10 tackles, 3 assists, 1 interception returned for a touchdown
• Andre “sack-a-game” Carter, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble
• Sean Taylor returns his interception of Kurt Warner’s pass on the Washington 27 48 yards to the Cardinals 25. The interception negated the effect of the Cardinal’s block of Derrick Frosts punt for favorable field position. The Redskins would go on to score a touchdown.
• Special teams: Rock Cartwright’s 80 kick-off return to open the third quarter; Derrick Frost struggled through the game, but punted a nifty 58 yarder to put the Cardinals on the 11 yard line in the fourth quarter. Kedric Golston’s block of the Cardinal’s PAT attempt at end of the first half was the game-changer. Arizona was forced to go for the two-point conversion, instead of an easier PAT, in the fourth quarter to tie the game.  
• Two rushing touchdowns by Clinton Portis
• If the defense was not dominant, they were at least disruptive with 1 sack, two INTs, 3 forced fumbles with 2 recovered. It was enough to win and to get Gregg Williams a head coach offer next season, if this keeps up.

The Bad

• Rock Cartwright’s 80yard kick-off return wasted when Shaun Suisam missed a 41 yard field goal attempt. Fortunately, the Cardinals’ Neil Rackers later would miss a 55 yard field goal attempt with 0:07 left that would have won the game for Arizona.
• Suisam has missed three of his last five field goal attempts.
• The Redskins offense was out-performed by a one-armed man. Cardinals QB Kurt Warner threw for 280 yards. The Redskins produced 160 yards of total offense.
• The Cardinals out-performed the Redskins in rushing yards, passing yards, time-of-possession, first downs, third down conversions. They were a missed field goal away from a dramatic come-back win.

Yo’ Fat Ugly Momma

• The Redskins blew a big lead for the third time this season. Fortunately this time they held on to win. This game could just have easily gone to the Cardinals.
• NFC East teams have won 17 games; best of any division in the NFC East. This will be a tough campaign.
• The Redskins defense only allowed 88 points this season, best in the NFL. Next Sunday, they face the New England Patriots, the highest scoring team [279] in the NFL. Early gameplan to beat the Pats — hold them scoreless and win 3-0.

Yup. It’s better to be lucky than good.