Redskins line holds up but Campbell misfires
ASHBURN – The little twist on the issue occurred Saturday night, with the offensive line affording Jason Campbell the one luxury he wanted most: time. On the first snap of the game, Campbell sat in the pocket and unloaded a deep ball to Malcolm Kelly. It was short.
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Later, Campbell, setting strong in the pocket, looked deep to Santana Moss. But the wideout went inside; the quarterback threw outside and another incompletion was recorded in the stat book.
In the past, the line was blamed for the Redskins’ inability to generate offense downfield. They did their job Saturday in the 17-13 win over Pittsburgh. But Campbell and the passing game did not do theirs.
And, perhaps in part because of that, the offense once more resembled 2008, when long drives were needed to produce points. It’s tough to survive in the NFL without big plays.
The Redskins spent the offseason talking about the need to become more explosive. But they still were off in that regard, albeit while facing arguably the NFL’s best defense.
“I liked the effort,” Redskins coach Jim Zorn said of Campbell’s deep passes. “I’d like more accuracy.”
The pass to Kelly, on the first play from scrimmage, was underthrown.
“I did not know he was that fast,” Campbell said of Kelly, with whom he has not worked much in a game. “Now I’ve got a good feel for his speed in the game.”
The problem: Campbell has underthrown more than a few deep passes during practice as well. This time, Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu recovered from being beaten to deflect the pass.
Another pass to Moss on the first drive — a third-and-10 — was overthrown. Moss was open in the middle of the field. As with the deep ball, that’s another area Campbell has overthrown the smaller receivers in practice.
“He should have pulled that ball down and gotten an easy completion,” Zorn said.
The Redskins were left to applaud Campbell for other things. He made good decisions on throwing the ball away on two failed screens. He made the right reads. He was hurt by tight end Fred Davis drifting on one incompletion.
Still, add it up and it equals one-for-seven passing and three points. Last season, the Redskins ranked 19th in total yards but 28th in points. Saturday provided a repeat of 2008’s second half struggles.
As the season nears, the scrutiny on Campbell will intensify. But, because it’s the preseason, the Redskins point to progress, painting the picture they want to see. Zorn said when Campbell watches the film he’ll like what he sees better than the numbers.
“Once he sees what happened, his psyche should be pretty good,” Zorn said. “He has challenges ahead of him, completing the pass when it’s there. But that’s part of what we’re doing in our preseason.”
