Week 4 vs. Dallas Cowboys

Dallas - When the dust settled, the Redskins emerged from Week 4 with an impressive 3-1 record tied for second place in the tough NFC East. The Redskins took a surprising and significant step towards becoming a legitimate playoff caliber team by beating the Dallas Cowboys on the road. After starting very slow in Week 1 against the N.Y. Giants, the Redskins have reeled off 3 strong victories. What has been the difference between Week 1 and Weeks 2-4? Two words, Jason Campbell.

Campbell is suddenly flourishing under new Head Coach and Quarterbacks Coach, Jim Zorn. The change in Campbell's play was on display again this week in Dallas as Campbell continued to elude Dallas pass rushers with nifty footwork time and time again. He showed great poise stepping up in the pocket to make big plays when the Redskins needed them and he hung in there until the last possible second to launch the football with defenders in his face before taking some monster hits. He has established a solid connection with WR Santana Moss and continues to mix passes with Anwaan Randle El, Chris Cooley and, the ageless and consumate professional, James Thrash.

On the other side of the ball, the Redskins did an excellent job defending in the secondary and stuffing the Dallas rushing game. They limited perhaps the best offensive team in football to just 17 points before yielding a late touchdown in their prevent defense. Shawn Springs stepped up and did an outstanding job blanketing Terrell Owens and taking him out of the game early.

Despite their current winning streak and this week's impressive road win over the Cowboys, who many experts have picked to go to and win the Super Bowl, the Redskins still have plenty of room for improvement. They continue to struggle getting to the quarterback and managed 0 sacks on the day against Dallas. With Phillip Daniels out for the season and Jason Taylor now out of the lineup indefinitely, the Redskins may be forced to start taking more chances on defense to create pressure up front. Don't be surprised if Marcus Washington and LaRon Landry begin finding their way into the opponents backfield in blitz packages over the next few weeks.

Another area of constant concern is the injury prone secondary. Shawn Springs, Fred Smoot and Carlos Rogers are all Pro-Bowl caliber cornerbacks, but they also have more points on their frequent hospital member card than the rest of the team combined. While Springs typically started strong against Dallas, he again typically had to leave the game early in the third quarter because of a injury, which turned out to be a calf strain. If Springs is unable to start the next game, Carlos Rogers will need to finally step up and play like the dominating first round draft pick the Redskins thought he would be.

All in all, the Redskins must be happy with what they have accomplished so far and Washington fans would no doubt vote for Jim Zorn if he was added at the last minute to the presidential ticket. But can they keep it up with so many aging and injury prone players on both sides of the ball? I tend to doubt it, but I will enjoy it for now.

Final Score: Washington 26 - Dallas 24

Highlights of the Redskins' Week 4 Win over the Dallas Cowboys

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog

Week 3 vs. Arizona Cardinals

Washington - Another week and another solid, but far from dominating win. Against the steadily improving Arizona Cardinals, the Redskins had to earn every yard and the defense came up big again forcing two key turnovers.

The Redskins took the ball first and marched down the field with a nice mix of runs and short passes. They steadily moved down the field until RB Clinton Portis pounded it into the end zone from three yards out. After WLB Rocky McIntosh stripped the ball loose from RB Edgerrin James for his first fumble of the year and the Redskins recovered, the offense was stymied and forced to kick a field goal giving the Redskins an early 10-0 lead.

In the second quarter, however, the Cardinals were able to rip off multiple 10+ yard runs and QB Kurt Warner got himself into a rythm with his wide receiving core and lead his team down the field and connecting with WR Anquon Boldin for a 4 yard touchdown and the half ended.

With the help of 2 penalties by CB Fred Smoot and DE Jason Taylor, the Cardinals moved the ball down the field and began the second half with a field goal to tie the game and the shoot out was on.

Back came the Redskins on the very next possession with an 11 play 80 yard drive taking over 6 minutes wearing out the defense with another great mix of run and pass play calling by Jim Zorn leading to a 2 yard TE Todd Yoder touchdown catch.

But Kurt Warner came right back and did what Kurt Warner does best... throw the bomb. With Kurt Warner's arm and top WR Larry Fitzgerald on the opposite burning down the field, the Cardinals can explode for a touchdown at any given moment and that is exactly what happened. On the third play from scrimmage, Kurt Warner launched the ball down field to a wide open Larry Fitzgerald for a 62 yard pass play for a touchdown.

When the Cardinals took the ball again in the fourth quarter, they started deep in their own end at the 19 yard line. On the third play from scrimmage again, Kurt Warner launched another rocket down field, but this time the pass was deflected and CB Carlos Rogers made a great diving effort for the interception at the Washington 43 yard line. After laying out for the catch, Rogers sprung to his feet before being touched and hurdled his way all the way down to the Arizona 15. From there, Jason Campbell hit Santana Moss on a short wide receiver screen and Moss squirmed his way 17 yards into the end zone.

After holding the Cardinals to 4 plays on defense, the Redskins smelled blood and they aired it out to rookie WR Devin Thomas for a 68 yard touchdown that would have sealed the victory, but it was not to be. The play was called back after an inexcusible Unnecesary Roughness call on RT Stephon Heyer. The Redskins were still able to overcome the penalty and move the ball down the field taking precious time off the clock and giving PK Shaun Suisham a chance to seal the game again, but he was unable to hit a 52 yard field goal.

The defense came back on to the field needing one more stop and they is exactly what they got holding Arizona to a quick 3 and out. Needing only one first down to run out the clock, the Redskins pounded the ball with Clinton Portis and Jason Campbell connected with Chris Cooley on a game ending 26 yard pass play.

After losing badly to the Giants in week 1, the Redskins desperately needed to win the next 2 games against two slightly above average teams and that is exactly what they did. They have to be happy with the overall result of this game and they have to be pleased with their steadily improving run defense as well as their outstanding secondary coverage. However, despite getting 2 sacks against the Cardinals, the defense still was not able to generate any kind of consistent pass rush. Kurt Warner simply had too much time the throw the ball on many occasions and, fortunately, the Cardinals were only able to connect on one long touchdown pass play to Larry Fitzgerald. They must find a way to get to the quarterback more consistently. They cannot simply sit back and rely on their coverage units to defend passes. The secondary is too susceptible to injuries and cannot take on that much pressure for an extended period of time so Defensive Coordinator Greg Blache has some adjustments to make. We will see how he does in the coming weeks.

Final Score: Washington 24, Arizona 17

Highlights of the Redskins' Week 3 Win over the Arizona Cardinals

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog

Ricky Williams Signs Extension

Ricky Williams, the NFL's version of Steve Howe (Relief Pitcher who was suspended by the MLB for alcohol and drug abuse 7 times), somehow continues to linger with the Miami Dolphins like a bad case of athlete's foot. Not only has Williams upset and disgraced teammates, team management, fans and the entire NFL in his career, but now he has managed to alienate his own sports agent, Leigh Steinberg, Sports Agent Directory.

Williams, now 31 years old, was set to become a free agent at the end of the 2008 season. Despite his troubled past, teams desperate for help at running back apparently still view him as an effective option and still seem willing to tolerate his shenanigans. Lehigh Steinberg's plan was for Williams to have a productive 2008 season and then score one more multi-year contract before his career finally comes to a merciful end. However, Ricky decided that Ricky knows best once again and he negotiated a one year contract extension with the Miami Dolphins on his own without informing Steinberg.

Williams informed Steinberg about the contract extension after it had already been agreed upon and, no doubt, left his agent so steaming mad he simply could not make a comment to the media about the situation. Williams said the new contract means he's set for life financially, allowing him to support his three children and attend medical school when he retires from the NFL.

On a separate note, I have instructed my HMO to deny all services offered at any medical facility where Ricky plans to practice medicine or alternative herbal remedies in the future. I suggest you do the same.

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog

Week 2 vs. New Orleans Saints

Washington - After being dismantled in week 1 by the New York Giants, skeptics were already dropping the axe on Head Coach Jim Zorn ranting about his inexperience and the absurd hiring process employed by good old "Danny Boy". Only in week 2, the Redskins desperately needed a victory over an improved New Orleans team in order to avoid falling behind in their division as they have done the past several seasons. With the defending Super Bowl champion Giants and the favored Dallas Cowpokers in their division, they could ill-afford to fall behind early.

While going through the transition of a new coach, new offensive system and still a young quarterback, it also helped the team a great deal that the Saints were missing several key starters on both sides of the ball. The Redskins started strong on offense with 3 solid drives and got on the board first with a pair of field goals. The defense stuffed the New Orleans rushing game forcing several punts early in the game, but a key punt return fumble by Antwaan Randle El in Washington's own end put the Saints in excellent position to change the momentum and that is exactly what they as RB Pierre Thomas ran in for a touchdown from 1 yard out.

With 8:36 left in the half, the Redskins moved their way down the field yet again and came up empty once more missing a second field goal, this time from only 30 yards away. The defense held strong, though and the teams traded field goals before the end of the half giving the Saints a 10-9 lead.

In the third quarter, QB Drew Brees showed again that he is one of the NFL's best quarterbacks. With the rushing game stifled, Brees completed pass after pass to his mish mash receiving core with the likes of TE Mark Campbell, WR David Patten and WR Robert Meachem leading them to a touchdown. Then P Durant Brooks pooched up a wounded duck of a punt 38 yards to Reggie Bush that never gave Redskins defenders a chance to get down field and Reggie proceeded to fly down field 55 yards for a touchdown return. Of course, being the bonehead that he is, Reggie that it was in his team's best interest to get flagged for a 15 yard taunting penalty aftwards, which seems to be becoming his signature move after touchdowns.

In the 4th quarter, it was a different story. The Redskins were down by 9 points and the Saints drove to the Redskins 49 yard line before the defense stiffened and forced the Saints to punt. Then, QB Jason Campbell put the ball in flight and spread the ball around the field to TE Chris Cooley, Antwaan Randle El, TE Fred Davis and WR Santana Moss before RB Clinton Portis punched it in to the end zone from 9 yards out.

The defense held the Saints 3 and out before the play of the game happened. With only 3:38 left in the game, the offense took the field. Jason Campbell took the first snap, avoided a sack and aired it out connecting with Santana Moss on a 67 yard pass play for a touchdown leading the Redskins to a late comeback victory.

While it was great to get Jim Zorn his first victory as a head coach and it was also great to see the Redskins show the fortitude to come from behind and win, there sill are some very real concerns. On offense, Drew Brees was a sharp 22/33 passing with 1 touchdown and he connected with 9 different receivers, which speaks volumes about his vision on the field. Even with all of that success, though, he did not have his #1 target, WR Marques Colston, who did not play. I would have hoped the Redskins could have limited Brees to a lower percentage than they did.

On offense, the Redskins ran the ball well and Clinton Portis finished the day with 21 carriers for 96 yards. Ladell Betts also tacked on another 6 carries for 25 yards. Jason Campbell did have a productive day and finished 24/36 for 321 yards and 1 touchdown. While those are good numbers, you need to look a little more closely. Their last play of the game accounted for 67 yards leaving him with 254 yards for the rest of the game. In addition to their #1 WR, the Saints were also without starting SLB Scott Fujita as well as their 2 leading CB's Mike McKenzie and Randall Gay. To compound their problems, they also lost DB Aaron Glenn early in the third quarter to injury and it would have been nice to see the Redskins take at least a few more chances down the field before the end of the game to take advantage of the mismatches. We can only hope that this will serve as a valuable learning experience for the coaches and players.

Final Score: Washington 29, New Orleans 24

Highlights of the Redskins' Week 2 Win over the New Orleans Saints

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog

Week 1 vs. New York Giants

New York - After all of the excitement from the Washington Redskins off season, which included a new head coach, new offensive scheme, and three new tall receiving targets for Jason Campbell via the draft, the Redskins began the 2008 season with the same look they have sported for the last several seasons, a slow, predictable and thoroughly underwhelming offense. The Redskins could not get any momentum going or develop any rhythm on offense throughout the game and only mustered a disheartening 7 points.

What did change in this game from the last few seasons was the play of the offensive and defensive lines, both of which were largely manhandled by the Giants. While the overall offense has struggled in recent seasons, the offensive and defensive lines have remained a fairly strong mainstay for the team. However, in the 2008 season opener, what we saw was an uninspired, lethargic and aging group that were pushed around on both sides of the ball. If the Redskins combine a below average offense with below average offensive and defensive lines this season, this could be a very long year for the Redskin faithful.

One bright spot for the team, was new starting RT Stephen Heyer who replaced Jon Jansen as starter. While the first-time starter was a little overwhelmed as the game began, he did settle down and seemed to play better as the game went along. Another bright spot was RB Clinton Portis, who only managed 84 rushing yards and a 3.7 yards per carry. However, he appeared strong and healthy and did well to gain 84 yards behind poor play from the offensive line.

Final Score: N.Y. Giants 16 - Washington 7

Highlights of the Week 1 Redskins' loss to the NY Giants

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JacksGhost
Washington Redskins Hog Blog