Squeaking Out Another One

The play pictured to the left is probably one that will either mark the turning point to the Redskins season or be one of a handful of wonderful plays that could have combined to reflect on a wonderfully sine-waved season. The play was the fourth quarter interception by Shawn Springs that ensured that the Redskins would maintain posession of the ball and thereby keep their hopes alive for at least another week and getting that much closer to a playoff berth. By all accounts this should have been a game with an extremely high score and uneven competition but as it has been with every other game this season, the Redskins managed just enough to ensure victory.

Play this time was a bit better as Clinton Portis was able to get in the runs that had been missing last week against the Cowboys. It was able to pound through holes in the defense and gain significant yards (143 total rushing yards) in his efforts to help keep the team's ground game alive. There were lots of complaints last week over the fact that the ground game seemed to have been forgotten in lieu of wanting to reacquire the much-vaunted West Coast offense that Coach Jim Zorn was supposed to have implemented. Although there were some attempts at it last week, Sunday's game at Seattle was enough to stifle the critics (at least for a little while) over whether or not the team would even try to re-establish the balanced game they had had just a few weeks prior.

The second half surge by the Seahawks was enough to put most Redskins fans, including myself, on edge due to the fear that we were getting ready to witness yet another unfortunate turn of events that would lead to a late game scoring drive that would leave us well short of winning the game. On what would be Washington's (hopefully) final posession of the game, Jason Campbell (who also gained significant rushing yards this game) was steadily moving the team down the field after having started from their own three yard line. It seemed that despite the fact that Clinton Portis was on the sidelines after again aggravating his knees and sustaining some big hits the team would still be able to steamroll into the end zone for another score to clearly clinch the game in the final minutes. And then it happened.

Ladell Betts was bursting his way through the defense when suddenly the ball was torn from his hands and taken away by Seattle. There was no point in challenging it because it was in the final two minutes of the game. The sudden shift in momentum could have been disasterous as this was the same team that had defeated the Redskins in the playoffs the last two times and so it could have meant a sudden drop in morale that would have led to a score and thus improving Seattle's record to 3-9. It was not to be. The very first pass by Matt Hasselback was thrown just as Shawn Springs turned and Springs torqued his body at a seemingly impossible angle and grabbed the ball from Seattle effectively ending their hopes for a change.

It was a welcome homecoming for the team as Coach Zorn was returning for the first time since becoming head coach and running back Shaun Alexander was returning after being released by Seattle as well. After some disappointing losses in the playoffs to the Seahawks it was reassuring to come out and see the team win. However it still seemed as if the offensive line was collapsing faster that it should have and there were many times when Campbell was being rushed to make his pass. Still showing a lot of improvement over last week, there weren't as many sacks on Campbell allowed and thankfully the turnovers were few and far between. Now as we come into the home stretch of hte regular season we once again see the Redskins meeting up with the team that dealt them their first loss of the season, the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. And though defeat is not a sure thing against this team, I keep hope alive in the fact that Tennessee was defeated quite badly by the Jets yesterday. Perhaps such a win is in the Redskins future too.