The Washington Redskins will host their first primetime game of the season as they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at Fed Ex Field Monday night, Kickoff is at 8 pm. Pittsburgh fell to 5-2 last week after Ben Roethlisberger was sacked five times and threw four interceptions. He only completed 13 of the 29 passes he attempted for 189 yards, however long snapper Greg Warren’s torn ACL in the third quarter had as much to do with the 21-14 lost. It lead to a bad snap on a punt when LB James Harrison filled in for Warren he snapped the ball over the punter’s head and out the back of the end zone, Both of the Steelers losses have at the hands of NFC East team (they lost to the Eagles in Week 3).
Last week Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell completed his first 10 passes and finished 23-of-28 for a season-high 328 yards and a touchdown he posted a career-high 127.4 passer rating, and had no trouble finding Santana Moss. Moss had nine catches for 140 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown in the third quarter. The receiver “one upped” himself when he returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Redskins defense forced the Lions to punt on every possession in the third quarter and held them to two first downs on 12 third-down conversion attempts for the game. Middle linebacker London Fletcher sealed the game when he tackled wide receiver Calvin Johnson a yard short of the first-down marker on fourth-and-3, stopping the Lions’ final drive with less than a minute remaining. Campbell then lined the team up in the victory formation as the Redskins moved to 6-2 with the 25-17 victory.
The Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers have met 75 times in the regular season and 18 times in the preseason, Washington holds the edge in both series (42-30-3 edge in the regular season and 12-5-1 in the preseason).The Steelers last regular season meeting against the Redskins was at Heinz Field in 2004, the Steelers used three field goals by Jeff Reed, and a 100-yard day by running back Jerome Bettis to defeat the Redskins 16-7.
Quotes of Note:
— “I’m back there one time a game, so that’s nothing, ‘I told Coach going into the season that I would like to be back there at least once a game or twice a game if they need me. Overuse ain’t even a word. ‘When you’re out there playing football, ‘you just trying to be used enough to win the game. That’s all I’m worried about. I don’t worry about how many more reps I got. I want more opportunities to give ourselves a chance to win. So that’s what it’s about.” — Wide receiver Santana Moss on the increase number of punt returns he has this season.
— “This is not high school and it’s not college, Each and every week, any given team can beat you on any given Sunday. It’s all about going out and getting a ‘W.’ Whether you win by one point or whether you win by ten to 15, at the end of the day it still shows up as the same, ‘W,’ no matter how you get it. We just have to continue to understand that winning in the NFL is not easy. Of course, you’d like to go out, score 35, score 40 points, I don’t think anyone really gave us a chance to move the ball the way we’re doing it right now early on in the season. It’s good to know that we’ve got a lot of room for improvement. It’s good to hear my teammates say that they feel we can do a lot better. That goes to show you that we’re not getting complacent with the way that we’re playing.” — Quarterback Jason Campbell discussing the fact that the Redskins have no victories of more than seven points this season.
— “Stump had asked if he was ready to go, and he said yes. All of the sudden I called a play for him, but he wasn’t in there down at the other end. And so I was kind of surprised, and Shaun ran the ball and he ran it hard, ok, so he got all he could. And then when the quarter was over, [Portis] was already on the field on about the 5-yard line waiting for the team to come over there, and I was thinking, ‘Now wait a minute, now this isn’t right.’ “So I was confused, so I brought him off the field. And I just said, ‘Don’t go on the field. I don’t even know, I don’t know what’s going on here, so get off the field.’ Well, he was mad, rightly so, because he was ready to go, and I was confused, because I didn’t know what was going on, so I didn’t want a player just to go on or off when he felt like it. And those were the things that I tried to communicate to him, and he had said that he had had a helmet problem and that’s why he was off, so we just got it straightened up very quickly, and he went back in and did his thing.” — Head Coach Jim Zorn on what happened with running back Clinton Portis on the last play of the first quarter of the Lions game
Comparing the Team Leaders:
The Pittsburgh Steelers are lead by QB Ben Roethlisberger who has a QB rating of 85.7 with 1352 passing yards, ten touchdowns and seven interceptions; Jason Campbell leads the Redskins’ offense with a QB rating of 100.5 with 1754 passing yards and has thrown eight touchdowns and no picks. Mewelde Moore leads the Steelers ground attack with 322 yards on 65 carries and averaging 5.0 yards per carry and has three touchdowns while Clinton Portis leads the NFL with 944 yards on 187 carries and averaging 5.0 yards per carry and has seven touchdowns. Hines Ward is the Pittsburgh’s top pass catcher with 406 yards and five touchdowns on 31 catches while averaging 13.1 yards per catch. The Redskins top wide receiver is Santana Moss averaging 15.7 yards per catch with 42 receptions for 658 yards and five touchdowns. James Farrior leads the Steelers defense with 50 tackles, James Harrison leads the team with eight sacks, and Troy Polamalu has three interceptions for the Steelers. London Fletcher leads the Redskins defense in tackles with 67 while Andre Carter has two sacks for the team lead and Chris Horton continues to lead the team with three interceptions.
Complete Tale of the Tapes:
Total Points Offense: Washington is ranked 23rd averaging 20.6 points per game and The Pittsburgh Steelers ranks 14th averaging 22.1 points per game
Total Offense: Washington is ranked 7th with 364.2 yards per game and The Pittsburgh Steelers ranks 25th with 291.7 ypg.
Rushing Offense: Washington is ranked 2nd with 155.2 yards per game and The Pittsburgh Steelers ranks 18th with 107.3 ypg.
Passing Offense: Washington is ranked 18th with 209.0 yards per game and The Pittsburgh Steelers ranks 24th with 184.4 ypg.
Total Points Defense: Washington is ranked 8th giving up on average 18.1 points per game and The Pittsburgh Steelers ranks 4th giving up on average 15.7 points per game
Total Defense: Washington is ranked 6th, giving up 278.1 yards per game and The Pittsburgh Steelers ranks 1st with 236.07 ypg.
Rushing Defense: Washington is ranked 5th, giving up 82.8 yards per game and The Pittsburgh Steelers ranks 3rd with 71.6 ypg.
Passing Defense: Washington is ranked 11th, giving up 195.4 yards per game and The Pittsburgh Steelers ranks 1st with 164.2 ypg.
Injury Report:
Ladell Betts (knee/hamstring) is Out
Betts suffered a strained lateral collateral knee ligament and strained hamstring, with some swelling in his calf in Week 6, and will be out several weeks
Malcolm Kelly (Knee) is Out
Kelly will be rested through the bye week and then decide whether to put him on the injured-reserve list
Shawn Springs (Calf) is Out
Springs “tweaked” his calf during practice last week and will miss a second straight game
Jason Taylor (Knee) is Out
Taylor did not practice this week, and Coach Jim Zorn has said Taylor will not play Sunday
Rock Cartwright (Knee) is Probable
Cartwright sat out with a minor knee strain, but is expected to play Sunday
Santana Moss (hamstring) is Probable
Moss’ participation was limited in practice this week, Moss will be a game time decision
Chris Samuels (Knee) is Probable
Samuels is expected to play Monday despite lingering knee soreness that kept him out last week
Pete Kendall (Knees) is Probable
Every Wednesday Kendall sits out practice to rest his knees but plays every week
Clinton Portis (hip flexor) is Probable
Portis’s participation was limited in practice this week, but is expected to play Sunday
Chris Horton (ankle) is Probable
Horton’s participation was limited in practice this week, but is expected to play Sunday
Injured Reserves:
The following players are done for the 2008 season:
DE Alex Buzbee (Achilles Injury)
DE Phillip Daniels (Knee Injury)
S Reed Doughty (Back)
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