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Week 11 Game Recap: Washington Redskins 23, Dallas Cowboys 28
What you need to know
| Washington Redskins |
Jason Campbell completed 33 of his 54 passes for 348 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Though he threw an interception in the redzone with the Redskins threatening to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, the young quarterback looked composed in the pocket frequently eluding the Cowboys pass rush. Encouraging was how when the running game was not producing, the coaching staff did not hesitate putting the ball in Campbell's hands asking him to win it for him, as most of their second half plays were passes. He nearly did, frequently flexing a very strong and accurate arm. The return of Santana Moss also added a dimension to the Redskins offense we haven't seen much this year. He was able to stretch the field on numerous plays, and though most of his damage was done on intermediate sideline patterns, it seemed to open things up for Chris Cooley and Keenan McCardell over the middle. Campbell also showed some mobility running twice for 18 yards, once on a 12 yard carry and a first down. Assuming Moss and the rest of the Redskins receivers can stay healthy, Campbell should be able to build on the success he had in this game, as it was sure to boost his confidence seeing as it was against such a tough opponent.
Clinton Portis started the game, and again dominated the share of carries with Ladell Betts 14 to two. Even so, the Redskin rushing game was not able to get off the ground, as the two running backs ran for a combined 44 yards on 14 carries. Given the success Jason Campbell and the passing game was having; they went away from the run in the second half.
Santana Moss returned for a heel injury, and caught nine passes for 121 yards and a touchdown. His presence in the passing game seemed to both give quarterback Jason Campbell an added confidence, as well as open things up over the middle for the other Redskin receivers. In previous games this season Moss seemed to have trouble catching the ball, but that certainly wasn't the case in this one as he had the play of the game deep down the right sideline with a one handed grab for a 32 yard gain. You'll surely be seeing that on the highlight reels. Though he has been dinged up what seems like the whole season, Moss did not appear effected by any of his previous injuries, and showed off his trademark explosiveness on numerous plays. Assuming he can stay healthy, expect him to remain a key part of the passing attack for an improving Jason Campbell, who targeted him 12 times in this game.
| Dallas Cowboys |
Tony Romo started the game relatively slow by his standards, but finished with a bang on his way to 293 yards and four touchdowns, while completing 22 of his 32 attempts. With the score 10-7 Redskins into the third quarter, Terrell Owens completely took over the game catching his last three passes for three touchdowns, all on deep patterns. First, Romo hit Owens for a 31 yard touchdown just over the safety containment. One drive later, Romo found Owens for a 46 yard score on another blown coverage over the deep middle where the safeties could not stay in front of him. On his last score of the game and again on the next drive, he hit Owens down the deep right sideline, where he was able to break a tackle and go in from 52 yards out. Given that these happened on three straight drives against a hardnosed Redskins defense is a prime example of how the Tony Romo led Cowboys offense is about as explosive as they come, especially in the NFC. Romo did not run the ball outside of a third and short plunge, but showed good athleticism on two shotgun snaps by center Andre Gurode that sailed over his head, where he ran back and recovered then tried to make plays down the field. The first attempt he got it off deep to Terrell Owens that actually resulted in his only interception of the game, but on the second he was able to convert a third down attempt to Owens. Romo has a gunslinger mentality much like a Brett Favre, and though that can get him into trouble in the wrong matchup, his pinpoint accuracy generally makes him successful more often than not.
The Cowboys running game was mainly handled in this game, combining for only 72 yards on 25 carries for a 2.9 yards per carry average. As usual, Julius Jones started the game and carried the ball more frequently in the 1st quarter, but as the game went on more of the responsibility fell on Marion Barber. Neither player was especially productive, and the Redskins were doing a great job holding down the entire Cowboys offense until the Romo to Owens connection put its stamp on the game. Given that neither player was any more productive than the other, the gameplan of working Jones early in the game and Barber more as the game goes on seems to be a strategy that will continue to keep both players fresh.
It's becoming more and more difficult to come up with adjectives to explain a Terrell Owens performance. It appears as though the now mainly all-business Owens suits the Cowboys just fine, as he once again blew up to the tune of eight catches for 173 yards and four touchdowns. Only gaining 44 yards and one five yard touchdown in the first half, the Redskins did a good job of keeping him in front of the coverage. With the score 10-7 Redskins leading in the third quarter, Owens really made his mark in what was a close game from start to finish. On three second half reception, Owens went for 129 yards, scoring all three times on three consecutive drives. He made Shawn Springs look silly as the veteran defensive back could not stay deep with him, and with free safety Sean Taylor out for this game, Owens took advantage of some poor deep coverage to get in behind for what ended up being three easy touchdowns, from 31, 46, and 51 respectively. Tony Romo has the utmost confidence in Owens, often throwing into tight coverage sure that the physically dominant receiver can bring down the catch. Owens did not have a drop on the day, and is proving to again be one of the most dangerous players in the league.
What you ought to know
| QB Jason Campbell, Pass: 33 - 54 - 348 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 18 - 0 |
Jason Campbell completed 32 of 54 passes for 348 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. He ran the ball twice for 18 yards. On the opening drive for the Redskins, Campbell looked composed driving the offense down the field, finding tight end Chris Cooley for a 19 yard score, on his second big gain of the drive. The coaching staff seemed to show confidence in Campbell as his 54 pass attempts would attest. He looks composed in the pocket, and frequently flexed his strong arm on going down the field. The return of Santana Moss certainly seemed to give Campbell a lot of confidence in this game, as even late when they were playing from behind, he was productive. With 1:39 left in the game and the Redskins down 28-23, Campbell lead a drive all the way down the field to the Cowboys 19 yard line. On third and ten Campbell was flushed out of the pocket and threw to Antwaan Randle El, however defensive back Terrance Newman stepped in front of the pass for an interception. The Redskins offense would get another chance with 30 seconds remaining, but were too deep in their own end to mount a serious drive. The game ended on a Campbell bomb that barely made the endzone. Campbell also fumbled once, on a sack earlier in the game.
| RB Clinton Portis, Rush: 12 - 36 - 0, Rec: 2 - 9 - 0 (3 targets) |
Clinton Portis carried the ball 12 times for 36 yards, and caught two passes for nine yards on three targets. The Cowboys were able to bottle up the running game throughout, as Portis had a long gain of six yards on the day. Given the success Jason Campbell had passing the ball, the Redskins went away from the run. Ladell Betts spelled Portis on a few occasions, but does not appear to be a serious threat for touches since Portis still played on most downs with the small workload. Portis limped off the field in the third quarter, but was able to return soon after. He had a six yard carry nullified by penalty.
| RB Ladell Betts, Rush: 2 - 8 - 0, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (2 targets) |
Betts carried the ball twice for eight yards, while catching one pass for six yards on two targets. He did not receive his first carry until the second quarter, and his playing time was infrequent, most often entering the game on the occasional third down. With the passing game so successful, the Redskins were able to go away from running the ball, as Clinton Portis only received 12 carries himself in this game.
| RB Mike Sellers, Rec: 2 - 13 - 0 (2 targets) |
Sellers caught both of his targets for 13 yards. Despite his size, Sellers is a good athlete, and a dangerous weapon catching the ball out of the backfield. Though he did not have an opportunity to score this week, he is generally worked into the gameplan in goal line packages.
| WR Antwaan Randle El, Pass: 1 - 1 - 19 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0, Rec: 7 - 53 - 0 (11 targets) |
Randle El caught seven passes for 53 yards on 11 targets. Being worked into other dimensions of the offense, he also completed a 19 yard pass to Chris Cooley, and took a handoff out of the backfield for zero yards. With Santana Moss returning to the lineup, Randle El was able to get open on underneath and short patterns. He was not targeted any deeper than about ten yards down the field, giving Jason Campbell more of a possession style receiver.
| WR Santana Moss, Rec: 9 - 121 - 1 (12 targets) |
Santana Moss returned from a heel injury, caught nine passes for 121 yards and a touchdown. On the play of the night, Jason Campbell found Moss streaking down the deep right sideline and Moss reached up with one hand and brought the ball in for a beautiful 32 yard gain. He was slightly overthrown in the end zone late in the fourth quarter, and two plays later Campbell threw an interception to essentially end the game. Even with the loss, it was a highly successful return to the lineup for Moss as he produced seven first downs for the Redskins, and was targeted 12 times in the game, four on deep routes. Amazingly, all of this production came in the second half, as his only first half target was a dropped ball.
| WR Keenan McCardell, Rec: 5 - 76 - 0 (7 targets) |
Playing in the slot as the Redskins third receiver, McCardell caught five passes for 76 yards on seven targets. McCardell was an intricate part of the passing game, frequently entering on passing downs. Quarterback Jason Campbell appears confident in the veteran, as all five of his catches were for a first down, two coming on third down plays.
| TE Chris Cooley, Rec: 8 - 89 - 1 (10 targets) |
Chris Cooley produced eight catches for 89 yards and one touchdown. On the first drive of the game Jason Campbell found Cooley twice for 35 yards, one of which was his 19 yard score. Appearing to benefit from the added attention Santana Moss gets on the outside, Cooley frequently worked the middle of the field, and Campbell was confident in him making the difficult catch in coverage. He was targeted ten times in the game.
| PK Shaun Suisham 3 - 4 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 11 points |
Suisham converted all three of his field goal attempts from 45, 39, and 44. He also hit both of his converts.
| WAS Rush Defense |
The Redskins allowed a combined 72 yards on 25 carries for an average of 2.9 yards per carry. Both Marion Barber and Julius Jones were frequently stuffed at the line, or for short gains, as there were only two carries over ten yards. Their front seven was swarming gang tackling the runner, while not giving up any large running lanes to the dangerous Cowboys running backs.
| WAS Pass Defense |
Unfortunately, the Redskins could not stop the Cowboys through the air, which presumably isn't much of an embarrassment since not many have. Terrell Owens torched them for 173 yards and four touchdowns, three of which on plays where coverage broke down in the deep secondary. Shawn Springs in coverage on Owens much of the day was able to contain him underneath reasonably well, but clearly had no answer for him on deep patterns where Owens did most of his damage. Tony Romo passed for 293 yards, and completed 22 of 32 passes. He did throw one interception on a ball intended for Owens deep down the middle of the field, but otherwise Romo was able to capitalize. Free Safety Sean Taylor was out for this game with a knee sprain, and replacement Pierson Prioleau completely missed a tackle on Owens' fourth and final touchdown of the day. Taylor was apparently sorely missed in deep coverage. The Redskins sacked Romo once on the day, but generally weren't able to get a lot of pressure on him with their front four alone.
| QB Tony Romo, Pass: 22 - 32 - 293 - 4 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0 |
Tony Romo completed 22 of his 32 passes for 293 yards with four scores and one interception. Romo by his standards was having a slow day through the first half and into the 3rd quarter, but the Terrell Owens show began, and Romo road him for one stretch of three catches, 129 yards, and three touchdowns in the late third and into the fourth quarter for a win. Romo had an interception over-turned, and nearly threw another in the game, but generally played a composed game and had complete control of the offense. Center Andre Gurode had some trouble with shotgun snaps as there were two that sailed over Romo's head. On both occasions Romo was able to scramble back to recover, and get the ball off before taking the sack. Once was deep to Owens that could have been caught, but actually went for his only interception of the game. The other was on third and four, and was caught by Owens for five yards and a first down.
| RB Marion Barber III, Rush: 15 - 43 - 0, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (2 targets) |
Marion Barber entered the game during the Cowboys second drive of the game, and carried the ball 15 times for 43 yards, while catching one pass for seven yards on two targets. The Cowboys seemed to rotate series' between Barber and started Julius Jones, though as usual Barber ended up with the heavier workload. The Redskins did a great job of shutting down Barber and the running game, but the Cowboys had success in the second half going deep to Terrell Owens, so Barber became less of a focal point. He had a nine yard carry nullified by a penalty.
| RB Julius Jones, Rush: 9 - 27 - 0 (1 targets) |
Julius Jones started the game as per usual, and rotated series' with backup Marion Barber. He carried the ball nine times for 27 yards, and dropped his only target of the game. The Redskins rush defense was all over the place shutting down the Cowboys running game. Since Tony Romo had success going deep to Terrell Owens in the second half, Jones and the running game became less of a factor, though Jones did get most of his carries in the first quarter.
| WR Terrell Owens, Rec: 8 - 173 - 4 (12 targets) |
Terrell Owens caught eight passes for 173 yards and four scores, on his way to an outstanding game from the controversial veteran. Somewhat slowed throughout the first half only catching one short touchdown, something lit a fire under Owens in the third quarter, at one point ending three straight drives with deep touchdown passes from Tony Romo, going for 31, 46, and 52 yards respectively. Owens seemed to take advantage of missing free safety Sean Taylor, as he frequently got behind the coverage of Shawn Springs and the safeties were commonly out of position for help. On Owens' last touchdown he caught a dart down the right sideline and Taylor's replacement Pierson Prioleau missed a tackle allowing Owens to get by him for the longest play of the game.
| WR Patrick Crayton, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (4 targets) |
Patrick Crayton started the game opposite Terrell Owens, but as usual took a backseat to the notorious veteran, only catching two passes for 16 yards on four targets. Given that Jason Witten is such a dynamic tight end in the passing game, Crayton is essentially the third option in the passing game. His biggest play of the game was on a deep pass down the right sideline where he drew a defensive pass interference call for a long gain. Had the ball not been slightly under thrown by Tony Romo, Crayton likely would have came down with it for a long gain and possible touchdown.
| WR Sam Hurd, Rec: 2 - 28 - 0 (2 targets) |
Sam Hurd entered the game in three receiver sets, and caught both of his targets for 28 yards. Both of his catches were on third down, and got first downs for the Cowboys offense.
| TE Jason Witten, Rec: 8 - 67 - 0 (11 targets) |
Jason Witten caught eight passes for 67 yards on 11 targets. Witten started the game strong garnering eight of those targets in the first half, but as with the rest of the offense, Witten took a backseat to Terrell Owens in the second half. Even still Witten remains a key component to the Cowboys passing game, and has the confidence of Tony Romo to work the middle of the field.
| PK Nick Folk 0 - 1 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 4 points |
Nick Folk missed his only field goal attempt of the game wide right from 51 yards out, though it had plenty of leg and didn't miss by a lot. He made good on all four of his point after attempts.
| DAL Rush Defense |
The Dallas Cowboys held the Redskins to a combined 62 yards on 17 attempts for an average of 3.6 yards per carry. The longest play they gave up was to a scrambling Jason Campbell of 12 yards, but otherwise held Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts to six yards or less on their combined 14 carries. Given the success they were having through the air, the Redskins went away from the running game in the second half only officially running the ball six times. The Cowboys did a good job of shutting a dangerous Clinton Portis down though, when he did have the ball in his hands.
| DAL Pass Defense |
The Cowboys allowed Jason Campbell and the Redskins 361 passing yards on 34 of 55 passes. Campbell looked highly composed in the pocket even though the Cowboys were able to generate a reasonable pass rush. Coverage down field did not allow any Redskins receivers to get behind them, but did allow five passing plays of 19 yards or more. Linebacker DeMarcus Ware had the Cowboys only sack in the game, but he caused a fumble on the same play that would lead to a Cowboys score on the following drive. Late in the fourth quarter they forced a crucial interception that essentially ended the game for the Redskins, on a pass intended for Antwaan Randle El that was picked off by Terence Newman. Though the Cowboys made a relatively inexperienced Jason Campbell look like a Pro Bowl quarterback, they made the plays when it counted, late in the game with the Redskins driving to take the lead.
