Redskins come from behind to beat Saints

By Brian Hunsicker

Published: September 14, 2008

The Washington Redskins’ offense was sputtering: Two straight three-and-outs led to Reggie Bush’s dramatic punt return and the New Orleans’ Saints’ two-score lead.
Shades of the season opener? For a moment, yes. But it wasn’t hard to see that, in New York, Washington’s potential was far greater than what it showed. Against New Orleans, they came closer.
But just as the loss to the Giants was not a cause for panic, neither is Sunday’s 29-24 win a cause for unrestrained exuberance.
For all that the Redskins showed — Jason Campbell’s redemptive performance, rookie safety Chris Horton bursting onto the scene — there cannot be a sense of relief. Not yet.
The Saints didn’t have their top receiver; three defensive starters were inactive because of injury. The Redskins did not have such dramatic injury problems, though safety Reed Doughty was a late scratch because of illness and Marcus Washington missed his second straight game. With nearly all of its complement of players, Washington had to claw back to win.
The positive — and, really, what matters most — is that they did claw back. They did win.
But one cannot brush aside the work that lies ahead only to say, well, a win is a win. Celebrating the ends while ignoring the means doesn’t work.
The Redskins are a 1-1 team, like several others in the NFL will be on Tuesday morning, the script of a season only fractionally written. In two games, there were two Redskins teams: The one that could do so little right in New York, and the one that made plays at the right times against New Orleans. Neither much resembles the other.
Everything about the Redskins was better on Sunday. The running game was more effective (149 rushing yards, 4.8 yards per rush), which helped to make the passing game more viable. Campbell’s 321 yards were his best total since last November at Dallas, and it was only the third 300-yard day of his career. Santana Moss found holes in the Saints’ defense, with seven catches for 164 yards, his best overall day since early in the 2005 season.
But with one linebacker and two defensive backs out of the Saints’ lineup, big days should have been a given.
Defensively, Washington limited New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees to 216 yards passing and standout running back Bush had less than 100 offensive yards. The Redskins’ pass rush was improved — they sacked Brees twice — and New Orleans had no offensive play longer than 22 yards.
All around, it was better, better, better.
But to have the season the Redskins believe they can have, it’s not enough. Not yet.
Brian Hunsicker covers the Redskins for the Potomac News & Manassas Journal Messenger. Reach him at 703-878-8048 or via e-mail at .