The Washington Redskins now have ten wide receivers on the 2007 pay roll, forty percent of them are inactive. On Thursday, wide receiver Brandon Lloyd was placed on injured reserve after suffering a fractured right clavicle injury in practice on Wednesday. The team re-signed wide receiver Jimmy Farris to replace Lloyd on the active roster. Farris has played in a total of 34 NFL games, compiling seven receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns. The 6-0, 196-pound Farris spent time with the Redskins during the 2005 season (active four games) and the 2006 preseason. Farris was most recently with the Jacksonville Jaguars in training camp last summer but did not make the final roster. He has also spent time on the rosters of the San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, and Atlanta Falcons. The Redskins will go into Sunday’s game with three healthy wide outs, none of them (Reche Caldwell, Keenan McCardell, and Farris) were with the team at the start of the 2007 season. If Santana Moss (groin/heel) or Randle El (hamstring) can’t play, McCardell will join the starting lineup.
News, Notes, and Quotes:
— The Redskins allowed Jason Campbell to call his own plays for extensive periods of time by running a no-huddle offense; Campbell said it helped the team become “a more open offense.” He also said, “it was a big step forward for the group.” Until last Sunday, Campbell had only operated in a no-huddle offense in two-minute drills at the end of halves. Players were privately telling Gibbs and Saunders that Campbell and the wide receivers could handle more of the load, noting it would open up the offense.
— Marco Coleman and Bruce Smith recorded double-digit sack total in 2000; no Redskin defensive lineman has done so since. The 2007 defensive line has 141/2 sacks so far this season. Defensive end Andre Carter is on pace to hit the double-digit figure with seven sacks and seven games remaining.
— “We’re going to give them a lot of different looks, so they can’t hone in on one thing. But we’ll try to stay with the things that we’ve had in our repertoire all year long. You can’t change things in a week. You can’t do something dramatically different. We’ll be doing the same things that we’ve been normally doing since I’ve been here. We’ll just have different guys doing it. And they’re going to have to step up and make some plays.” … Gregg Williams comments about preparing for his first game since 2004 without having Sean Taylor in the lineup.
— “He’s a young player, he’s competitive and he wants to do his best, and sometimes you can be too hard on yourself when things don’t go your way. I just thought he needed to know, I felt it was important to let him know, that he did enough for us to win the football game. I like the fact that he was like, ‘Nah, Fletch, I should have done this or that.’ But that attitude is why, as a football team, we believe in Jason.” … London Fletcher on Jason Campbell after last week’s lost.
— “Being the third leading rusher in the NFL does me no good. As a team sitting at 5-4, I said that when I wasn’t getting the ball as much and we were winning, that was fine. Now, I have the opportunity to get some rushing yards and we’re at 5-4, you can’t enjoy that. I would rather have the wins than the yards any day. We just have to find a way to get both of them going.” … Clinton Portis on having a second consecutive 100+ yard day.
When did it all go wrong?
Penalties are a good place to start. On Sunday, the Eagles ran five plays after starting inside their own twenty-yard line to start the game and should have been sending the punt team on after McNabb’s pass was incomplete to Tapeh on third and eleven from their own 29 yard line. However, cornerback Fred Smoot was called for illegal contact, giving Philly a first and ten at the 34. On the next play, middle linebacker London Fletcher was called for defensive pass interference and another twelve yards were walked off by the referees. You could say it all went wrong when it went from third and eleven at the 29 to first and ten from 34 without a actual play being run; but that all happened in the first three minutes of the game.
The miscues didn’t stop there. With 4:15 to go in the third quarter, the Eagles faced a third and 3 from the Redskins’ 29; safety Sean Taylor was flagged for a face mask, and McNabb threw an 8-yard touchdown three plays later.
Later, facing a second and two, McNabb threw the short pass that went 57 yards for the go ahead touchdown with less than four minutes left in the game. the play before that, the Eagles were facing second and eight but the Redskins had twelve players on the field. And, the series before that, the Eagles faced a second and ten from the Skins’ 40, when Philadelphia’s G. Lewis was called for a 15-yard illegal crack-back, forcing a second and 20. One play later, Shawn Springs was called for illegal contact, leading to the 45-yard touchdown pass to Brown.
It wasn’t all on the defensive unit, because the offense had three false starts, the last one being the most costly when Chris Cooley’s false start pushed the team back from third and goal at the 2 to a third and goal from the seven. Two plays later, Washington kicked a field goal.
Playing mistake-free football shouldn’t be too much to ask. Players making mistakes that keep them on the field or cost them to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns might be a good place to start, when wondering where it all went wrong.
Moving on:
The Redskins will travel to Texas Stadium this weekend to battle their division rivals and division leaders. At 8-1, Dallas are coming off a 31-20 victory at Giants Stadium to take a two-game lead in the division. The kickoff was moved back and is now scheduled for 4:15 pm. For those not in the area you can follow the game online.
This week’s opponents are led by quarterback Tony Romo (103.3 QB rating, 2555 yards, 23 Touchdowns, and 11 Interceptions) and inside linebacker Bradie James (62 Tackles, 40 Solo/22 Assists and two sacks). They are ranked second in points scored with a average of 32.9 points per game; the defense is ranked 21st in points allowed, giving up a average of 21.7 points per game.
Complete Tale of the Tapes:
Total Offense: Washington is ranked 20th with 315.9 yards per game and this week’s Opponents ranks 2nd with 396.8 ypg.
Rushing Offense: Washington is ranked 8th with 132.1 yards per game and this week’s Opponents ranks 10th with 122.8 ypg.
Passing Offense: Washington is ranked 24th with 183.8 yards per game and this week’s Opponents ranks 3rd with 274.0 ypg.
Total Defense: Washington is ranked 11th giving up 318.2 yards per game and this week’s Opponents ranks 7th with 298.6 ypg.
Rushing Defense: Washington is ranked 10th giving up 99.9 yards per game and this week’s Opponents ranks 5th with 86.8 ypg.
Passing Defense: Washington is ranked 21st giving up 218.3 yards per game and this week’s Opponents ranks 17th with 211.8 ypg.
Injury Report:
WR Santana Moss (groin) is listed as Questionable.
Moss underwent an MRI on his injured heel on Monday; it revealed that he had a bruised heel. He did not practice this week, but he did a little bit of work in running shoes on Thursday.
LB Marcus Washington (hamstring) is listed as Questionable.
Washington practice on Wednesday and is likely to play Sunday.
WR James Thrash (high ankle sprain) is listed as Questionable.
Thrash did not practice this week but is optimistic that he will return soon.
WR Antwaan Randle El (hamstring) is listed as Probable.
Randle El continues to be bothered by hamstring and groin problems but was able to practice and is expected to play Sunday.
LG Pete Kendall (knee) is listed as Probable.
Kendall did not practice on Wednesday but was back on the field for Thursday’s practice.
DE Fred Smoot (hamstring) is listed as Probable.
Smoot was limited in practice on Wednesday but is likely to play Sunday.
RG Randy Thomas (torn triceps muscle) is listed as Out.
Thomas is still recovering and hopes to return in mid December.
S Sean Taylor (knee) is listed as Out.
Taylor has a Grade II right knee sprain and is expected to be out at least two weeks.
Injured Reserves:
The following players are done for the 2007 season:
FB Broughton, Nehemiah (Knee)
TE Ecker, Tyler (Groin)
WR Espy, Mike (Knee)
WR Harris, Steven (Knee)
WR McAddley, Jason (Hamstring)
OL Tucker, Ross (Neck)
OT Jansen, Jon (Ankle)
CB Rogers, Carlos (Neck)
WR Lloyd, Brandon (Fractured Clavicle)
Edit: This blog was archived in May of 2016 from our original articles database.It was originally posted by Bernie Marshall