As Jason Campbell grabbed at his knee, his face grimacing in pain, the Redskins’ season was about to take another turn. Just not the one many expected. The future of the franchise exited on a cart, seemingly taking any faint playoff hopes with him.
And the joke spread once it was learned that Campbell would miss four weeks for this 5-7 team: that means he could return for the playoffs. Ha,ha.
Thanks to Todd Collins, Campbell has a chance to be back in uniform this season. Thanks to Collins, Campbell might not get back on the field. Without Collins’ play — after a decade between starts — the Redskins (9-7) would not be traveling to Seattle for a playoff game.
In three of Collins’ four outings, he finished with passer ratings of 104.8 or higher. And the offense averaged 27 points in his three starts. In Campbell’s 12 full games, the Redskins (9-7) averaged 19 points.
“Todd’s doing a lot of great things,” Redskins receiver Santana Moss said.
Collins’ experience has mattered. More downfield passing plays have been called, and completed. More aggressive playcalling is used even late in games, a change from earlier in the season.
Sunday night, Collins connected on a 42-yard strike to Santana Moss for a touchdown and 27-3 lead.
Four of Collins’ five touchdown passes have come with the Redskins leading. He’s averaging 9.7 yards per pass attempt in that situation.
“When Jason was in there, we still had that spoon feeding or not really pulling it off and letting it go,” receiver Antwaan Randle El said. “We’ve gotten to the point where everyone is more comfortable, even coach [Joe] Gibbs, to letting the ball go down more. The coaches realize how much balance we really need.”
Said running back Clinton Portis, “With Todd, he’ll check down to me and no one will be around. With Jason, he might check down and three people are standing there. The difference is in reading the defense.”
It’s also about the subtleties of the position. Collins does little things like call for shifts with eight seconds left on the play clock, four seconds later than ideal. But it’s designed to get the defense to reveal its hand earlier than desired.
“He wants to see the defense move,” Randle El said.
Before Collins played, friends of Chris Samuels would tell him how bad Collins was, basing it on his inactivity. Samuels would stand up for Collins, basing it on preseason games and practice. Turns out he was right.
“A lot of times it’s all about the opportunity,” Samuels said. “Once you get in there you can show what you can do. That’s what he’s doing.”
