Studs
QB Jason Campbell. OK, no touchdown passes and one trip inside the Dallas 20-yard line and that was only to the 19 and it resulted in lost yardage. But he made plays under duress and was terrific on third downs. He stood in against unblocked blitzers, as on the shallow cross to Santana Moss, in which Campbell knew he was going to get drilled yet still remained patient. On the last play, he tried to make a play but was forced to throw sidearm, had the pass deflected and it was intercepted. Overall, though, hard to argue with his effort behind the patchwork line.
WR Devin Thomas. Caught just three passes for 33 yards, but had a nice kick return for 38 yards — I’d like to see more of him in this role — and had a vicious block on Dallas’ Bobby Carpenter.
S LaRon Landry. Had a strong game, both in coverage and in support. He did what he was supposed to do — stop big plays downfield and he even seemed to intimidate WR Roy Williams with some big hits. Landry was good vs. the run, too, and his tackling was improved.
CB DeAngelo Hall. The only passes he allowed were little comeback routes and, like the others in the secondary, nothing got behind him. He had a nice tackle on a run in which he caused Felix Jones to flip over. He also picked up a fumble caused by London Fletcher.
RB Rock Cartwright. Ran exceptionally hard and was more than effective. He posted a career-best 140 yards of offense. Loved that he constantly made the first defender miss, whether on arm tackles at the legs or with a cut leading to a whiff.
RG Edwin Williams. Was not fantastic by any means. But considering he had appeared in only one game he could have been much worse. The problems up front weren’t not because of him. A couple times Williams got knocked back, but he was able to anchor. It’s hard to imagine him being a capable starter — especially if facing the overload blitzes by the Eagles — but he did as well as could have been expected Sunday.
LB London Fletcher. Did not think he was all that good early on; engulfed by blockers, dropped an easy interception. He was not getting to the ballcarriers. But he also forced a fumble and later did pick off a pass. Plus he started doing a better job of eluding blockers or taking them on; at times he appeared to line up a little closer to the line — about 5 yards — and that helped him take on blockers at a better angle. He was in on more plays within three yards of the line when making his tackles. And he finished with a game-best 13 tackles.
Duds
K Shaun Suisham. Had been perfect before Sunday, but his two misses were a huge factor in the loss, obviously.
RT Stephon Heyer. Just does not get a lot of movement on the ground game and at times he waits too long to engage the pass rusher, sometimes causing his hands to go too low and also to not get much push — if any. Had two false starts. Overall not very effective. Anthony Spencer gave him problems.
DTs Cornelius Griffin/Kedric Golston (first half). The Cowboys rammed the ball down the middle of the field in the first half. It wasn’t just the tackles. The linebackers were not getting off blocks — the Dallas linemen to scrape and make tackles. This tandem was getting driven out and turned inside and Golston once got buried. They improved in the second half, holding their ground better. Griffin recorded a sack that was all strength and desire vs. Leonard Davis.
TE Fred Davis. Not his best game blocking. Whiffed a couple times and failed to hold the edge on other times. Dallas was able to control cutback lanes because the ends did not have as strong a game as the previous week. In fairness to them, the outside ‘backers are terrific vs. the run and it showed.
LT Levi Jones. The Redskins had to focus a lot of help his way with the backs when he was matched against DeMarcus Ware and it cost them the ability to pick up certain blitzes. Jones was not as stout in run blocking as the previous week. Ware only finished with four tackles and no sacks, but he controlled the rush at times, forcing matchup problems and protection issues. The interior of the line was not much better as the Dallas front three were able to spin off blocks to make plays. This was a tough front seven to face for a line that lacks rhythm.
DE Andre Carter. Not his best game. Got pinned inside a few times and driven out. In fairness, he faced more double teams than in the past with Albert Haynesworth sidelined. The Redskins used him a lot on the left side, even on early downs, to create a mismatch — and also because Flozell Adams is about twice his size. But Carter did stay active into the second half and was able to make a couple plays because of it, including a backside tackle. Another time his quick hands got him around the tackle to help force a hurried pass. But, overall, Carter was unable to apply enough pressure and expectations for him have risen this season.
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