Redskins wondering what went wrong
Evan Vucci, Associated Press
Dallas running back Marion Barber eludes Redskins linebacker London Fletcher
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By Brian Hunsicker
Published: November 17, 2008
Dallas and Washington are now both 6-4 with Philadelphia still in the mix after Sunday’s 13-13 tie in Cin-cinnati. All three are well behind the one-loss Giants, but all harbor belief they can be a second — or possibly third — division team into the postseason.
“It certainly puts us back in the picture,” Dallas head coach Wade Phillips said, “and that’s what we needed.”
The Redskins have greater concerns than the playoff race at the moment, however. Dallas was continually able to pressure quarterback Jason Campbell; Campbell was sacked three times and hit many more times than that. Defenders came from all angles, sometimes free, sometimes after beating a Washington blocker. But many ended with the same way, with Campbell picking himself off the turf.
“Our quarterback got hit a lot tonight and we’ve got to have an answer there,” Zorn said.
“Sometimes you want to be able to work back to the second and third progression,” Campbell said. “You can’t take anything away from them. They did a heck of a job getting great push sometimes. And, you know, as a quarterback, you have to stand in there and still continue to try to make some plays.”
Zorn segued into the Redskins’ other prominent problem: the lack of pressure his defense put on Dallas quarterback Tony Romo.
“I think that was the issue in the game, somewhat. It affects play calling from my standpoint. [And] if we can’t get to the QB, it allows him to take a little more time. It puts pressure on our [defensive backs] to cover for a long time as well,” Zorn said.
Romo hit 70 percent of his passes and Washington failed to register a sack. On what turned out to be the game-winning drive, Romo completed two of three passes; on all three, he was afforded time to survey the field. Even when the ball left his hand, the pocket remained intact.
That drive ended with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Romo to backup tight end Martellus Bennett, who caught the ball at the goal line over safety Chris Horton.
The Redskins had only one chance to strike back, but that drive ended on a failed fourth-down conversion. Santana Moss went in motion into the slot and ran a short drag route, just deep enough to get the four yards for the first down. But Dallas cornerback Terence Newman got a hand on the pass near the sideline and the pass fell incomplete.
The primary problem through the Redskins’ first eight games, settling for field goals instead of touch-downs, was no factor. Washington made it into Dallas’ red zone twice, coming away with a touchdown on its first drive and missing a field goal in the third quarter.
Washington’s two red-zone trips were among the lowest of the season. In the season-opening loss to the Gi-ants, they made only one trip; prior to Sunday night, only one other game had as few as two red-zone chances.
Clinton Portis was a surprise starter. The running back hadn’t practiced all week and Zorn maintained his availability would be a game-time decision. Indeed, before the teams took the field, Portis, Zorn and a handful of other Redskins personnel gathered on the Redskins’ sideline near the tunnel as Portis tested his ailing knee.
But Portis was the only Redskins runner to carry more than once: he had 68 yards on 15 carries, while Campbell, Ladell Betts and Shaun Alexander had one apiece.
Washington’s first play from scrimmage was a 5-yard run by Portis, which pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark for the sixth time in his career. But this was the earliest he’d reached the milestone and, with six games remaining, could challenge his career high of 1,591 yards. He set that mark in 2003, his second and final season with Denver.
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