Here’s a prediction: Washington will use Sunday’s win over Dallas to ignite a wild finish in the season’s second half, contend for the playoffs and fulfill preseason expectations. All the Redskins needed was a win like Sunday’s.
It’ll happen.
Unless … another prediction comes true: The problems that were in place before, and mostly during, Sunday’s win remain and Washington continues its march toward mediocrity — or worse.
Where the Redskins go from the 22-19 win over Dallas is anyone’s guess. But, for now, they’re 3-5 with a wave of adrenaline entering Sunday’s game at Philadelphia.
“We needed to get a spark,” Redskins defensive tackle Joe Salave’a said. “Hopefully that’ll springboard us toward the right direction.”
The Redskins won because Troy Vincent blocked a last-second field goal; because Nick Novak drilled a 47-yarder on the final play; and because the ball they always insist bounces wrong for them, finally bounced right.
“We needed a lift,” Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said. “This was an emotional lift. Will it mean anything in Philadelphia? I hope it does.”
The Redskins didn’t dominate Dallas. The Cowboys outgained them, 378 yards to 300; Terrell Owens dropped a certain touchdown pass that would have clinched the win. Then again, Washington had a near-miraculous win in Dallas last year when it was outplayed in and that possibly led to a big win the following week against Seattle. Of course, the Redskins lost the next two after that.
“Any time you can get momentum, that works well for you,” Redskins center Casey Rabach said. “It gives you confidence and you keep on rolling.”
The problem is, Washington’s sins continued to show. If not for Owens’ drop (preventing a 74-yard strike) and tight end Anthony Fasano falling with nothing but open field ahead of him in the final minute, the Cowboys could have totaled nearly 500 yards of offense.
Despite having all of its starters healthy, the Redskins’ defense dropped from 26th to 30th in the rankings. And they allowed five more pass plays of at least 20 yards and now lead the NFL with 35 such plays. Until that’s solved, a monster turnaround is unlikely.
The offense did well minus injured receiver Santana Moss, but is still trying to mount a consistent attack on a weekly basis.
“We’ve still got a long road ahead of us,” Redskins defensive end Renaldo Wynn said. “Even though this is a great win, we’re not content. It’s kind of a wave like, man we’re happy we won but we should have been doing this.”
Week 10 notes
» Receiver Santana Moss, who did not play in Sunday’s win over Dallas, isn’t sure yet if he’ll play at Philadelphia this week.
Moss said he feels better, but stopped short of expressing any optimism about his return.
“I feel pretty good so we’ve got to take it from there,”Moss said.
Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said the trainers felt Moss had a good workout on Monday. They don’t want him to rush back.
“He had some blood at the bottom of his hamstring,” Gibbs said. “That’s got to go away. I’m going to hope he’s ready for this week.”
Tackle Jon Jansen (calf) and tight end Chris Cooley (shoulder) both should be fine. Lemar Marshall (ankle) and running back Clinton Portis (ankle) also emerged OK.
» Defensive tackle Joe Salave’a on Sunday’s win, “For people that have high blood pressure, I don’t know how they dealt with it. It was exciting being on the field; I couldn’t imagine being one of the 90,000 in the stands.”
» According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Redskins are the first team in NFL history to score 22 points in three straight games. Two of those games ended in losses, to Tennessee and Indianapolis.
» Though Portis has missed only one game because of an injury, he’s on pace for only 242 carries — which would be a career-low by 31.
“He’s been nicked,” Gibbs said. “It’s one thing after another, everything from his shoulder to his leg. I still don’t know anybody more aggressive or capable of breaking a game open.”
