Die Hard Sports Fan

The Giants scored 13 points before the Redskins who claim they are not the same team as they were in Week 1 got on the board, but it was the Giants put up 10 more unanswered points and came out victorious in our nation’s capital giving Big Blue their eleventh win of the 2008 Regular Season.

1st Quarter

The Giants scored on their opening drive as Manning kept hooking up with Hixon on third and long to keep the chains moving, and Eli Manning capped off the drive with a with 40-yard Touch Down pass to Amani Toomer along the right sideline giving the Giants a 7-0 lead with 9:56 remaining.

Manning kept on finding receivers in the middle of the field to keep their second drive alive, but Anthony Montgomery sacked Eli Manning for a loss of 5 yards on 3rd and Goal from the Redskins’ 7 yardline with 2:35 remaining so the Giants had to settle for a 31-yard Field Goal Attempt made by John Carney with 2:11 remaining giving the Giants a 10-0 lead.

2nd Quarter

The biggest play of the Giants third possession was when Manning threw a short pass to Ward who broke one for a 48-yard catch and run along the right sideline, but the Redskins stopped the Giants from getting into the end zone so they had to settle for a 38-yard Field Goal Attempt which was made by John Carney with 12:01 remaining giving the Giants a 13-0 lead.

The Redskins fourth possession began at the 43 yardline. On 2nd and 5, Barry Cofield and Danny Clark sacked Jason Campbell for a loss of 8 with 11:17 remaining which the Redskins were able to overcome, and the Redskins scored their first score on a gadget play where Devin Thomas followed Moss on a reverse 29 yards into the end zone for a Touch Down with 8:31 remaining making the score 13-7.

The Giants moved from their 20 yardline to the Redskins 34 yardline when Eli Manning threw an interception to DeAngelo Hall, on a pass intended for Hixon, who returned it 5 yards to the 29 yardline with 4:10 remaining.

Campbell marched the Redskins to the Giants’ 30 yardline where they got stopped and attempted a 42-yard Field Goal Attempt by Suisham which went wide right with 0:04 remaining.

3rd Quarter

The Giants took advantage of great field position as they began their drive at the Redskins’ 48 yardline, and then Jacobs finally found a hole up the middle for a gain of 23 yards. On 2nd and Goal from the 1 yardline, Brandon Jacobs ran upright into the end zone for a 1-yard Touch Down run giving the Giants a 20-7 lead with 8:33 remaining.

The Redskins were marched their way down to the Giants’ 43 yardline where Jason Campbell aired out an interception to Aaron Ross at the 3 yardline without a return with 5:53 remaining.

On 1st and 10, Andre Carter sacked Eli Manning for a 2-yard loss with 3:19 remaining on a drive which ultimately led to a punt.

4th Quarter

The Giants began at the Redskins’ 39 yardline due to a failed fourth down conversion, but the Giants could not get into the end zone again so they tried a 39-yard Field Goal Attempt which was made by John Carney with 6:26 remaining giving the Giants a 23-7.

On 1st and 10, Renaldo Wynn sacked Jason Campbell for a loss of 3 yards with 4:13 remaining on a drive where the Redskins ultimately turned it over on downs at the Giants’ 35 yardline with 3:25 remaining.

On 1st and 10, Jason Campbell was sacked by Justin Tuck for an 11 yard loss during their final possession with 1:32 remaining, but the clock was against them.

Wrap Up

Eli Manning went 21/34 and threw for 305 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT.

Brandon Jacobs led in Rushing Attempts and in Rushing Yards with 22 and 71 respectively.

Amani Toomer, Derrick Ward, and Domenik Hixon led in Receptions with 5, and Amani Toomer led in Receiving Yards with 85.

Brandon Jacobs had 1 Rushing TD, and Amani Toomer had 1 Receiving TD.

John Carney went 3/3 in Field Goal Attempts.

Michael Johnson led the team in Tackles with 7.

Justin Tuck had 2 Sacks, and Barry Cofield and Renaldo Wynn each had 1 Sack.

Aaron Ross had 1 INT.

Terrell Thomas and Barry Cofield each had 1 Forced Fumble.

The NFL.com Game Center: Post Game is attached.

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This has been a decision I’ve been contemplating for about 24 hours now.  How do you decide who gets the game ball when the team as a whole pretty much won us the game?  Both sides of the ball were executed phenomenally, however my Die Hard Redskins Fan game ball goes to…Chris Cooley.

While I was quite impartial, debating between Cooley and Clinton Portis, I decided to go with Chris Cooley for a number of reasons. One, he had his first touchdown of the season yesterday, an 18 yard option toss from WR Antwaan Randle El that gave us the go-ahead in the third quarter.  Which, by the way, was the first visiting team touchdown scored at Lincoln Financial Field since last season. Two, he had a career-high 109 yards versus last weeks #9 power ranked Philadelphia Eagles.  Three, with the biggest concern for the Eagles defense being tight end coverage, Chris Cooley walked into the game ready to eat it up!

He credits “Tana Man” Santana Moss for his production in his official blog today.

“I finally put a touchdown on the stat sheet. I knew I was going to have a great opportunity to help the offense this week and really I felt it was a compliment to Santana Moss. Although he was catch-less, he opened up all kinds holes for the rest of us.”

Now, let’s move onto grading the team.  Beginning with the defense, I am handing out a B+.  Granted, Brian Westbrook isn’t healthy, but his presence did offer the Eagles their only touchdown in the game on Sunday.  Our defense was missing three key starters- Marcus Washington, Shawn Springs and Jason Taylor, however as a whole, they only allowed 58 yards on the ground.  DE Andre Carter recorded six tackles in the game, a team record so far this season.  And despite the mishap in the first quarter where WR Desean Jackson returned a kickoff for a touchdown, the most notable performance by the Redskins defense was when the Eagles pushed to the two yard line, followed by a no-gain second down and a 3 yard loss on third down, both on the account of Brian Westbrook. Ackers came in for the field goal where the Eagles were finally able to put up points after the Skins had posted 23 unanswered points.

Onto the offense. CLEARLY I am going to give the big O an A for their performance Sunday.  Between 204 yards on the ground against the #1 rushing defense in the league, along with a career-topping performance by Cooley, a brief taste of what may be to come with WR Devin Thomas, and the distraction methods used by Santana Moss, our boys worked together as a whole and executed beautifully in this win.

K Shaun Suisham racked up the points in field goals the first half yesterday, scoring us 9 points.  While at the time we were probably squirming a bit trying to catch up to the 14 points Philly scored early, those critical field goals won us the game in the end.  And they were all LONG balls too, and therefore I will be giving special teams an A as well.

CONGRATS TO COOOOOOOOOOOOLEYYYYY for having your best game yet in your career and scoring the Die Hard Redskins Fan game ball!

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Before anyone gets too excited, this is clearly a joke on my part to lightly address the numerous times I had to listen to the game announcers tell us that Antwaan Randle-El has a perfect QB rating. This of course follows Randle-El’s touchdown pass to Chris Cooley today.

So, yes, let’s all acknowledge Randle-El’s prowess for throwing a TD on the trick play. But really, do we need to hear about his QB rating.

I think not.

Jason Campbell didn’t have a high QB rating today. But, he continued to make the plays to keep the Redskins in the win column. More importantly, he didn’t have any turnovers, even though there were very good opportunities for the Eagles to get a couple of interceptions from balls bouncing off of the receiver’s hands, including Cooley’s. In fact, by my count, Randle-El had three dropped passes, alone.

The Eagles did a wonderful job taking Santana Moss out of the game. Again, by my count, he had two balls thrown his way. The first went incomplete after a hard hit. And the second was caught, yet nullified by a penalty by Devin Thomas. So, it was as if the Eagles dared us to beat them in some other manner. Well…

How’d we do, Philly?

Hail to the Redskins!

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Before anyone gets too excited, this is clearly a joke on my part to lightly address the numerous times I had to listen to the game announcers tell us that Antwaan Randle-El has a perfect QB rating. This of course follows Randle-El’s touchdown pass to Chris Cooley today.

So, yes, let’s all acknowledge Randle-El’s prowess for throwing a TD on the trick play. But really, do we need to hear about his QB rating.

I think not.

Jason Campbell didn’t have a high QB rating today. But, he continued to make the plays to keep the Redskins in the win column. More importantly, he didn’t have any turnovers, even though there were very good opportunities for the Eagles to get a couple of interceptions from balls bouncing off of the receiver’s hands, including Cooley’s. In fact, by my count, Randle-El had three dropped passes, alone.

The Eagles did a wonderful job taking Santana Moss out of the game. Again, by my count, he had two balls thrown his way. The first went incomplete after a hard hit. And the second was caught, yet nullified by a penalty by Devin Thomas. So, it was as if the Eagles dared us to beat them in some other manner. Well…

How’d we do, Philly?

Hail to the Redskins!

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The Eagles started the game with very high energy. Donovan McNabb took his team the length of the field to score early. The Eagle defense held the Redskins offense to two three-and-out series to start the game. After a quick second touchdown on punt return by Desean Jackson, the Redskins settled down. By half-time, they cut the Eagles lead in half after a trio of field goals by Shaun Suisham. After finally taking the lead towards the middle of the third quarter, the Redskins never looked back as they continued to impress on both sides of the ball.

1st Quarter -

Redskins start off the game with an strong special teams effort, but it was immediately forgotten as Brian Westbrook popped off a 16 yard run after catch on a screen pass from Donovan McNabb. The Eagles proceeded to march down the field with short passes and the running of Westbrook. One play, a double reverse to Desean Jackson would have been a touchdown if not for the tackle by The Predator, Chris Horton. Three plays later, Westbrook fights through some arm tackles on the Redskins defense and get the first touchdown of the game.

After a three and out series by the Redskins offiense, and a questionable non-call, Desean Jackson out runs the Redskins special teams for a touchdown.

Towards the end of the first quarter, the Redskins find a way to stop the Eagles, mostly by the inaccuracy of McNabb and the wide right field goal attempt by David Akers.

2nd Quarter -

To start the second quarter, the Redskins get a first down, the first of the game. They followed that up with their first points of the game; a field goal by Shaun Suisham.

Westbrook had left the game midway through the first quarter, but made his return in time for the Eagles first possession of the second quarter. Carlos Rogers dropped an interception, which may have turned the momentum. Still, the Eagles are forced to punt one play later. Antwaan Randle-El allowed the punt to bounce, expecting it to touchback in the endzone. Instead, the Eagles cover the ball and give the Redskins terrible field position on the two yard line.

After running the ball out from deep in their own territory, the Eagles dial up the blitz and sack Jason Campbell for a loss of 16 yards on the missed pickup by Ladell Betts. Still, they find a way to keep the drive alive on a nice strike to the rookie Devin Thomas. Later, on the same drive, on third and six, Campbell attempts a quick pass only to have it batted down at the line of scrimmage. Suisham makes the field goal from 48 yards.

After forcing the Eagles to a three and out series, Washington takes the ball with under two minutes to convert another field goal by Suisham.

Halftime Score: Eagles, 9-14

3rd Quarter -

Both defenses of the teams came out strong to open the third quarter. The wake up call came on a violent run up the middle by Clinton Portis; a tremendous run for 10+ yards. Devin Thomas had a nice pickup on a WR screen to bring the ball inside the Eagles 20 yard line. On the next play, Randle-El took the reverse, faked the run and threw down the field to Chris Cooley for a touchdown. Redskins take the lead.

On the Eagles next possession, they go three and out and give the ball back to Redskins. After a third dropped pass for the game by Randle-El, he leaves the game with an apparent hand injury. The Redskins rookie WR, Devin Thomas commits his third offensive pass interference to negate the first pass reception of Santana Moss. Because of that penalty, the drive stalls.

The Redskins defense stops the Eagles again for three and out. On the resulting punt return by Randle-El, a penalty against the Eagles gives the Redskins the ball at midfield. A monster run by Portis takes the ball all the way inside the Eagles 10-yard line. While Portis is resting on the sideline, Betts takes the ball down inside the five yard line for 2nd and goal.

4th Quarter -

After an incompletion, on third and goal, Portis walks into the endzone for a touchdown.

The next series by the Eagles featured Westbrook and a catch and run by Reggie Brown. After marching deep into Redskins territory, the Redskins make a goal line stand to force the Eagles to kick the field goal.

On the next series by the Redskins, they pick up two consecutive, critical third downs to run the clock down to under three minutes. On yet another critical third down, the offense wastes a down on a broken play, which set up a fourth and one at the Eagles 39-yard line. Clinton Portis takes the hand off up the middle, pushes the pile ahead for the first down!

The Eagles without a time out remaining, run out the clock to win the game.

Score: Redskins, 23-17

Wrap Up -

• Jason Campbell was 16 of 29 for 176 yards.
• Clinton Portis rushed 29 times for 145 yards and a TD.
• Chris Cooley had 8 receptions for 109 yards and a TD.
• Six different Redskins caught passes today, except for Santana Moss.
• Redskins defense held the Eagles, the sixth ranked offense in the league, to only 196 yards passing and 58 yards rushing. 

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The Redskins overcame a big play and some mental errors to win the game against the Cardinals. 1st Quarter The Redskins drove the length of the field going six for six for 37 yards. Clinton Portis finished the drive with a nifty short yardage run that required him to keep his head up and see the lanes. The Cardinals opened up the game with their first series ending in a punt, mostly due to a delay of game penalty on an intended fourth down and inches attempt. After the penalty, they decided to punt instead. Ladell Betts missed a blitz pickup and the resulting sack stalled the Redskins second drive. Thus, Durant Brooks started off the game with his first punt going for only 35 yards. 2nd Quarter Redskins open up the quarter with the ball after recovering a fumble by Edgerrin James. Shaun Suisham connected on a 46 yard field goal after the drive stalled, again. The Cardinals put together a long, 84 yard drive, assisted by a pass interference penalty on Carlos Rogers that resulted in a touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to Anquan Boldin against Fred Smoot. After another stalled drive by the Redskins, Durant Brooks unleashed a 56 yard punt and pinned the Cardinals deep in their own territory. On the ensuing possession by the Cardinals, with just a 1:11 minutes left in the half, the drive stalled for no points. Score: Redskins lead, 7-10. 3rd Quarter Cardinals open the 2nd half and drive 80+ yards with the help of a personal foul penalty on Fred Smoot, and an offsides penalty. Redskins defense saves against a touchdown however on the play of LaRon Landry and Jason Taylor; both of them breaking up key plays of the drive. On the next series, the Redskins get their first 1st down since the 1st quarter with a short pass to Chris Cooley. Devin Thomas got into the game for a 16 yard misdirection play. Antwaan Randle-El, on a trick play, passed to Chris Cooley to bring the Skins to the Red Zone. Cooley caught a screen and ran all the way to the two yard line. Todd Yoder completed the touchdown drive with a 2 yard reception from Jason Campbell from a formation that looked like a short yardage package. Cardinals come right back with a 62 yard touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald against Reed Doughty and LaRon Landry. On the next drive, Jason Campbell keeps the drive going early with a scramble out of the backfield. After another short pass to Randle-El, the quarter ends. Score: Tie, 17-17 4th Quarter Redskins open the quarter needing 7 yards for a 1st down, but only pick up 4. Durant Brooks hits a good punt to place the Cardinals inside their 20 yard line. On 2nd and eight, Kurt Warner attempted to go long again only to have the ball interecepted by Carlos Rogers. He returned the interception into the Red Zone. The Redskins quickly convert the turnover to a touchdown pass on a WR screen pass from Jason Campbell to Santana Moss. Cardinals next possession was harrassed by the Redskins blitz package and a sack by Rocky McIntosh. For a moment it appeared that Devin Thomas had his first career TD. But, it was nullified by a personal foul penalty by Stephon Heyer. Nevertheless, the Redskins put a number of first downs together in methodical fashion; for a while. The drive stalls at the Arizona 32 yard line. Shaun Suisham hooks the ensuing field goal attempt wide left to get the ball back to the Cardinals. Cardinals go three and out and punt the ball to Randle-El and the Skins. Redskins get the ball back deep in their territory and effectively run out the clock. Score: Redskins, 17-24 Wrap Up Jason Campbell finished the day with a 112 QB rating, passing for 193 yards on 22 completions from 30 attempts, and two touchdowns. Surprisingly, Campbell was also the Redskins second leading rusher of the game with 26 yards from scrimmage. Clinton Portis finished the day with only 68 yards rushing. But, he scored the opening drive touchdown of the game. Santana Moss and Chris Cooley each had seven receptions for 70+ yards. Moss scored a touchdown on a WR screen catch and run. It is the first time a Redskins receiver has caught a touchdown pass in six consecutive games since Bobby Mitchell did it in 1961. The defense was prepared for the Cardinals. For the most part, with the exception of a long pass for a touchdown, the Cardinals were held in check. Specifically, the Redskins defense held Kurt Warner to under 200 yards passing, and only 116 yards rushing. Shaun Suisham went 1 for 2 in FGs, missing one long attempt wide left. He was perfect on extra points. Durant Brooks, the rookie, punted four times for an average of nearly 43 yards. His longest of the day was a 56 yard boomer. What should be noted here is that Brooks was able to get enough air under the ball which essentially limited the Cardinals from effective punt returns. In fact, the Cardinals had two punt returns. One was stopped for no yardage. The second was for only 3 yards. Download a detailed Game Summary.

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As much as I urged us all to have patience with Jason Campbell after the Giants game, I continue to urge patience after the Saints game. While there is much to be excited about, my untrained eyes saw too many things that need attention. Thus, I’m certain that Jim Zorn will have much more teaching to do.

That said, there was enough from Campbells play yesterday that should send a clear message to Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas. It’s time to step up and get in the game. Personally, I can’t wait to see the effectiveness of the offense when we have more than just one explosive WR in Santana Moss. That’s not a ding against Antwaan Randel-El.

I’m just saying…

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