The Redskins play host to the 2-0 Arizona Cardinals this Sunday, kickoff is at 1 pm. The Cardinals are leading the NFC West and are 2-0 for the first time since 1991. After wide receiver Anquan Boldin hauled in a 79-yard touchdown from quarterback Kurt Warner on the Cardinals’ first offensive play of the game, Arizona went on to record 445 yards of total offense and a 31-10 win against the Miami Dolphins. The Redskins gave Jim Zorn his first regular season victory in their home opener. Washington’s offense controlled the ball for more than 34 minutes and gained a total of 455 yards, as the defense forced three turnovers and limited the New Orleans Saints to just 55 yards on the ground on their way to a 29-24 come from behind win. Washington has won eight of the past nine meetings to extend its overall series lead to 72-44-2. Washington faced Arizona last year in week seven and the game took the full 60 minutes before the outcome became obvious, the Cardinals recovered their onside kick and had a chance to win the game, but kicker Neil Rackers missed a 55-yard field goal attempt as time expired, the Redskins held on for the 21-19 win.
News, Notes, and Quotes:
— “I want to thank the National Football League for this tremendous honor, I feel truly blessed to have the game that I did last Sunday. My coaches prepared me and had enough confidence in me to give me this opportunity. I give the credit to my teammates who forced those turnovers and put me in a position to make plays.” — Rookie safety Chris Horton after being named the NFC defensive player of the week
— “I know I’m on the line,” Brooks said, “with probably guys coming in here and working out if I don’t have a good game. Who knows what’ll happen? “It’s very difficult; You have to wait a week for another game to play good. It’s a good thing we have practice all this week to get a lot of punts in, a lot of work. Once I get going again, I think I could put it behind me.” — Rookie punter Durant Brooks on his poor performance against the Saints
— If you include the Redskins’ Wild Card playoff game last season, then Santana Moss’s 67-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Saints marked the fifth straight game in which he has caught a touchdown. Moss becomes the first Redskin since Charlie Brown in 1982 to catch a touchdown in five straight games, his longest streak of games in which he had a touchdown catch is seven, that was recorded in 2003. Campbell has completed 18-of-26 passes (69.2 percent) for 258 yards and one touchdown in the fourth this year, giving him a passer rating of 113.9, which ranks him second in the NFC in fourth quarter passing. Clinton Portis needs one more rushing touchdown to tie Terry Allen (1995-1999) for third most in Redskins franchise history with 38. Chris Cooley has caught a pass in 58 straight regular season games, with two more he will tie Larry Brown for 10th all-time in Redskins history with 238, and eight catches will move Cooley into second place on the Redskins’ career receptions list by a tight end behind Jerry Smith.
— Jason La Canfora writes a blog for the Washington Post, a recent entry compared Jason Campbell’s first two starts versus Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck’s first two starts in Coach Jim Zorn’s west coast offense. He noted that in Hasselbeck’s first two games in 2001, Matt went 29-for-58 for 240 yards, with no TDs, and 2 INTs. He was sacked more than ten times and posted a sub 50 passer rating. After the comparison La Canfora concluded it takes some time and there will be bumps in the road and pointed out that Jason Campbell is being asked to adapt again to a new system. The National press as been noted as saying Campbell isn’t a good fit for the west coast system based on his physical stature and arm strength. The fan base wants to see progression, yet no one has compared Jason’s stats versus Jason’s stats to see if he is progressing or not.
Well here it is: After two starts Jason has a passer rating of 94.3 with 39 completions on 63 attempts for 454 yards two touchdowns and no turnovers, he recorded one win and one lost. 1-1 was his won lost record after his first two starts in 2006 (weeks 11 and 12), when he finally became the Redskins starting QB. He had an 83.25 passer rating completing just 51.8 percent of his attempts (30 of 57) with 314 yards four TDs and one pick. Last year numbers were an improvement over 2006 stats but not as well as his current numbers. He had his worst passer rating in the comparison with a 54.7 the rating was so low partly because of his 3 interception and just one touchdown pass in those first two games (the Redskins won both games), and he only completed 28 of 50 passes for 431 yards.
You be the judge, is Jason progressing or are we just looking at a bunch of numbers and coming to our own conclusions?
— Running back Clinton Portis and former Redskins running back turned Radio Sports annalist Brian Mitchell got into a heated discussion during The John Thompson Show earlier this week over negative comments made by Mitchell regarding Portis. At one point John Thompson had to step in and comment on positive things that have been said by Mitchell to get the two to settle down.
Comparing the Team Leaders:
The Arizona Cardinals are lead by QB Kurt Warner who has a QB rating of 128.5 with 558 passing yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions; Jason Campbell is leading the Redskins with a QB rating of 94.3 with 454 passing yards and has thrown two touchdowns and no picks. Edgerrin James leads the Cardinals ground attack 155 yards on 44 carries and averaging 3.5 yards per carry while Clinton Portis has the same number of carries, averaging 4.1 ypc. with 180 yards and two touchdowns. Anquan Boldin is the Cardinals top receiver with 222 yards and two touchdowns on fifteen catches and three touchdowns. The Redskins top receiver is Santana Moss averaging 16.8 yard average per catch on 12 receptions for 201 yards. The Cardinals defense is lead by Karlos Dansby with fifteen tackles, Travis LaBoy leads the team with two sacks, and Adrian Wilson and Bertrand Berry each have one interception and are tied for the team high. MLB London Fletcher continues to lead the Redskins in tackles with 24 while Chris Wilson, Jason Taylor, and Cornelius Griffin each has one sack and Chris Horton leads the team with two interceptions.
Complete Tale of the Tapes:
Total Offense: Washington is ranked 11th with 332.0 yards per game and The Arizona Cardinals ranks 7th with 365.0 ypg.
Rushing Offense: Washington is ranked 15th with 116.5 yards per game and The Arizona Cardinals ranks 19th with 95.0 ypg.
Passing Offense: Washington is ranked 13th with 215.5 yards per game and The Arizona Cardinals ranks 5th with 270.0 ypg.
Total Defense: Washington is ranked 14th, giving up 302.0 yards per game and The Arizona Cardinals ranks 7th with 263.5 ypg.
Rushing Defense: Washington is ranked 17th, giving up 104.5 yards per game and The Arizona Cardinals ranks 10th with 90.0 ypg.
Passing Defense: Washington is ranked 19th, giving up 197.5 yards per game and The Arizona Cardinals ranks 12th with 173.5 ypg.
Injury Report:
Malcolm Kelly (Ankle) is Questionable
Kelly’s participation was limited in practice this week
Khary Campbell (Thigh) is Doubtful
Campbell’s participation was limited in practice this week
James Thrash (Ankle) is Questionable
Thrash’s participation was limited in practice this week
Fred Smoot (Hip-Pointer) is Probable
Smoot’s participation was limited in practice this week
Marcus Washington (Hip) is Questionable
Washington participated fully in practice this week
H.B. Blades (Knee) is Probable
Blade’s participation was limited in practice this week
Kareem Moore (Hamstring) is Questionable
Moore’s participation was limited in practice this week
Jason Taylor (knee) is Probable
Taylor participated fully in practice this week
Injured Reserves:
The following players are done for the 2008 season:
DE Alex Buzbee (Achilles Injury)
DE Phillip Daniels (Knee Injury)
LB Matt Sinclair (Back)
Edit: This blog was archived in May of 2016 from our original articles database.It was originally posted by Bernie Marshall